Channel Isles golf

[Sean_A]

Now that flights to Jersey are silly cheap, I was thinking of a trip to the Isles for golf.  Has anybody played La Moye, Royal Jersey and Royal Guernsey?  For that matter, how are the restaurants and pubs in the nearby towns?  What about decent hotels?

Ciao

Sean  

[peter_p]

Sean,
Never been on the channel islands, but the March issue of Links Magazine arrived today and has an article on Jersey. (Today the online magazine has Feb issue.) It says Royal Jersey and LaMoye are must plays and says of Les Mielles G&CC "a short but don't-be-fooled tough layout with a freindly salt-of-the-earth membership. It lists two five star hotels - the Atlantic Hotel and Longueville Manor www.theatlantichotel.com  www.longuevillemanor.com

[Keith Durrant]

Sean,

Royal Guernsey (aka L'Ancresse) is my childhood club. Donald Steel has a write-up of Royal Jersey, La Moye and RG in his book Classic Golf Links.

Mackenzie Ross is listed as the primary architect at RG. It is a true links built on common land. Therefore anyone has the right of way over the holes including farmers who are allowed to graze their cattle in the rough !

Other hazards to be dealt with include a couple of neolithic stone monuments dating from thousands of years BC, Martello Towers and German Nazi bunkers from WWII.

This ancient set of rocks is dead in the middle of the 13th fairway, if you find the monument, you have to play it as it lies ! - the tee is on the top of the hill behind:


You feel you can be in danger of hitting this Martello Tower with a big slice on the 15th/16th holes:





The short downhill par 3 18th with Nazi concrete bunker just off from the line of play (a great view to finish a round):


http://www.royalguernseygolfclub.com/

A visit to the Channel Islands should include a side trip to the wonderful smaller islands Herm, Sark or Alderney. Alderney has a 9 hole course.

Keith

[Bob_Huntley]

Ken and Sean,

A couple of years ago en route to St. Andrews we flew into Guernsey, not for the golf, but for ladies to visit the  Millennium Tapestries Gallery.

My friend and I played Royal Guernsey and had a pleasant day. The wind was a little brisk and the course required some attention. The Martello Towers, erected during the unpleasantness with Napoleon some years earlier, provided endless talking points.

The Manager, Bobby Eggo, broke the course record years ago as an amateur and still is a force in the Islands.

I cannot see many visitors travelling to the Channel Isles for the golf alone.

[Thomas_Brown]

GB&I links courses cited which Peter Pittock has not seen?

Bob - Why is it not worth it?
Given a choice from London for a weekend trip, which would you choose:
  train/flight to St. Enodoc area
  flight to Channel Islands
  train/flight to Liverpool area

[Keith Durrant]

A small clarification, the Channel Islands may be a geographical area, but constitutionally they are made up of the Bailiwick of Guernsey (4 islands) and Jersey.

A weekend visit would really be to one island just as one would go only to either Marthas Vineyard or Nantucket in a weekend.

The beaches/cliff top walks and historical fortifications on all the islands are fantastic.

Thomas, from a golf perspective, I dont think one would compare RJ, LM and RG with the best mainland courses in Liverpool, for example. However, the weather forecast could be completely different for those three areas on your given weekend, which might be a factor !

The C.I. are renowned for their mild winters and temperate summers. However the wind certainly can blow !

[Bob_Huntley]

Thomas,

My choice would be the Liverpool area. I do believe thay have some of the most interesting courses in the Isles.

Bob

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I'd say there's really no comparison.  The Channel Islands are charming, which is an adjective you could never use of Liverpool!  You go for the place first and play golf for fun.  As far as Liverpool is concerned you go for the golf and when you've finished you get out of it as fast as you can - if your car's still there, that is.  It might well be there, but it will be propped up on four stacks of bricks.

I'm being unfair.  I spent many happy days working with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in its great days under Libor Pesek.  The Anglican Cathedral is always very welcoming and Ian Tracey, its organist, is a wizard both as a conductor and as a player.  I've enjoyed mooching around the Walker Art Gallery and the waterfront (Albert Dock, Pierhead etc) has been wonderfully rejuvenated.  I even recorded a tape (long before CDs) of songs and poems for the sinking of the Titanic for sale at the Liverpool Maritime Museum (quite why, I cannot say as the ship was built in Belfast and sailed from Southampton).