Hello all - happy Easter to everyone
Been meaning to post for a few days but been pretty hectic at GM towers
Jezz Ellwood and I were very privileged to play the revamped West Course at Wentworth last Monday. We were the first non-members to play it (there were limited member rounds on Sat and Sun) and Jezz is writing a big feature on the revamp for the next issue so I wont go into too much detail but thought you might be interested to get a brief report...
The biggest changes are in the bunkering, greens and green complexes. Every single bunker and green has been worked on - they are much deeper and built up at the lip which makes both drives and approach shots visually very intimidating. Some of the bunkers are seriously deep. You'll only be able to hit mid to short irons out of fairway bunkers and from many of the greenside bunkers you can’t see the bottom of the pin.
The greens were in great nick (most greens were down in October 09 with the last going in on December 19 last year). There was a uniform grass covering and they were really quite firm. They should be able to get them very fast for the BMW and the new grasses and construction should mean they hold up better during the tournament
* We teed off at 7.30am and despite an ominous forecast of persistent rain we actually stayed dry the whole way round
* We played from the white plates – 14 yards shy of 7000 yards
* Course manager Chris Kennedy had kindly set us 18 pin positions that could only be described as 'hard' even for tournament play with all of them tight to bunkers or the newly created run off areas
* There was almost zero run on the ball
* We decided to play a medal round and mark a card
Save for a few poor shots (mainly pulls/hooks as a result of trying to get the ball out there because it was playing so long) we both felt we hit the ball OK! Neither of us holed many putts (usually the thing that saves us both) as we were reading too much break. I had my first par at the 17th and then birdied 18! Jezz made birdie at 8 and pared 17 and 18. Other than that it was bogey train all the way
I shot 99 (yes ninety nine) and Jezz shot 94. We play off 7 and 5 respectively! A thoroughly humbling experience
In a nutshell it’s now a super hard golf course. Right up there with Woodhall Spa and and the New Course at Sunningdale as the hardest inland tracks in the UK.
I can’t see the winning score at the BMW being much lower than 10 under
Wentworth are now taking visitor bookings. The green fee? Are you sitting down? £360! Apparently that does include a caddie and every visitor has to have one.
Hmmm…
Been meaning to post for a few days but been pretty hectic at GM towers
Jezz Ellwood and I were very privileged to play the revamped West Course at Wentworth last Monday. We were the first non-members to play it (there were limited member rounds on Sat and Sun) and Jezz is writing a big feature on the revamp for the next issue so I wont go into too much detail but thought you might be interested to get a brief report...
The biggest changes are in the bunkering, greens and green complexes. Every single bunker and green has been worked on - they are much deeper and built up at the lip which makes both drives and approach shots visually very intimidating. Some of the bunkers are seriously deep. You'll only be able to hit mid to short irons out of fairway bunkers and from many of the greenside bunkers you can’t see the bottom of the pin.
The greens were in great nick (most greens were down in October 09 with the last going in on December 19 last year). There was a uniform grass covering and they were really quite firm. They should be able to get them very fast for the BMW and the new grasses and construction should mean they hold up better during the tournament
* We teed off at 7.30am and despite an ominous forecast of persistent rain we actually stayed dry the whole way round
* We played from the white plates – 14 yards shy of 7000 yards
* Course manager Chris Kennedy had kindly set us 18 pin positions that could only be described as 'hard' even for tournament play with all of them tight to bunkers or the newly created run off areas
* There was almost zero run on the ball
* We decided to play a medal round and mark a card
Save for a few poor shots (mainly pulls/hooks as a result of trying to get the ball out there because it was playing so long) we both felt we hit the ball OK! Neither of us holed many putts (usually the thing that saves us both) as we were reading too much break. I had my first par at the 17th and then birdied 18! Jezz made birdie at 8 and pared 17 and 18. Other than that it was bogey train all the way
I shot 99 (yes ninety nine) and Jezz shot 94. We play off 7 and 5 respectively! A thoroughly humbling experience
In a nutshell it’s now a super hard golf course. Right up there with Woodhall Spa and and the New Course at Sunningdale as the hardest inland tracks in the UK.
I can’t see the winning score at the BMW being much lower than 10 under
Wentworth are now taking visitor bookings. The green fee? Are you sitting down? £360! Apparently that does include a caddie and every visitor has to have one.
Hmmm…
