dufferman
Journeyman Pro
I played The Windlesham on Sunday and felt it was worth leaving a review on here about my day.
I was offered a free 4 ball via an ad on Facebook. I took up the offer, and booked in me & 3 guests for Sunday.
We arrived to a very large, new and modern clubhouse. It was really nice, with a well equipped pro shop, and 2 helpful staff behind the counter.
We were given our guest passes, and headed to the practice green. We'd already noticed that we were on top of a hill, looking down over the 1st, 9th, 10th & 18th. So, when the pro told us the putting green was closed as it was flooded, we were surprised.
None the less, as we passed the putting green to the bar, it was soaked. That was a shame, but we thought nothing of it and walked on in. After a quick cup of coffee, we were ready to go out to the 1st. The spike bar would put most to shame, it really was lovely.
We'd been given a pin sheet, and told today's pins would be on the starter's hut, where we would be met by the starter. Neither were true, so we set off hoping to find the first pin easy enough to see to gauge which position they were in.
The first hole was actually very nice, a downhill par 4 which had a pond protecting the green. As we reached the pond, we noticed what can only be described as a stream of water pouring over the pathway onto the fairway / pond - resulting in a truly sodden area just before the pond (where 2 of the 4 of us had decided to lay up to). The green was in nice condition, and not wet as it was raised up from the pond area. I three putted but felt a 6 on the 1st hole with no course knowledge was good enough.
Unfortunately, as the round went on, holes become slowly more soggy. By the time we were getting to the 7th & 8th, the ground underfoot was really bad. Then on the 9th the rain came down hard, and that made things worse.
By this time, we had also realised that the pin position sheet was useless, as the pins were in different positions on different holes!
After the 12th, one of our guys pulled out due to a re-occuring leg injury. We had been keeping good pace, with no trouble from the guys behind us as we were at least half a hole ahead, so the final 6 holes seemed to fly by.
If I'm being honest, I can't recall many stand out holes. A lot of the course felt a bit squashed, with some strange hole arrangements (walking back up fairways to get to the next hole etc) but the real killer was the water on the course, not in the hazards. We'd had some rain over the last week or so, but nothing of huge significance to waterlog a course. Many fairways had standing water, and by the back 9 the greens were holding the water - my PP's perfect PW onto the 18th par 5 plugged 2/3rds of the ball in the green, which we were not expecting as the green looked to be slightly uphill from the fairway!
Of the 4 of us, one enjoyed the course, and other 3 felt it played more like a local muni than a members club. The fact it was free certainly made it enjoyable, but if I'd have been charged £35 for the round, I'd have felt a little hard done by.
I'd like to play it again in the summer, when the course had been dry for a few weeks, but in the winter months I can imagine the course closes, as the relatively small amount of rain we'd had over the past week had made it very wet already! A course it reminded me of was Ruislip Golf club, in Middlesex, where I used to play when I was younger. The fairways were well kept (where not soaking) as were the greens, but some of the other parts of the course (rough, walkways etc) were shabby and not well-kept. Piles of weeks-old grass cuttings on the side of fairways, pot-holes in paths that send electric buggies off in different directions, all that sort of thing.
It could be that the course is going through a regeneration, and the first thing they've done is the clubhouse. It's a shame they didn't do the course first if that is the case, because with a bit of TLC the course could be excellent!
I was offered a free 4 ball via an ad on Facebook. I took up the offer, and booked in me & 3 guests for Sunday.
We arrived to a very large, new and modern clubhouse. It was really nice, with a well equipped pro shop, and 2 helpful staff behind the counter.
We were given our guest passes, and headed to the practice green. We'd already noticed that we were on top of a hill, looking down over the 1st, 9th, 10th & 18th. So, when the pro told us the putting green was closed as it was flooded, we were surprised.
None the less, as we passed the putting green to the bar, it was soaked. That was a shame, but we thought nothing of it and walked on in. After a quick cup of coffee, we were ready to go out to the 1st. The spike bar would put most to shame, it really was lovely.
We'd been given a pin sheet, and told today's pins would be on the starter's hut, where we would be met by the starter. Neither were true, so we set off hoping to find the first pin easy enough to see to gauge which position they were in.
The first hole was actually very nice, a downhill par 4 which had a pond protecting the green. As we reached the pond, we noticed what can only be described as a stream of water pouring over the pathway onto the fairway / pond - resulting in a truly sodden area just before the pond (where 2 of the 4 of us had decided to lay up to). The green was in nice condition, and not wet as it was raised up from the pond area. I three putted but felt a 6 on the 1st hole with no course knowledge was good enough.
Unfortunately, as the round went on, holes become slowly more soggy. By the time we were getting to the 7th & 8th, the ground underfoot was really bad. Then on the 9th the rain came down hard, and that made things worse.
By this time, we had also realised that the pin position sheet was useless, as the pins were in different positions on different holes!
After the 12th, one of our guys pulled out due to a re-occuring leg injury. We had been keeping good pace, with no trouble from the guys behind us as we were at least half a hole ahead, so the final 6 holes seemed to fly by.
If I'm being honest, I can't recall many stand out holes. A lot of the course felt a bit squashed, with some strange hole arrangements (walking back up fairways to get to the next hole etc) but the real killer was the water on the course, not in the hazards. We'd had some rain over the last week or so, but nothing of huge significance to waterlog a course. Many fairways had standing water, and by the back 9 the greens were holding the water - my PP's perfect PW onto the 18th par 5 plugged 2/3rds of the ball in the green, which we were not expecting as the green looked to be slightly uphill from the fairway!
Of the 4 of us, one enjoyed the course, and other 3 felt it played more like a local muni than a members club. The fact it was free certainly made it enjoyable, but if I'd have been charged £35 for the round, I'd have felt a little hard done by.
I'd like to play it again in the summer, when the course had been dry for a few weeks, but in the winter months I can imagine the course closes, as the relatively small amount of rain we'd had over the past week had made it very wet already! A course it reminded me of was Ruislip Golf club, in Middlesex, where I used to play when I was younger. The fairways were well kept (where not soaking) as were the greens, but some of the other parts of the course (rough, walkways etc) were shabby and not well-kept. Piles of weeks-old grass cuttings on the side of fairways, pot-holes in paths that send electric buggies off in different directions, all that sort of thing.
It could be that the course is going through a regeneration, and the first thing they've done is the clubhouse. It's a shame they didn't do the course first if that is the case, because with a bit of TLC the course could be excellent!
