Hunstanton

[robinthehood]

ok then.

Is this place worth £90 and a ranking in the top 100. Now I'm going to include the lot golf. It's all related. And compared to others I've played in the top 100 and even Links that aren't (Fleetwood and St Annes Old Course both of which are so far in front of this place it beggars belief why this is even in the top 100).

First contact. Can you call back I'm dealing with something (I could hear in the back ground something going on) This IMO is poor. I could have been Lord Lucan booking a round with my mates before I die). Second contact. Went well. Booked. Third contact to check on breakfast availability. Person had no idea and had to go and ask. Thank god we didn't choose this as they were painting the inside of the damn place when we arrived!!!!! That would have been wonderful. On arrival. Car park is a sliver of ground. Is thios really their car park? We weren't sure. Oh and loose stones down. Poor. We walked into the Pro shop. No Pro...on a Friday! Some miserable woman who didn't greet us on entering. Barely looked up. I had to ask / inform her we were booked in. Shockingly poor customer service for £180 !!!!! Oh and no directions given to the changing rooms we had to ask. No "have you played her before" etc etc. Poor. First tee. Two ladies fannying around, one was obviously late. No appologies to us as we watched this lady faff about. No attempt to let us go in front of her and her playing partner,which could have made her less rushed. Poor. Coming off the first "green" a ball bounced up to us and rolled under our trollies where we stood. We were playing down wind. I'd was already plissed off and marched down the fairway to confront this person, who appologised saying he didn't realise it had gone so far. Ok no probs. BUT. It turned out this was a member and a committee member as well !!!!! Who didn't know how far he could hit his ball down wind on his own course. Flaming poor. They stayed well back for the rest of the round! Oh first fairway was, at a certain point. full of filled in divots. It looked as though someone had been practising firing into the green. Don't give me this was a landing area. LIES !!!!!!! Greens...now I could be way off on this, but I think greens should be green coloured and for £90 each, they should be. But apparently I'm wrong. They can be yellow and mottled and brown and multi coloured on links courses. Apparently. I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS ANYWHERE EVER. I'm open to help here on this. But I call BS. POOR. They ran true though. No sand in some of the bunkers. POOR. Although it had rained hard on the day we played and compacted them LIES. It rained a bit. Wife never got her waterproof on. Course looked scruffy. On massive bunker on 17th I think it was looked so unkempt I thought it was being left to become over grown and out of play, but hell no the tiny bit of sand in it had been racked so was in play, but for £90????? Seriously.

To conclude the place was not worth anymore than £30, both me and the wife agreed with this. Oh and I met with the committe fella in the changing rooms afterwards, and he appologiesed again and asked what I thought of the course. I appologised to him and gave him BOTH BARRELS!!!!!! To his stunned face. I have also contacted the club sec and given him have views.. Sorry Homer you're way off beam. I'm way past the age where I'll be walked all over when I've paid to; price for something and received and inferior product. Just ask the manager of the Brewers Fayre in Kings Lynn!!!!! We'll never eat in there again!!!!!.

So after reading this do you think I got my moneys worth? Hang on I'll help

1. No
2. Hell no

Fair do's mate, your probably gonna get pelters off the T100 fan club, but I agree its not unreasonable to expect a certain level of service, especially if your selling yourself as one of the best clubs in the uK

 

[Orikoru]

I don't think things like a ladies' two ball not letting you through and a committee member hitting an errant ball are really factored into the top 100 ratings are they? Ha, the rest of the concerns seem pretty legit though.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

ok then.

Is this place worth £90 and a ranking in the top 100. Now I'm going to include the lot golf. It's all related. And compared to others I've played in the top 100 and even Links that aren't (Fleetwood and St Annes Old Course both of which are so far in front of this place it beggars belief why this is even in the top 100).

First contact. Can you call back I'm dealing with something (I could hear in the back ground something going on) This IMO is poor. I could have been Lord Lucan booking a round with my mates before I die). Second contact. Went well. Booked.

What if it was something serious ? Someone ill ? Someone hurt ? - as long as they were polite and as you said you could hear something going on - im sure all of us have phoned somewhere and they have just asked us to phone back because something was going on - and as you say second contact all sorted

Third contact to check on breakfast availability. Person had no idea and had to go and ask. Thank god we didn't choose this as they were painting the inside of the damn place when we arrived!!!!! That would have been wonderful.

So the clubhouse is going for a refurb and they needed to check if breakfast was happening because of the refurb ?! Did you want them to stop because you were playing there

On arrival. Car park is a sliver of ground. Is thios really their car park? We weren't sure. Oh and loose stones down. Poor. We walked into the Pro shop.

Their car park is a decent size and the overflow is a compact stone car park - the same as a lot of golf clubs - don’t go to places like Royal St George’s then where you are to park on the grass

No Pro...on a Friday! Some miserable woman who didn't greet us on entering. Barely looked up. I had to ask / inform her we were booked in. Shockingly poor customer service for £180 !!!!! Oh and no directions given to the changing rooms we had to ask. No "have you played her before" etc etc.

Are you not paying the money to play the golf course ? I know the lady you are talking about and believe she is the shop assistant - the pros were no doubt giving lessons - again like a lot of pro shops

Poor. First tee. Two ladies fannying around, one was obviously late. No appologies to us as we watched this lady faff about. No attempt to let us go in front of her and her playing partner,which could have made her less rushed. Poor.

I wonder if it was because of your sunny disposition

Coming off the first "green" a ball bounced up to us and rolled under our trollies where we stood. We were playing down wind. I'd was already plissed off and marched down the fairway to confront this person, who appologised saying he didn't realise it had gone so far. Ok no probs. BUT. It turned out this was a member and a committee member as well !!!!! Who didn't know how far he could hit his ball down wind on his own course. Flaming poor. They stayed well back for the rest of the round!

So a ball just rolled under your trolley because it went further than expected and you “marched” down the fairway at him ?! You didn’t just wait for him to come up and say sorry ? And do Committee members have better control on their golf course ? Have you never thinned a ball or go to far towards people and then just said sorry ?

Oh first fairway was, at a certain point. full of filled in divots. It looked as though someone had been practising firing into the green. Don't give me this was a landing area. LIES !!!!!!! Greens...now I could be way off on this, but I think greens should be green coloured and for £90 each, they should be. But apparently I'm wrong. They can be yellow and mottled and brown and multi coloured on links courses. Apparently. I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS ANYWHERE EVER. I'm open to help here on this. But I call BS. POOR. They ran true though.

You have just described a lot of the countries links courses during a hot summer - the greens run true , what difference does the colour make when they run true and yes it’s on sand based and you do get lots of sand filled divots on links courses

No sand in some of the bunkers. POOR. Although it had rained hard on the day we played and compacted them LIES. It rained a bit. Wife never got her waterproof on.

So there was sand in the bunker but it rained which compacted the sand up - pretty standard especially on some links courses where the sand is mainly a thin layer ontop of compact sand

Course looked scruffy. On massive bunker on 17th I think it was looked so unkempt I thought it was being left to become over grown and out of play, but hell no the tiny bit of sand in it had been racked so was in play, but for £90????? Seriously.

Scruffy ? It’s not a immaculate parkland - as with a lot of links they have a natural look about them , especially when they are open to the elements. Think I remember the bunker on the 17th - it’s a deep pit fairway bunker - looks all natural , it’s not your manufactured bunker you see on a parkland

To conclude the place was not worth anymore than £30, both me and the wife agreed with this. Oh and I met with the committe fella in the changing rooms afterwards, and he appologiesed again and asked what I thought of the course. I appologised to him and gave him BOTH BARRELS!!!!!! To his stunned face. I have also contacted the club sec and given him have views.. Sorry Homer you're way off beam. I'm way past the age where I'll be walked all over when I've paid to; price for something and received and inferior product. Just ask the manager of the Brewers Fayre in Kings Lynn!!!!! We'll never eat in there again!!!!!.

So after reading this do you think I got my moneys worth? Hang on I'll help

1. No
2. Hell no

How did you play? Reckon that could be a bit of pointer to be honest - and I reckon if you spoke to him as rudely as you have posted on here about the course then I expect they will be glad not to see you again. I have been there a number of times and it’s certainly nowhere near as bad as you suggest , it’s not the best links course around but it’s a great test of golf in natural surroundings , the clubhouse and members are a touch old fashioned but that’s moving forward.

If people are a bit “so -so” about links courses then Hunstanton isn’t the place for them - but if you like links then it’s one to play.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Thanks Crazyface, you've confirmed my suspicions.

 

[Orikoru]

Thanks Crazyface, you've confirmed my suspicions.

So, you're just dismissing everything he said as invalid, or..?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

So, you're just dismissing everything he said as invalid, or..?

You said that not me. Stones in the car park? Greens that weren't green but putted well, have you ever played a links in summer? Clubhouse being repainted, what's wrong with that? Guy hits his ball into them, could happen on ANY course. Nothing to do with being top 100. And all these on the day yet he opened a thread slagging the place off before he even got there.

 

[MendieGK]

So, you're just dismissing everything he said as invalid, or..?

His review does nothing to suggest the course isn’t great.

Anyone that says it’s bad because of the car park or that the greens aren’t green immediately loses credibility as a reviewer imo.

Greens shouldn't be green.
The course is old - were cars the norm when it was built? No.

If anything it makes me want to tick this top 100 course off my list even more.

 

[MendieGK]

For what it’s worth I don’t think Links and heathland can accurately be compared. It’s impossible to say birkdale is ‘better’ than Sunningdale for example.

It would like saying the Bahamas is prettier than than Antarctica or Canada in the snow

 

[Beezerk]

View attachment 28041

How come every nice shot of a links course comes from drone height, not head height like Bob's picture did

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Just to bring this topic back to some sort of sensible level - I think these comments are fair. I've never played a links course yet, and while I think the set-up might actually suit my game (although just guessing on that), I do wonder whether I'd really appreciate a links course that was considered high standard. Because I don't really have a bar for expectations on it. To the untrained eye, a links course possibly would just look like a scrappy, sandy uneven piece of land with some flags in it.

Surely to the “untrained” eye every golf course is “bit of uneven land with flags in it - with either trees or dunes surrounding it”

I haven’t played all the links courses but “scrappy” isn’t one word I would use for any of them. Uneven yep , sandy yep , natural yep , huge dramatic dunes yep

 

[MendieGK]

How can anyone not say this natural landscape isn’t beautiful?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

How come every nice shot of a links course comes from drone height, not head height like Bob's picture did

 

[Beezerk]

How can anyone not say this natural landscape isn’t beautiful?

Is that a joke?

 

[Beezerk]

View attachment 28043

Yeah yeah ok smart ass that one does look ok ish

 

[Backache]

Good rant but I have to confess there are some parts of your post that I don't understand at all.

Oh first fairway was, at a certain point. full of filled in divots. It looked as though someone had been practising firing into the green. Don't give me this was a landing area. LIES !!!!!!!


Who was lying about what and why the capitalisation?.


Although it had rained hard on the day we played and compacted them LIES. It rained a bit.

Again who was lying?
. Oh and I met with the committe fella in the changing rooms afterwards, and he appologiesed again and asked what I thought of the course. I appologised to him and gave him BOTH BARRELS!!!!!!

What were you apologising to him for?

I am not criticising you for complaining about a bad experience though some of your points are not things that would worry me personally, a bit of first tee faff is not uncommon anywhere and it would only be a concern to me if they were continuously slow on the round. And one slightly errant shot after I had vacated the green is pretty common in most places I play.

On my visit the pro shop with the pro was fine though it isn't fun anywhere to be met with surliness.

 

[user2010]

ok then.

Is this place worth £90 and a ranking in the top 100. Now I'm going to include the lot golf. It's all related. And compared to others I've played in the top 100 and even Links that aren't (Fleetwood and St Annes Old Course both of which are so far in front of this place it beggars belief why this is even in the top 100).

First contact. Can you call back I'm dealing with something (I could hear in the back ground something going on) This IMO is poor. I could have been Lord Lucan booking a round with my mates before I die). Second contact. Went well. Booked. Third contact to check on breakfast availability. Person had no idea and had to go and ask. Thank god we didn't choose this as they were painting the inside of the damn place when we arrived!!!!! That would have been wonderful. On arrival. Car park is a sliver of ground. Is thios really their car park? We weren't sure. Oh and loose stones down. Poor. We walked into the Pro shop. No Pro...on a Friday! Some miserable woman who didn't greet us on entering. Barely looked up. I had to ask / inform her we were booked in. Shockingly poor customer service for £180 !!!!! Oh and no directions given to the changing rooms we had to ask. No "have you played her before" etc etc. Poor. First tee. Two ladies fannying around, one was obviously late. No appologies to us as we watched this lady faff about. No attempt to let us go in front of her and her playing partner,which could have made her less rushed. Poor. Coming off the first "green" a ball bounced up to us and rolled under our trollies where we stood. We were playing down wind. I'd was already plissed off and marched down the fairway to confront this person, who appologised saying he didn't realise it had gone so far. Ok no probs. BUT. It turned out this was a member and a committee member as well !!!!! Who didn't know how far he could hit his ball down wind on his own course. Flaming poor. They stayed well back for the rest of the round! Oh first fairway was, at a certain point. full of filled in divots. It looked as though someone had been practising firing into the green. Don't give me this was a landing area. LIES !!!!!!! Greens...now I could be way off on this, but I think greens should be green coloured and for £90 each, they should be. But apparently I'm wrong. They can be yellow and mottled and brown and multi coloured on links courses. Apparently. I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS ANYWHERE EVER. I'm open to help here on this. But I call BS. POOR. They ran true though. No sand in some of the bunkers. POOR. Although it had rained hard on the day we played and compacted them LIES. It rained a bit. Wife never got her waterproof on. Course looked scruffy. On massive bunker on 17th I think it was looked so unkempt I thought it was being left to become over grown and out of play, but hell no the tiny bit of sand in it had been racked so was in play, but for £90????? Seriously.

To conclude the place was not worth anymore than £30, both me and the wife agreed with this. Oh and I met with the committe fella in the changing rooms afterwards, and he appologiesed again and asked what I thought of the course. I appologised to him and gave him BOTH BARRELS!!!!!! To his stunned face. I have also contacted the club sec and given him have views.. Sorry Homer you're way off beam. I'm way past the age where I'll be walked all over when I've paid to; price for something and received and inferior product. Just ask the manager of the Brewers Fayre in Kings Lynn!!!!! We'll never eat in there again!!!!!.

So after reading this do you think I got my moneys worth? Hang on I'll help

1. No
2. Hell no

Well said sir.

 

[Spear-Chucker]

Being a local I’ve played Hunny in all conditions, at all times of the year and often in championship events. She never disappoints.

Every course has its good days and bad, take a wider view OP.

 

[Blue in Munich]

What comes across to me is that the reviewer seems to be a fan of the corporate welcome; parking your car, taking your clubs, cleaning your shoes, wiping your behind, feeding you coffee and generally pandering to your every whim, including painting the grass just the shade you like it.

Places like Hunstanton & Rye aren't like that, they are quiet, understated, leave you to yourself sort of places. The courses aren't immaculate, a little ragged at the edges but great tests of golf. that's links golf.

As to the price, I have it on good authority that a number of these places keep the price high to keep the number of visitors down; it's a member's club, run for the benefit of the members, and the members want access, not to be overrun.

It sounds like he's a Pinot Grigio type of guy who ordered a pint of bitter & is moaning because he didn't like it.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Fair do's mate, your probably gonna get pelters off the T100 fan club, but I agree its not unreasonable to expect a certain level of service, especially if your selling yourself as one of the best clubs in the uK

Are they actively selling themselves as a Top 100 club or has someone else decided that they are a Top 100 club and they are merely acknowledging the fact. Big difference.

 

[ADB]

No club should be above constructive criticism and I think there are a lot of customer service improvements that could be made throughout this experience - to ignore feedback like that is an opportunity missed by the Club.