KopiteKing13
New member
I agree with all of this. I really don't care what marketing phrases they use, or if it's an 'inland links' or built on a landfill or whatever. I can't exactly play links any other way near where I live. So 'inland links' it'll have to be. I want a good quality golf course that's going to be open for 95%+ of the year. The fact it's different from so many other courses around here is a bonus.Thing is purests laugh but the members at ours love it.. it may claim to be inland links but in reality it's one of the best courses in the area. Mainly because Essex isn't blessed with fantastic golf courses with the clay soil.
Ours is £1800 7 day £1440 5 day. For London prices that's very reasonable. It's playable all year round (played today after solid rain last week and fairways, tees and greens outstanding)
10 mins from the M25 so good transport links for visitors
The purests get a bee in their bonnet and Scoff "it's not a links" but they miss the point. People don't actually care. They just want good quality golf course that's playable all year round and not far away. 10 mins drive from my house I'm delighted with that . All the other courses in the area are swamps ATM where as we have members of other courses popping over to play a course in good condition
Purists can stick it where the sun don't shine
Full disclosure, I've paid my deposit to this new place already, so I'm going to be one of these founding members. I live about 5 minutes away, did a course walk with the owner and about 50 other prospective members about 2-3 weeks ago and it does genuinely look like a fantastic course.
Where I'm playing currently (and actually, for the next 4 weeks, am still captain) is short, flat and has absolutely no drainage to speak of. It's also technically an active airfield (although the owner hasn't flown his plane in over 20 years), so that'll give you some indication of how flat my current course is. Plus, it's also about 30 minutes away, but it's cheap and very cheerful and I will absolutely miss it, particularly the people. I joined it because I have friends who play there and at the time, I wanted to join the cheapest course I could, which meant looking outside of London. But as far as golf goes, it's just not what I'm after anymore. I've reached the stage where I want something longer, with undulations on the fairways and greens, with challenging bunkers and massive water hazards and frankly, where they have the equipment and budget to take care of the course properly whilst keeping it open even if it's rained within the last 4 days. At the moment, if it rains on a Monday and Tuesday, there's a >50% chance my current course isn't yet playable by the following Sunday comp.
My current place was also shut for 22/29 days in February and the owner forced it to be open for another 3 or 4 days when it should've been shut because he was sick of the greenkeepers keeping it closed with all the rain. Apparently in those 4 extra days it was open, they had 6 players **combined**, and most of those didn't even finish the first hole before coming back in and complaining it was like a bog and asking for refunds.
I went on a walk of this new place just a day or so after a couple of weeks of nonstop rain and aside from the odd patch of ground between holes where they're still running maintenance vehicles over it and where it was slightly boggy, it was so firm underfoot I could hardly believe it. Just a different class from my current home course or frankly, a lot of the other courses around. It certainly beats anything the London Borough of Hillingdon has to offer, and the only other options near me are a similar price or even much higher than this new place. Northwood, I believe is £1900ish to join (with a huge joining fee) and then after that there are places like Moor Park and Denham, which are far more still. So £1,850 for a 7-day membership to a brand new place is very reasonable, as you say.
Last edited:
