Teebs
Newbie
Very close to my office in Greenford, but won't be bothering at those prices. Used to play West Middlesex on a Twilight rate of £15 that included a free drink!
The Inspiration
- Thread starter Orikoru
- Start date
Crow
Crow Person
Did you have the Double Diamond or the Red Barrel?
sunshine
Well-known member
I'm sure they have extensively benchmarked against the competition in the area. It seems a lot to me for a course that has no pedigree or reviews... but on reflection I'm out of touch with green fees and everything is crazy now.
I've just looked on the Shire website (sister course - same owners) and their green fees are £160 for a peak weekend slot and £95 midweek.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
I think there should be a discount to reflect the fact you have to drive through Northolt or Southall (or both) to get there.
Wabinez
Journeyman Pro
I think the same could be said for many on here who still think that green fees should be £30 per person. It's just not happening, and I can't foresee any time where green fees will come down. I imagine some clubs will be happier with emptier tee sheets, rather than filling them at discounted rates
Orikoru
Tour Winner
Yeah, it's sad but prices have gone through the roof. When I got back into playing 8 years ago, you could find a half-decent round of golf for £20-25. Nowadays that's the nine-hole rate. We used to think £35-40 was pushing the boat out a little back then, nowadays that's the bare minimum for a playable course.
IanM
Journeyman Pro
- Joined
- May 18, 2009
- Messages
- 12,598
- Location
- Monmouthshire, UK via Guildford!
sunshine
Well-known member
I think there should be a discount to reflect the fact you have to drive through Northolt or Southall (or both) to get there.
Yeah I can't imagine they are targeting local residents at those prices.
I remember when I used to play the 9 holer when it was called Lime Trees, local kids from the council estate would run on to the course to nick balls. Probably doesn't happen any more because they're all inside on their playstation or too fat to run.
Mark1751
Assistant Pro
Seen a lot from the course on social media, all very complimentary, Any one that joined played yet?
Morfeen75
New member
I had a little chuckle at some of GM's social media videos yesterday, you can play the inspiration for as little as £70!!!
When has £70 become little money?
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
I agree but when you compare it to some other green fees around it may be argued as not that expensive but it is all relative and £70 for me is a lot of cash to find for a green fee but for others its small change
Orikoru
Tour Winner
Played it today. I definitely enjoyed it. A bit rough and ready in some places, but the greens are immaculate! I'd say it's quite a forgiving course off the tee, you've got plenty of room on a lot of the holes. Although if you miss by too much there was some very penal rough waiting. It has a few nice shorter par 4s and doglegs where you can hit something less than driver for position. Got loads of roll on the fairways, I hit several 240+ yard drives which is longer than I've got used to hitting this year. Was very hard to hold the greens though with the 'linksy' turf leading up to them, was frequently pitching short of the green and rolling through the back. One drawback was that the par 3s were a bit samey, depending on pin positions they could all play between 130 and 160. Some of the pot bunkers were absolutely killer, I managed to avoid them but my 23 handicap mate had an absolute nightmare, blobbed two holes when he couldn't get out of them.
£45 members guest fee was a good price, I probably wouldn't be paying the £90 weekend full fee though, it's not worth that at the moment. Especially when there's only a temporary building as a clubhouse and no practise green at all. Max I'd want to be playing is probably £50-60. It should drain well though, could be a good one to visit in winter when other places are closed.
£45 members guest fee was a good price, I probably wouldn't be paying the £90 weekend full fee though, it's not worth that at the moment. Especially when there's only a temporary building as a clubhouse and no practise green at all. Max I'd want to be playing is probably £50-60. It should drain well though, could be a good one to visit in winter when other places are closed.
VVega
Assistant Pro
Which tees did you pay from? Just looked them up on EG and they have an interesting option of black/orange combo(equivalent of while/yellow). I like this idea of having some holes from longer tees but playing toughest holes more forward.
The slope rating looks quite low(127 black /123 combo/117 orange), CH for me is +2 for the blacks, 0 for combo, -2 for orange.
Price is not bad imo, considering it’s the same owners as the Shire that charges £95.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
We just played the orange (equivalent of yellows). Still over 6000 yards according to the card, and two of our four-ball were 23/24 cappers so that was plenty. It was actually quite nice because a couple of the longer holes yardage-wise were downhill and had a bit of breeze behind on the day, so they played shorter. 9th hole for example is supposedly 535 yards but I hit a good drive and a 7 wood and I was only 20 yards short of the green (I usually have no hope of reaching par 5s in two).
Yeah the ratings are very low, my PH from the orange tees was 12 and I'm a 14.4 index. I kind of get why it's rated low, it's pretty roomy and forgiving off the tees, and no trees so if you miss badly on some holes you still had a decent lie. Some of them had thick rough down the right though. But I can't recall a single hole where I stood on the teebox and thought "this is tight". Chipping around the greens and the pot-hole bunkers were the main difficulties, but that sort of thing never seems to be reflected in course ratings.
VVega
Assistant Pro
Thanks for sharing, I really like the sound of it. It is very Tom Doak like - forgiving of the tee but the greens are the main challenges.
Could you approximate what speed the greens were running to?
Orikoru
Tour Winner
The greens were some of the best I've played in a long time, they were pretty rapid. Holding them on approaches was nigh-on impossible, went through the back a few times. That's part of what made chipping so difficult, I never knew where to land it and was a little scared of rolling it straight through the other side. I found them hard to read as well, but that's probably a me issue - some I read as left to right and they broke the other way leaving me a 6 or 7 footer!
LIG
Q-School Graduate
Full disclosure - I'm a member and have played the course (badly) several times.
Apart from the fact that I can't hit a ball straight...when I want/need to, I have to say that the course ratings reflect the layout. There's space to be wayward off the tee and well marked red penalty areas allow options for when you find your ball wanders further off course than you thought! The greens are superb and on the large side, with multiple possible pin positions, making each hole a new test every round.
The teeing options are a great selection with something for both the big hitter and the shorter one too, making for enjoyable golf.
I haven't yet played it when the wind is really up but the wind needs to be taken into consideration on every shot, as there's no shelter from it.
You want to avoid the bunkers!! Or take a penalty drop outside if you don't have the skill to hit a shot 10ft straight up, out of a greenside bunker!
I haven't scored at all well (yet), partly due to a lack and/or loss of focus, but mostly due to a lack of ability! And yet, I have come off the course having enjoyed the round in a way that I could never have imagined in the past. I'm convinced this is largely due to the quality and playability of the course.
It's DEFINITELY an "inland links" ..... because it bl**min' well plays like a links course - fairways and greens ...... and bunkers!
IMHO, it's the distinct step up in quality, when compared to other local offerings, that makes it worth the 70/80/90 quid !
Try it! You'll like it!
Am willing to host weekdays. Member's guest rate is £35.
PJ87
Journeyman Pro
Full disclosure - I'm a member and have played the course (badly) several times.
Apart from the fact that I can't hit a ball straight...when I want/need to, I have to say that the course ratings reflect the layout. There's space to be wayward off the tee and well marked red penalty areas allow options for when you find your ball wanders further off course than you thought! The greens are superb and on the large side, with multiple possible pin positions, making each hole a new test every round.
The teeing options are a great selection with something for both the big hitter and the shorter one too, making for enjoyable golf.
I haven't yet played it when the wind is really up but the wind needs to be taken into consideration on every shot, as there's no shelter from it.
You want to avoid the bunkers!! Or take a penalty drop outside if you don't have the skill to hit a shot 10ft straight up, out of a greenside bunker!
I haven't scored at all well (yet), partly due to a lack and/or loss of focus, but mostly due to a lack of ability! And yet, I have come off the course having enjoyed the round in a way that I could never have imagined in the past. I'm convinced this is largely due to the quality and playability of the course.
It's DEFINITELY an "inland links" ..... because it bl**min' well plays like a links course - fairways and greens ...... and bunkers!
IMHO, it's the distinct step up in quality, when compared to other local offerings, that makes it worth the 70/80/90 quid !
Try it! You'll like it!
Am willing to host weekdays. Member's guest rate is £35.
Definitely interested to try it..sounds lovely , we are just a few junctions round the motorway on an "inland links" with the Thames estuary just there we get wind pretty much constantly. Defo plays linksy
Be interested to see how the inspiration compares. Looks beautiful in pictures
IanM
Journeyman Pro
- Joined
- May 18, 2009
- Messages
- 12,598
- Location
- Monmouthshire, UK via Guildford!
I'll like to have a look.. I can reciprocate at another links
LIG
Q-School Graduate
How much does grass grow in 12 days? Well the deep rough has not been touched since the opening weekend and finding a ball in it has become much harder. I traipsed through enough of it over the last two days to notice!
Another thing I noticed is the continuous work being done on the course where the turf has not bedded correctly for one reason or another. The bad thing is there are lots of small areas all over, but the good thing is that they're all correctly marked GUR. I'm not knowledgeable about course maintenance but the fact that this is happening in addition to the usual mowing and rolling etc. I believe bodes well for the future of the whole setup. The owners are apparently using the same principles they used at The Shire, and that is a course high-praised for its presentation.
I'm sure we're going to have a great summer so ... I'm going golf crazy! Played M,W,F last week and T,W so far this week with another round set for early tomorrow.
