Mollington Grange Golf Club, Chester.

[Handycap]

I am local to this area and played the course for the first time yesterday, 13/05/2009.

The potential for this course is awesome. The design is excellent; every hole has it's own character, with such diversity as the 17th 124 yard par 3 island hole to the 7th 638 yard par 5 monster hole. Use of trees, water (millions of gallons of the stuff) and enough sand traps to open a beach resort make this course a fantastic challenge and very pleasing to the eye.

However, it doesn't appear to be as the original designer wanted it to be. Perhaps it wasn't properly finished when it was first opened; the 9th hole is called "Fountain" and is given a par of 4 or 5. This was printed on the card as well as the inlaid stone marker maps on the tees. There was no fountain, and after a bit of sluething, it seems that the pond shown in front of the green is a red herring. The pond is actually behind the green, but I'm guessing the original design was for the green to be laid behind the pond thus extending to the hole to par 5 status.
The overall impression of the place is "shabby". It is such a shame as the the clubhouse could potentially be as impressive as the course. The greens haven't been repaired properly and have many small patches where the grass is dead or missing, and have slight undulations that make the ball "bobble".
Areas in front of the clubhouse look over grown and pathways have become infested with weeds and other plant growth. It must all come down to a lack of money as what needs doing to the place isn't a major overhaul, all the infrastructure is there, it just needs a lot of money to smarten the place up and maintain the course and facilities. If enough money could be raised, this club could be one of the best in the North West.
I will certainly play it again having familiarised myself with the layout. If you haven't played it before, you would be best buying a strokesaver guide or go round with someone that knows the course. To play mid week only cost £20.00 for the round, and after 3.00pm that comes down to £10.00 and the same price for a 2 man buggy! That is very good value for money, and I truly hope the course survives and eventually thrives as it's design deserves. I recommend you play this course taking on board the issues that are present.

 

[vig]

I played it last year with TonyN, very very wet!

There were ponds on the fairways.

I like some holes but, a bit of thought and money needs investing IMO

 

[RGDave]

every hole has it's own character,

every hole has it's own pond!! more like.....

 

[Handycap]

every hole has it's own character,

every hole has it's own pond!! more like.....

Not true; most of the holes have two ponds!

I stand by what I said earlier. The layout of this course is very good and a lot of time and money must have been spent in the original design and landscaping of this facility. It's just such a shame that it wasn't properly finished off and/or the necessary improvements and maintenance hasn't been carried out. As the weather has been relatively rain free over the last few weeks, I didn't see any of the drainage issues Vig alluded to, but can imagine problems like that judging from what I saw.

I know Tonyn joined this club last year from his postings, and would be very interested to hear his take on the club along with any plans by the club for improvements. For the price Tony paid, he got a bargain but perhaps there isn't any sign of change and hence Tony has now joined Upton GC, just up the road from Mollington.

 

[RGDave]

I certainly enjoyed the course. The last few holes (from the "gully" par 5) are cracking and it has huge potential.
I guess (like many in "saturated" areas) they just can't put the resources into making it a corker.

 

[TonyN]

Handycap, you really need to come play Upton with me and we can discuss this further.

Few quick points though.

The club struggles financialy because the membership is low.

The membership is low because the course is too hard for your average golfer.

They need to invest money to make the course more playable and the clubhouse, surrounding area a bit prettier. They wont have the money untill they they have more members, vicious circle.

To clear the 9th hole up, yes the original plan was to have the green behing the pond but it was deemed to unsafe because the tee 10th tee shots can and do go mighty close to the green. Often players playing the 9th would be chipping/pitching from near the cart path and players teeing off from the 10th would be firing balls over them. Shame they couldn't relocate the 10th tee to where the practice green is and move the practice green closer to the disussed scruffy range.

They have no Pro there so that sucks. To me, its an out and out muni. The guy that owned/ran the place died a few weeks back apparently so who knows whats going to happen there.

I agree with your views, so much potential but not enough money to do anything with it. The drainage is horrid because its built on an old landfill site.

It has hosted 2 Pro tour events so just shows it has the making of something special.

Also, because money is so tight, they never close. Last winter it was REALLY wet there and they were still letting societys go out. I went out one day and found inch deep puddles on the greens, they dont have temps so are still played on by all.

I chose to leave because after each round I had to was more mud off my kit than I would if I had been camping for a week. The members were hard to come by, seriously. I think in the 6 months I was there, I played atleast once even twice a week and only met 4 members.

1 guy who I told about the forum goes by username of Bazlambo is 1 of the members I met and I beleive is still there. Maybe he could keep us in the loop about things.

Such a shame the club/course is in the state it is because it has one of the most diverse set of holes I have played since taking up the game. That layout with the condition/membership of somewhere like Upton would put that place on the map!

 

[Handycap]

Tony,

Well that clears that up then! Quite a comprehensive reply there.

What a shame the place has never properly taken off. I remember reading something about the landscaping of the course, shortly after it was originally built, falling foul of planning consent/building regs or a combination of that and environmental issues. I'm sure there was a problem with the excavation spoil that should have been removed from the site, was actually used to create the banks and contours around the course and had to be removed and replaced at great expense.

It doesn't sound like the immediate fate of the club is getting any better with the sad news about the owner. It would be nice to think someone may come along and invest in the club, but with the current economic climate and the quantity of courses in the area, many of which are looking for new members, it doesn't bode well. I so liked the layout of the course I'm genuinely saddened that it may not survive.

Upton is a great course and a very active members club. I've played there quite a few times in the past with members I've met through work. It may be a little tight in places but it's a long established mature course and a good test of golf for all abilities. I'm sure you are enjoying yourself there and making full use of the snooker table (I think I read in another post of yours last year that the snooker table was a high priority requisite!).

It's very generous of you to invite me to play at your club and of course the invitation extends for you to play at Eaton. I gather you play a lot of day time mid-week golf but I'm not so fortunate. However, late afternoon/early evenings would suit me mid week. Trying to arrange golf at weekends can be tricky this time of year when club comps are building up to a frenzy! Coupled with my wifes leg in plaster and my nine years old daughter's gymnastics/Brownies/tennis club/football practice etc, my time is not my own these days.

Hope the honeymoon with the 52's has settled into a long term loving relationship. They really are great looking clubs with so much feel.

Rick.

 

[TonyN]

Now I am starting my new job, my golf will be mostly at the weekends. I might be able to get a few evening games in midweek.

Upton is a great place and can get on most weekends even if there are comps on. I am playing at 0800 in the morning shame we didnt have more notice you could have joined me.

As for Mollington, yes they did the naughty with the planning permission and had to redo alot of the ground works because some of the stuff under the fairways was deemed unhealthy If i remember correctly.

 

[bazlambo]

Yes I am still a member and agree with both Andy and Tony.

The course does have massive potential and is a stern test of golf, not only on the holes but the fact the wind usually blows normally quite hard.

It does need some TLC but I have seen improvements since March and the course now looks like a golf course with the fairways cut nicely and the rough defined into fringe and deep stuff. Some nice little touches have also taken place with benches on teeing holes, new hole signs, (even new holes and flags) and more ball cleaning gizmos.

The down side is the greens which as Andy says are not great and have been slightly lost. Speaking to a greenkeeper probably about a fortnight ago there had not been much rain in the area and the greens had become hard and were not growing sufficently. However, since then we have had a lot of rain so hopefully this will change.

As alluded to the owner by all accounts did not have a great relationship with the golf committee and had trouble keeping staff, hence the state of the greens as a new greenkeeper is now in place so hopefully this will improve the condition.

This is my second year there and the course is much improved over the last 3 months. I did not feel it was as wet as last season over the winter and perhaps the course suffers by the fact it is almost always open (think it has been twice in my time) and the greens in play.

As with Tony I have not met many members (prob 10) but I also do not play in the comps at the moment, tending to play later in the day when the course is empty. I also feel that last summer it did become part muni with all and sundry being allowed on, pushing the dress code to the limit at times!!!!

I get out of the course what I want and have no complaints for what I pay and always enjoy playing there. There are some excellant holes and you do need to plot your way around the many water hazards to score well.

 

[Handycap]

Hi bazlambo,

I sincerely hope the future of the club becomes clearer for you this year. I can't re-iterate enough how much I enjoyed playing it last week and how, with a bit of investment, could be deemed not just a good course, but a great course.

Tony mentioned that the owner passed away recently and that he didn't have a close relationship with the members. If the club were to be sold, could it become a members club and would the current membership be interested in raising the funds? Whilst excessive society guests can impinge on tee availability and wear and tear to the course, they are good revenue for the club.

I feel if the club house and the surrounding environs could be smartened up a bit, the place would look that much more attractive and would encourage word of mouth and repeat business.

As I said before, there is nothing wrong with the clubhouse; it really is an impressive building and could look magnificent if the area surrounding it looked good too. I noticed a spiral staircase leading upstairs. Is there another bar with a balcony up there? The marquee doesn't look out of place either, and combined with the club house offers an enormous facility for both golf and non golf related events.

All the best for the future

Rick.

 

[TonyN]

Rick the staircase leads to a sort of indoor balcony that looks out over the course. Never seen anyone use it in my time there, infact only ever seen 4 peopl in the club house after a round.