SugarPenguin
Challenge Tour Pro
I recently played at The Oaks in a Pro-Am on Friday 13[SUP]th[/SUP] May and had a magnificent day. Its situated in the middle of nowhere really, between Howden and York(ish) for those of you not local.
You can tell it’s a quality place as you drive up. Nice tidy entrance and a driveway, which meanders through a couple of holes to the clubhouse / Spa. Yes it has a spa, but to be honest I wouldn’t have known unless I was told beforehand.
The clubhouse and proshop is quite new and does everything you expect to a good standard.
Practice facilities were fairly extensive. Large putting green, short game green which you can chip on and includes a massive bunker which was excellent. It also included a very good driving range of about 10 bays as well as a grass range too. Absolutely excellent and decent value for balls as well.
The course itself was in near perfect condition. Being a Pro-Am I think they put some extra effort in really. We had an announcer on the tee which you could still hear him from about half a mile away and there were some cars on display for a hole in one and a few sponsorship boards up etc etc…
The greens were perfect – No pitch marks and they were just lovely. Best I have played on this year. Fast and true. It was like playing in the middle of summer. Fairways were similar as well. Mowed just right so its easy enough to get a club underneath but they weren’t fluffy. The greens were firm but not so unforgiving that they wouldn’t hold. The fairways were softer, there wasn’t much run. The rough round the greens was really quite strange. It felt quite soft but the ball would just grab so so much - it made things difficult to be honest with you but I enjoyed the challenge as it was different.
The course layout was for the most part really good. Lots of doglegs and it’s a really good tactical test. Its made for competitions. There was quite a few ponds dotted around the fairways and greens and the designers wanted you to play the course in a certain way. High Risk High reward was the message I got from it. Loved the challenges the course presented me with. The holes were fairly wide but the fairways were narrow which allowed you to have a thrash but be punished without being completely demoralised. I landed in so many bunkers I lost count…. Also Despite all the dog legs there wasn’t really a completely blind tee shot, so you could commit to the drives.
Only negative with the course was that 3 out of the 4 par 3s were unbelievably boring. The first one is about 130yards and is framed with high trees and bunkers. Lovely. The rest were all over 200 yards, straight down with a large bank at the back of the green. Horrendously dull.
The greens although immaculate were pretty boring too. No false fronts or tiered or anything. They were all pretty much flat which made things surprisingly difficult. If I played again I would just aim at the hole and score a lot better as I missed everything on what I though to be the high side. There was no really creativity which was a real shame since the rest of the course was definitely imaginative and quite long of the white tees.
I am probably being slightly over critical as these faults hardly ruined the experience. It was a great day out and with Bacon sandwiches before I pegged off and hot dogs and pimms at the half way house, as well as a free carvery….. Its hard not to be impressed.
I definitely recommend giving The Oaks a go if you are looking for a quality course. Additionally it wasn’t over posh or stuffy… all in all a fantastic golf course with some top class facilities. I am definitely going back in the Summer if I can get on !
You can tell it’s a quality place as you drive up. Nice tidy entrance and a driveway, which meanders through a couple of holes to the clubhouse / Spa. Yes it has a spa, but to be honest I wouldn’t have known unless I was told beforehand.
The clubhouse and proshop is quite new and does everything you expect to a good standard.
Practice facilities were fairly extensive. Large putting green, short game green which you can chip on and includes a massive bunker which was excellent. It also included a very good driving range of about 10 bays as well as a grass range too. Absolutely excellent and decent value for balls as well.
The course itself was in near perfect condition. Being a Pro-Am I think they put some extra effort in really. We had an announcer on the tee which you could still hear him from about half a mile away and there were some cars on display for a hole in one and a few sponsorship boards up etc etc…
The greens were perfect – No pitch marks and they were just lovely. Best I have played on this year. Fast and true. It was like playing in the middle of summer. Fairways were similar as well. Mowed just right so its easy enough to get a club underneath but they weren’t fluffy. The greens were firm but not so unforgiving that they wouldn’t hold. The fairways were softer, there wasn’t much run. The rough round the greens was really quite strange. It felt quite soft but the ball would just grab so so much - it made things difficult to be honest with you but I enjoyed the challenge as it was different.
The course layout was for the most part really good. Lots of doglegs and it’s a really good tactical test. Its made for competitions. There was quite a few ponds dotted around the fairways and greens and the designers wanted you to play the course in a certain way. High Risk High reward was the message I got from it. Loved the challenges the course presented me with. The holes were fairly wide but the fairways were narrow which allowed you to have a thrash but be punished without being completely demoralised. I landed in so many bunkers I lost count…. Also Despite all the dog legs there wasn’t really a completely blind tee shot, so you could commit to the drives.
Only negative with the course was that 3 out of the 4 par 3s were unbelievably boring. The first one is about 130yards and is framed with high trees and bunkers. Lovely. The rest were all over 200 yards, straight down with a large bank at the back of the green. Horrendously dull.
The greens although immaculate were pretty boring too. No false fronts or tiered or anything. They were all pretty much flat which made things surprisingly difficult. If I played again I would just aim at the hole and score a lot better as I missed everything on what I though to be the high side. There was no really creativity which was a real shame since the rest of the course was definitely imaginative and quite long of the white tees.
I am probably being slightly over critical as these faults hardly ruined the experience. It was a great day out and with Bacon sandwiches before I pegged off and hot dogs and pimms at the half way house, as well as a free carvery….. Its hard not to be impressed.
I definitely recommend giving The Oaks a go if you are looking for a quality course. Additionally it wasn’t over posh or stuffy… all in all a fantastic golf course with some top class facilities. I am definitely going back in the Summer if I can get on !
