Hi all,
Been very busy the last few weeks but thought I'd finally get round to writing up our review of our west coast golf trip we took earlier this summer.
We initially planned to play the following in Scotland: Pitlochry, Royal Dornoch, Cullen, Cruden Bay and Carnoustie, sadly due to the pandemic Scotland closed their borders and travelling from the NE of England wasn't an option sadly. After numerous thoughts and ideas we set up on the following itinerary: Silloth, Seascale, Ulverston, West Lancs and Royal Birkdale. Early on a Monday morning four of us set off over the A66 to Silloth.
Silloth - Having only ever played two links rounds at Seaton Carew and Cleveland I was left rather underwhelmed by links golf so was unsure how I would find the trip! Silloth absolutely blew those concerns out of the water, we arrived to a fantastic welcome from the pro and some cracking breakfast, it really is a bit of a bizarre place Silloth, the cobbled road seems to just 'end' and all of a sudden you are met with a large dock on one side with a rather modest looking clubhouse on the other. Sadly just as we were about to tee off the rain started bouncing down, and I mean bouncing, torrential rain which would have easily closed any but the best draining links courses, by the 5th hole we were playing in t-shirts as the rain was so severe waterproofs were pointless and extra weight not needed! I regard Silloth as comfortably the best course I have ever played, the par 3's, all of them, are fantastic and all ask different questions, but there was something about the place that I just loved. The only real 'weak' hole I found was the 10th which is a short dog leg left but there is certainly enough trouble and risk/reward in the hole to make it interesting. We had planned to have lunch and then head straight out for a second 18, however, we were that soaked we agreed to go to our accommodation, shower and then return with a more favourable forecast suggested for the late afternoon, Simon couldn't have been more helpful and sorted this with no problem! Thankfully we returned to dry weather, unfortunately the wind was now howling, gusting at over 40mph, this made the course impossibly difficult, the par 5 on the back 9 straight into the teeth of the wind must have comfortably been playing 600 yards, we lost a million balls between us but all agreed what a fantastic course and one we would all love to return to.
Seascale - After a good nights sleep we set off early down the coast to Seascale, unfortunately we again arrived to sideways rain and 40mph winds, horrific conditions, again like the previous day we were the only people in the car park, never a good sign! A lovely woman was incredibly welcoming and we set off up the hill again in impossible conditions. We all really enjoyed the course, sadly due to the conditions we only managed to play 11 holes altogether, we agreed the course was unplayable due to the wind and rain, we missed what appeared to be some of the better holes in the far end of the course but really enjoyed the ones we did play and for £25 each in summer we couldn't complain at all! Again we agreed that we would all like to return soon, preferably when you can stand up without being blown over! After walking into the clubhouse the woman again was incredibly hospitable in allowing us to use the changing facilities as we were frozen to the bone and looked like drowned rats!
Ulverston - Again the forecast appeared to be more favourable in the afternoon and we made our way across to Ulverston on a journey which really does seem to take forever. We arrived early due to cutting short the morning round and enjoyed some lovely food in the clubhouse and admired the views over Morcambe Bay. Thankfully Ulverston is slightly more inland and being a parkland course had some shelter from the wind, which although still breezy felt like the calmest day in the world compared to the previous rounds! The course was nice enough without being great, some nice views and some quirky holes, a good one to tick off but probably wouldn't return, would rather make the slight detour up to Windermere if we were round that way again.
West Lancs - We stayed at the Premier Inn in Southport centre and had a great nights sleep and breakfast then made the short journey towards Liverpool for West Lancs. The welcome was OK, I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed with what we received but also wouldn't complain, it certainly could have been a bit more pleasant though, especially when comparing to what we'd received at the previous courses which were less than half of the price of WL. Starter was superb and certainly went some way to making us feel more at ease. The weather was outstanding, late 20's and not a breath of wind, the course looked immaculate and we were very impressed. West Lancs was the most 'acclaimed' course I had played up until that point and I really enjoyed it, I thought the routing was interesting and it was very playable but always having trouble looming if you got a bit too comfortable. The greens were brilliant and very enjoyable to putt on, again really enjoyed the par 3's on the course but in my opinion not as good as Silloth. Lunch was nice but again service not great, felt like we were a bit of an inconvenience to be honest. Back out for another 18 on the afternoon which was again enjoyable, however, I have to say despite being a really good course I did feel like the enjoyment was due to our scoring and the weather rather than the course itself, don't get me wrong the course was very impressive but looking back I can see why it is not rated higher in the rankings.
Royal Birkdale - We all agreed that we wanted to play one 'big' course on our trip and given our location we were torn between Royal Liverpool, Birkdale and Lytham, all were a similar price point (around £250) but we settled on playing Birkdale due to it being ranked the highest and the easiest way for us to return home! Now, after playing the courses on the previous days and reading every review going my expectations were quite high. We arrived early to take in as much as we could, welcome was again OK, pleasant enough without really being made to feel special. We had an excellent breakfast, took in the clubhouse and the history, chatted to some very nice members and then made our way to the range to warm up. Now, our first slight irk was that we were only allowed to play off yellows, I appreciate some clubs keep this for members comps, however, when you are paying £1000 for a 4 ball the least we expected was to be able to play off the tees that were 20 yards back, I understand that tourists who are not good enough may take forever off these tees, however, 3 of us are single figure handicaps and the fourth member of our group was a PGA pro who has played on the European Tour. We weren't expecting to play off the tips by any means but at least an appropriate yardage. The course looked mightily impressive and framed superbly by the massive dunes, I got off to a great start, birdieing the 1st and the 2nd. By the 4th hole I turned to my PP's and asked what their thoughts were, I was concerned I was 'missing something' as I wasn't blown away like I was at Silloth a few days earlier, the lads agreed and said whilst being good it wasn't living up to their expectations either. Don't get me wrong being able to see where Speith went right on 13, threading the ball between the dunes on 17 and walking down the 18th with that clubhouse were great memories but whilst having a pint on the terrace watching groups come in I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the whole experience. It would be interesting to see RB's ranking and reputation if you were able to separate it from it's history and base it purely on the 18 holes alone.
All in all though a fantastic few days and a great trip, I have to repeat, Silloth is an absolute must play and would implore anyone to make that painful journey to the west coast!
Been very busy the last few weeks but thought I'd finally get round to writing up our review of our west coast golf trip we took earlier this summer.
We initially planned to play the following in Scotland: Pitlochry, Royal Dornoch, Cullen, Cruden Bay and Carnoustie, sadly due to the pandemic Scotland closed their borders and travelling from the NE of England wasn't an option sadly. After numerous thoughts and ideas we set up on the following itinerary: Silloth, Seascale, Ulverston, West Lancs and Royal Birkdale. Early on a Monday morning four of us set off over the A66 to Silloth.
Silloth - Having only ever played two links rounds at Seaton Carew and Cleveland I was left rather underwhelmed by links golf so was unsure how I would find the trip! Silloth absolutely blew those concerns out of the water, we arrived to a fantastic welcome from the pro and some cracking breakfast, it really is a bit of a bizarre place Silloth, the cobbled road seems to just 'end' and all of a sudden you are met with a large dock on one side with a rather modest looking clubhouse on the other. Sadly just as we were about to tee off the rain started bouncing down, and I mean bouncing, torrential rain which would have easily closed any but the best draining links courses, by the 5th hole we were playing in t-shirts as the rain was so severe waterproofs were pointless and extra weight not needed! I regard Silloth as comfortably the best course I have ever played, the par 3's, all of them, are fantastic and all ask different questions, but there was something about the place that I just loved. The only real 'weak' hole I found was the 10th which is a short dog leg left but there is certainly enough trouble and risk/reward in the hole to make it interesting. We had planned to have lunch and then head straight out for a second 18, however, we were that soaked we agreed to go to our accommodation, shower and then return with a more favourable forecast suggested for the late afternoon, Simon couldn't have been more helpful and sorted this with no problem! Thankfully we returned to dry weather, unfortunately the wind was now howling, gusting at over 40mph, this made the course impossibly difficult, the par 5 on the back 9 straight into the teeth of the wind must have comfortably been playing 600 yards, we lost a million balls between us but all agreed what a fantastic course and one we would all love to return to.
Seascale - After a good nights sleep we set off early down the coast to Seascale, unfortunately we again arrived to sideways rain and 40mph winds, horrific conditions, again like the previous day we were the only people in the car park, never a good sign! A lovely woman was incredibly welcoming and we set off up the hill again in impossible conditions. We all really enjoyed the course, sadly due to the conditions we only managed to play 11 holes altogether, we agreed the course was unplayable due to the wind and rain, we missed what appeared to be some of the better holes in the far end of the course but really enjoyed the ones we did play and for £25 each in summer we couldn't complain at all! Again we agreed that we would all like to return soon, preferably when you can stand up without being blown over! After walking into the clubhouse the woman again was incredibly hospitable in allowing us to use the changing facilities as we were frozen to the bone and looked like drowned rats!
Ulverston - Again the forecast appeared to be more favourable in the afternoon and we made our way across to Ulverston on a journey which really does seem to take forever. We arrived early due to cutting short the morning round and enjoyed some lovely food in the clubhouse and admired the views over Morcambe Bay. Thankfully Ulverston is slightly more inland and being a parkland course had some shelter from the wind, which although still breezy felt like the calmest day in the world compared to the previous rounds! The course was nice enough without being great, some nice views and some quirky holes, a good one to tick off but probably wouldn't return, would rather make the slight detour up to Windermere if we were round that way again.
West Lancs - We stayed at the Premier Inn in Southport centre and had a great nights sleep and breakfast then made the short journey towards Liverpool for West Lancs. The welcome was OK, I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed with what we received but also wouldn't complain, it certainly could have been a bit more pleasant though, especially when comparing to what we'd received at the previous courses which were less than half of the price of WL. Starter was superb and certainly went some way to making us feel more at ease. The weather was outstanding, late 20's and not a breath of wind, the course looked immaculate and we were very impressed. West Lancs was the most 'acclaimed' course I had played up until that point and I really enjoyed it, I thought the routing was interesting and it was very playable but always having trouble looming if you got a bit too comfortable. The greens were brilliant and very enjoyable to putt on, again really enjoyed the par 3's on the course but in my opinion not as good as Silloth. Lunch was nice but again service not great, felt like we were a bit of an inconvenience to be honest. Back out for another 18 on the afternoon which was again enjoyable, however, I have to say despite being a really good course I did feel like the enjoyment was due to our scoring and the weather rather than the course itself, don't get me wrong the course was very impressive but looking back I can see why it is not rated higher in the rankings.
Royal Birkdale - We all agreed that we wanted to play one 'big' course on our trip and given our location we were torn between Royal Liverpool, Birkdale and Lytham, all were a similar price point (around £250) but we settled on playing Birkdale due to it being ranked the highest and the easiest way for us to return home! Now, after playing the courses on the previous days and reading every review going my expectations were quite high. We arrived early to take in as much as we could, welcome was again OK, pleasant enough without really being made to feel special. We had an excellent breakfast, took in the clubhouse and the history, chatted to some very nice members and then made our way to the range to warm up. Now, our first slight irk was that we were only allowed to play off yellows, I appreciate some clubs keep this for members comps, however, when you are paying £1000 for a 4 ball the least we expected was to be able to play off the tees that were 20 yards back, I understand that tourists who are not good enough may take forever off these tees, however, 3 of us are single figure handicaps and the fourth member of our group was a PGA pro who has played on the European Tour. We weren't expecting to play off the tips by any means but at least an appropriate yardage. The course looked mightily impressive and framed superbly by the massive dunes, I got off to a great start, birdieing the 1st and the 2nd. By the 4th hole I turned to my PP's and asked what their thoughts were, I was concerned I was 'missing something' as I wasn't blown away like I was at Silloth a few days earlier, the lads agreed and said whilst being good it wasn't living up to their expectations either. Don't get me wrong being able to see where Speith went right on 13, threading the ball between the dunes on 17 and walking down the 18th with that clubhouse were great memories but whilst having a pint on the terrace watching groups come in I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the whole experience. It would be interesting to see RB's ranking and reputation if you were able to separate it from it's history and base it purely on the 18 holes alone.
All in all though a fantastic few days and a great trip, I have to repeat, Silloth is an absolute must play and would implore anyone to make that painful journey to the west coast!
