The Inspiration

[Morfeen75]

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.

Word of advice, stay out the rough

 

[Morfeen75]

I really am looking forward to playing this new inland links. My friend has joined and he his over the moon with it.

 

[Orikoru]

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.

Yeah, I went a little too far right on the 15th and found my ball just one yard into that thick stuff. Hacked it out with a wedge and it went about five yards. Ended up making my only triple of the day. As I said earlier, the tee shots are quite forgiving, but if you push your luck too much there is some horrible long stuff about.

 

[VVega]

 

[IanM]

Blimey. Who is this bloke? Why would anyone want to watch him chopping it round?

 

[VVega]

Based on the video the greens do look very nice. The bunkers are also good.

A bit confusing seeing the staked trees between fairways, thought they were going for inland links branding, why then plant trees?

Also noticed most par 4s were very short, not sure which tees he played.

All in all a good video showcasing the course. He probably scored close to what RS would score

 

[Orikoru]

Based on the video the greens do look very nice. The bunkers are also good.

A bit confusing seeing the staked trees between fairways, thought they were going for inland links branding, why then plant trees?

Also noticed most par 4s were very short, not sure which tees he played.

All in all a good video showcasing the course. He probably scored close to what RS would score

We played the orange tees (yellow equivalent) and there are par 4s of 420, 400, 390 and 430 so they're definitely not all short. The 10th is very short at 245 yards, obviously to tempt you to drive the green when there's bunkers right and jungleland left. The others are between 310 and 365. A few of those ones are doglegs too where hitting driver would see you roll through into rough so I was hitting 7 wood or hybrid down for position.

 

[IanM]

The greens, tees and bunkers have been built to a really high spec. That really stands out. We played the Mixed tee layout, which worked well. Bit longer than the standard, but not all the way back.

I think the "inland links" branding isn't important. I think they've built a course that is interesting and fun to play. It'll be good to see how it matures and deals with a wet winter. You can see plenty of additional drainage has gone in. I really enjoyed my visit.

Our @LIG was beeming from ear to ear as we went round. That's a really good measure.

 

[LIG]

Based on the video the greens do look very nice. The bunkers are also good.

A bit confusing seeing the staked trees between fairways, thought they were going for inland links branding, why then plant trees?

Also noticed most par 4s were very short, not sure which tees he played.

All in all a good video showcasing the course. He probably scored close to what RS would score

Clearly played off the Orange tees. The par 4s are much better played off the Black (back) tees. Most add around 30 yards from the Orange tees - but the challenge remains keeping it on the contoured fairways. The shorter 4s are mostly doglegs where there is definitely a risk involved in trying for the green or going over the corner - they're (practically) blind and an unseen landing zone means you may never know where to search for the ball that gets a kick. I certainly find quite a few!

 

[VVega]

The greens, tees and bunkers have been built to a really high spec. That really stands out. We played the Mixed tee layout, which worked well. Bit longer than the standard, but not all the way back.

I think the "inland links" branding isn't important. I think they've built a course that is interesting and fun to play. It'll be good to see how it matures and deals with a wet winter. You can see plenty of additional drainage has gone in. I really enjoyed my visit.

Our @LIG was beeming from ear to ear as we went round. That's a really good measure.

Definitely on my list to play this summer before the greens get some decease/ draught/ full of pitchmarks

What did they do for irrigation? Are there any sprinklers on the fairways? Is there a reservoir to collect rain water somewhere? Just curious.

 

[IanM]

There are sprinklers on fairways and I'm pretty sure I saw a water tank beyond the 18th Green.

 

[sunshine]

Tried to watch it but got bored watching him hack it around and describe how he hacked it around.

Just find it amazing how people post videos like this. Does anyone care? He’s like one of those blokes in the clubhouse who wants to give you a shot by shot summary of his round, while everybody’s eyes glaze over. Has he any self awareness?

 

[IanM]

Word of advice, stay out the rough

That's decent advice anywhere.

 

[VVega]

Tried to watch it but got bored watching him hack it around and describe how he hacked it around.

Just find it amazing how people post videos like this. Does anyone care? He’s like one of those blokes in the clubhouse who wants to give you a shot by shot summary of his round, while everybody’s eyes glaze over. Has he any self awareness?

Watch on mute and enjoy viewing the areas of the course which you are surely not going to visit

 

[sjw]

Rick Shiels has released a video today with the claim that he was the first ever to play it. Haven't watched the video but I wouldn't be surprised if it's true. Look forward to watching later and seeing the course

 

[Gopher]

It may market itself as an 'Inland Links'. It may be inland but from the photos it's not anywhere near a links course...

Links courses have tight, sandy fairways, gorse and natural humps, hollows and runaways. I can't see any gorse or sandy, tight lies, from the pics.

It's a great soundbite and marketing tool, but I was bitten by this in the early 90's by joining a course that marketed itself as an 'inland links', when it was really just a farmers field with no trees or features and heavy, clay-based fairways.

I'm not saying The Inspiration (not a great name btw) is like that... it looks interesting and an enjoyable track.. but an (inland) links it is not.

 

[Orikoru]

It may market itself as an 'Inland Links'. It may be inland but from the photos it's not anywhere near a links course...

Links courses have tight, sandy fairways, gorse and natural humps, hollows and runaways. I can't see any gorse or sandy, tight lies, from the pics.

It's a great soundbite and marketing tool, but I was bitten by this in the early 90's by joining a course that marketed itself as an 'inland links', when it was really just a farmers field with no trees or features and heavy, clay-based fairways.

I'm not saying The Inspiration (not a great name btw) is like that... it looks interesting and an enjoyable track.. but an (inland) links it is not.

I don't know why people always get their panties in a twist over this though, it's only a marketing phrase. It doesn't mean much more than there's no trees and it drains well. They can call it what they like.

 

[IanM]

In the preceeding 10 days, I'd played three old school links and yes, the feel here is very different.

But that's not a fair comparison. It's a new course and it's within the blooming largest conurbation in the country! Inland links is an oxymoron, but folk know what it means. (I'm reminded of the Fawlty Towers sketch about the view from a Torquay hotel window!)

I enjoyed my day there.

 

[sjw]

Brilliant info in the video from Shiels (might have been mentioned in this thread before)

They weren't allowed too many water hazards because they're near an RAF base and they didn't want to attract too many birds

 

[Mark1751]

Watched the video of Rick Shiels today and thought the course look great, looking forward to playing it soon.