Top 25 Heathland Courses

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Liverbirdie

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The 2nd at Camberley is a fantastic par 3. But the finish is god awful. 18 is such a terrible hole

Cant argue with that with regards to the "play to" shot/yardages.

I thought overall that there was a lot of different and individual holes.

Returning to one course again, I thought that the par 5's at West Hill could be miles better and to encourage more risk/reward. The 70+ yards of heather across the faiway widths wouldnt tempt enough in to encourage the bold to carry them apart from real 300+ yard bombers.

I think if they made the depth of the heather just 20-30 yards deep, or even if you left a 30 yard central piece for the straight hitters, it would see more take it on, whereas they seemed to be either laying up at 230/240 or only 280+ hitters taking them on, and from memory they were all like this. Instead of a 70 yard square of heather with a 5 yard path through it, either make the central "path" 30 yards wide, or make the depth of it only 20 yards long.
 
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Your right.

Your wrong......IMHO, of course.:p

When you say level, are you talking as a challenge or as a golf course?

Dont get me wrong the Hotchkin is very tough, and tougher than quite a few I've mentioned. I'm talking as a golf course.

I’m talking as a golf course

I’m lucky enough to play some of the courses you mentioned a number of times of year - Camberley, Liphook , West Hill and played Woodhall a number of times

Woodhall for me wins by a considerable margin because it’s a better golf in regards

Layout , condition , playability and it has that X Factor - I can’t recall one single weak hole on the course and the bunkering is the best I have seen

Each one of those other courses all have weak holes that let it down and don’t get close to Woodhall in terms of playability and condition - Yep they have more elevations but some of them in those courses are awful and let’s the course down - Woodhall maybe flat but I didn’t notice , I did notice that it’s a world class golf course and deserves its ranking amongst the best
 

Liverbirdie

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I’m talking as a golf course

I’m lucky enough to play some of the courses you mentioned a number of times of year - Camberley, Liphook , West Hill and played Woodhall a number of times

Woodhall for me wins by a considerable margin because it’s a better golf in regards

Layout , condition , playability and it has that X Factor - I can’t recall one single weak hole on the course and the bunkering is the best I have seen

Each one of those other courses all have weak holes that let it down and don’t get close to Woodhall in terms of playability and condition - Yep they have more elevations but some of them in those courses are awful and let’s the course down - Woodhall maybe flat but I didn’t notice , I did notice that it’s a world class golf course and deserves its ranking amongst the best

You pick the arguably weaker courses to aid your argument.

I can forgive a few weak holes and tend to look at it as a total package.

Give me a course with 15 brilliant holes and a few weak ones, rather than a good 18 with no weak ones.
 

Lord Tyrion

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I think it was just that he thought Alwoodley was the stronger test of golf. He expected Moortown in his opinion was definately a step down as a test.

He observed that as a bloke who grew up on a dodgy council estate in a small village he may not be the right 'type' to be a member at Alwoodley :LOL:
Ha ha. I fully understand the last sentence. We found that to be very much the case at Moortown, very grand, in their heads anyway. Alwoodley was more welcoming and relaxed but there was still a slight air about the place. Of the two I would return to Alwoodley quicker because of the atmosphere.
 
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You pick the arguably weaker courses to aid your argument.

I can forgive a few weak holes and tend to look at it as a total package.

Give me a course with 15 brilliant holes and a few weak ones, rather than a good 18 with no weak ones.

I was really mainly talking about courses I have played a number of times each year that you had above Woodhall

I don’t see any of those three courses having 15 “brilliant” holes

They prob have 3/4 outstanding holes , 10 very good holes and then a few weak holes. They do have your undulating holes and elevation that you like - Camberley for me has some shocking poor holes - 16 , 18 two perfect examples

But I’ll add my thoughts on the others that I have played you mentioned

Alwoodley - really enjoyed it but a few holes I didn’t enjoy and but overall a superb course

Berkshire Blue - another superb course but I think the Red is better and is close to Hotchkin- very close

Hankley - again outstanding but two holes which imo just make it below Hotchkin - 4 and 18 - the holes further out are just stunning

Worplesdon - just below West Hill imo

Not played Broadstone , West Sussex

So my top 5 would be

Sunningdale Old
Sunningdale New
Swinley Forest
Hotchkin
Hankley Common

The Berkshire Red , Blue then Alwoodley

But West Hill is one of my favourites
 

Swingalot

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I was really mainly talking about courses I have played a number of times each year that you had above Woodhall

I don’t see any of those three courses having 15 “brilliant” holes

They prob have 3/4 outstanding holes , 10 very good holes and then a few weak holes. They do have your undulating holes and elevation that you like - Camberley for me has some shocking poor holes - 16 , 18 two perfect examples

But I’ll add my thoughts on the others that I have played you mentioned

Alwoodley - really enjoyed it but a few holes I didn’t enjoy and but overall a superb course

Berkshire Blue - another superb course but I think the Red is better and is close to Hotchkin- very close

Hankley - again outstanding but two holes which imo just make it below Hotchkin - 4 and 18 - the holes further out are just stunning

Worplesdon - just below West Hill imo

Not played Broadstone , West Sussex

So my top 5 would be

Sunningdale Old
Sunningdale New
Swinley Forest
Hotchkin
Hankley Common

The Berkshire Red , Blue then Alwoodley

But West Hill is one of my favourites

Agree West Hill above Worplesdon. Where would you rate Liphook and Camberley against those two out of interest?
 
D

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Agree West Hill above Worplesdon. Where would you rate Liphook and Camberley against those two out of interest?

I’m not a great fan of Camberley- it has some very good holes but a lot of not so good ones so I would put it at the bottom of those four , next would be Worplesdon but i need to play it again as it was an early season round - the greens weren’t great but the layout was nice. Liphook would be second - greens are stunning and a lot of the holes are just superb but the first is poor and the 15th is really poor plus not a fan of that path just before the 2nd green. Then my fav is West Hill just really enjoy it there even if it has a few holes that aren’t great

So I think West Hill , Liphook and Worplesdon are very close and its just down to a personal fave and then Camberley a fair distance below imo
 

User20205

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It’s not fair to put Camberly in the same catergory.IMO. It’s a decent course but not in the top, top bracket like the others. West hill is nice, but not in the same league as the Berkshire red & liphook IMO. But both are in the shade of sunningdale new (yet to play the old). I’ve only played 10 of the 25 but I’d be surprised if there was a better offering than sunningdale new!!
Special mention must go to broadstone, if it was in Surrey people would rave about it!!
 

HomerJSimpson

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Not played too many but I'm spoilt with a few good ones locally so both courses at Sunningdale would be there. I'm another that enjoys Camberley Heath but it has a number of weak holes as does West Hill and in my opinion so did Liphook but the greens there were sublime. Both courses at the Berkshire are decent. Hankely was a great experience. I think my top five though would be

Sunningdale Old
Sunningdale New
St Georges Hill
Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin)
Woking
 

MendieGK

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It’s not fair to put Camberly in the same catergory.IMO. It’s a decent course but not in the top, top bracket like the others. West hill is nice, but not in the same league as the Berkshire red & liphook IMO. But both are in the shade of sunningdale new (yet to play the old). I’ve only played 10 of the 25 but I’d be surprised if there was a better offering than sunningdale new!!
Special mention must go to broadstone, if it was in Surrey people would rave about it!!
Love broadstone, but you don’t get stupid holes like the 7th on the top top courses
 

User20205

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Not played too many but I'm spoilt with a few good ones locally so both courses at Sunningdale would be there. I'm another that enjoys Camberley Heath but it has a number of weak holes as does West Hill and in my opinion so did Liphook but the greens there were sublime. Both courses at the Berkshire are decent. Hankely was a great experience. I think my top five though would be

Sunningdale Old
Sunningdale New
St Georges Hill
Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin)
Woking
Wash your mouth out!! ;) Liphook has no weak holes, it’s a slice of golfing heaven, 2nd only to sunningdale new. Looking forward to the new next year !!
 
D

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Wash your mouth out!! ;) Liphook has no weak holes, it’s a slice of golfing heaven, 2nd only to sunningdale new. Looking forward to the new next year !!
15th is a poor hole , 9th isn’t good at all - thankfully they are redesigning those including the 11th - also not a fan of the first

The greens are what makes Liphook a good course
 

User20205

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It’s the internal OOB that make the 15th poor, that’s a health & safety consideration. Bet it wasn’t there originally. 9th is a great hole, so is the 11th imo. You do realise the greens are an intrinsic part of the course ;)
I don’t like starting on a par 3, but the 1st//18th on a lot of courses are the worst holes
 
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It’s the internal OOB that make the 15th poor, that’s a health & safety consideration. Bet it wasn’t there originally. 9th is a great hole, so is the 11th imo. You do realise the greens are an intrinsic part of the course ;)
I don’t like starting on a par 3, but the 1st//18th on a lot of courses are the worst holes

It’s more than the OB - it’s the poor shape of the fairway , the blind tee shot and then the approach feels all cramped in - it feels like two holes sort of muddled together.

The 9th is a good drive then just guess where to hit the ball and hope for a nice bounce towards the green

11th will be going with it becoming the green for the 10th
 

User20205

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Where is the 11th going? I’m sure they’ll do it well, but it’s a green for a par 3 not a long par 4,
15th is easy if you can carry the bunker ;)
 

richart

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15th is a poor hole , 9th isn’t good at all - thankfully they are redesigning those including the 11th - also not a fan of the first

The greens are what makes Liphook a good course
15th is not a good hole, neither is 16 or 17 in my opinion. Why didn’t they raise the tee on 17 a few feet when they did up the tee. Unnecessary blind shot to a par three. 3rd and 11 th are better holes from the white tees, which are no where near the yellows. 10th is a dull hole, but changes will make it much better.

Greens are consistently the best I play on, and fairways as good as any heathland ones.

Personally if had a choice between West Hill and Liphook I would chose West Hill.

One thing I am not keen about some heathland courses is the road noise. The Berkshire Blue, Liphook, And Walton Heath spring to mind.Perhaps why I love Hankley so much, as no road noise, and also no houses on the edge of fairways. Blackmoor is another peaceful course now the army have moved out.;)
 
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