Woodcote Park - Cousldon

I'm a member at Woodcote. You've picked a good time to play as the course is in really lovely condition at the minute. I've been a member for just over 2 years and the condition of the course has got better and better since I've been there.

The key to scoring is hitting the fairways off the tee. Generally if you stray past the first cut it can cost you as you'll either be in the trees and playing out sideways or in fairly thick rough (and be in the trees :D)

There are quite a lot of fairly long par 4's. The 5th in particular is really tough, It's a slight dogleg to the right. The key is staying down the left off the tee as what seems a good shot down the middle can often be blocked out by the trees at the corner.

The 2nd and 18th are quite short par 5's and can offer good scoring opportunities, the other par 5 is the 16th which can be a real card wrecker. Safest route is right of centre off the tee to open the second half of the hole out then aim toward the left side of the green (if you're far enough off the tee that you can see it), whether you are going for it in 2 or not, as everything runs away to the right.

Are you playing the front 9 in the morning? It's a bit of a trek back from the 9th green, across the practice ground, back to the clubhouse.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Lovely course and a really good test.

The atmosphere in the clubhouse is generally excellent as well. No need to change your golf shoes if you are only going in the 19th, which is where most do go.
 
If you plan on wearing shorts, please make sure you wear shin height plain white socks. I made the mistake of thinking we had moved on from the Stone Age but when I played there last year with a customer we was advised if we didn't play in knee lengths socks the members would be in uproar.,,,

.... Which I can totally understand on a Wednesday late afternoon tee off and the course was sooooooooooooooo busy,
(That was a hint of sarcasm)

Shame as the course was really nice but it started on a downer.
 
Oddsocks said:
If you plan on wearing shorts, please make sure you wear shin height plain white socks. I made the mistake of thinking we had moved on from the Stone Age but when I played there last year with a customer we was advised if we didn't play in knee lengths socks the members would be in uproar.,,,

.... Which I can totally understand on a Wednesday late afternoon tee off and the course was sooooooooooooooo busy,
(That was a hint of sarcasm)

Shame as the course was really nice but it started on a downer.
Click to expand...

Hardly endears itself to visitors then
 
The worst thing was at the time I was one of the clubs suppliers, I booked it via the secretary and he was clearly advised that I would be bringing another client and at no time of booking was I advised of this tradition. What's more it was during a spell of hot weather we teed off in almost 90* heat,

I'm all for traditions on a a medal day or busy weekend day but

a) I should have been advised of their dress code given the booking was made during a heat wave

B) there are ways of asking people to adhere to a dress code and the manor in which is was done was not one of them

The client I played with agreed that although we both thought the course was very nice and in great nick, despite the heat wave, we wouldn't return due to the way we were spoken to.

What added insult to injury was the fact that after paying £8/9 per pair for two pairs of socks, we see members out not sticking to the dress code. That just rubbed salt in the cut.
 
Sorry mate but I find that a strange post. The dress code with shorts is white sports socks, OR knee high. Now I agree that the white socks thing is weird as dark socks are hardly untidy, however it's a fairly common rule at lots of courses I've played. Also, surely if you are playing at an away course, checking their dress code is a fairly straight forward and reasonable thing to do in advance given that not all clubs have the same rules? The Woodcote dress code is very easy to find on the website.

You're obviously entitled to your opinion but all I can say is that I am in no way shape or form what you would call stuck up,snooty or posh and I haven't found anything snooty or overl/unnecessarily traditional about the club while I've been a member.

I do agree though that if you were spoken to in an unfriendly manner that's not really on, although my experience of other members and certainly the pros I can only say its a surprise.
 
Last edited:
Jay, I find at the moment there seems to be to types of clubs, ones set on traditions of the past and ones moving with the times to encourage a relaxed atmosphere.

To me if you know your clubs has these rules yet most around do not, a gentle reminder when booking tee times wouldn't hurt... Ok maybe we was a little narrow minded in assuming this wasn't the case with wpgc, but the fact that we were spoken to in a rather unfriendly abrupt manor to rectify this seemed a bit ott, what really iced the cake was that certain members seen on the course were not sticking to the rule which your pro shop staff seemed so passionate about, and it wasn't just one or two.

As I said they knew I was using this to entertain a client and a certain level of decorum in my eyes should have been applied, the fact that when I paid the green fees there shop attendee said " oh yes, your one of our suppliers plus client " ....... To me just reeked a little of disrespect.

What I will say is my client, one of the nicest gents you will meet was pretty clear when thanking me for the afternoons golf but finishing it off with " it's a shame they didn't make us feel welcome at the start ".....
 
Real shame you were given that impression of the place. I honestly find it very surprising as ive not come across that sort of attitude at all. I wouldn't generally class the place as particularly traditional on the whole either.

I agree there is a way to speak to people, particularly guests. I just hope your experience doesn't put others off as, like I say, I honestly can't say that this is the norm at Woodcote, far from it, it's one of the friendliest clubs I've ever been too

Maybe you'll have to come back for a game one of these days,see if a second visit can balance the initial bad impression. I'd be happy to take you up as a guest.
 
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