[Paul_Turner]

That came out reasonably well last winter.

First up is Copt Heath near to Birmingham.  A course occasionally mentioned on this site.  It's not really heath, with only a few patches of gorse, and the land is nice if not special.  What makes the course different are the bunkers peppered all over it.  They make the course, both visually and tactically.  A good mix of holes at Copt Heath.

I think Martin Hawtree did some remodelling/restoration work recently, it looked sypathetic to my eye.

(It's Colt+F Hawtree+Vardon)


14th.  Short 4.  Tee is behind me and to the right.


7th short par 5.


Deceptive bunker at the short par 4 11th.  It looks hard up on the green but is in fact well short.


13th Looks simple but is challenging.  The green runs away to the back right corner.  The tactic would have been to run it through the gap.


A new bunker that doesn't quite hit the mark. The 12th.


12th green


18th bunker chain.  Green is set at an angle.

Next is Romford.  And back in Darwin's day this was a famous historic course that fostered the young James Braid before he moved to Walton Heath.  The land is flat and quite dull but Colt did an extensive remodel in the 20s and filled it up with bunkers.   I was a bit disappointed in its current condition, there were plenty of authentic features left but the plantings were poor and  the course had lost its sandy character that is evident in old aerials.

Still it is a surprise to find such an historic course in Romford!


Par 3 3rd showing some of the bunker flair. Tee is back and to the left.


Par 5, 5th.  True fairway bunkers.


Par 3, 6th, wicked green here.


Run-away green at 2nd.


15th.  Again bunkers dictating the play.


17th.  Super hole, not a great pic.


Cross bunkers at 18th.  Clubhouse is a beauty,

Finally Thorndon Park.  A typical english parkland course from the 1920s.  Rolling land from a old country estate.  Ancient oaks ... Again an HC course, this time original.  An excellent routing with plenty of strong holes-one great one the 3rd.  Most of its character is intact, although could do with roughening up the bunkers a bit.


13th bunkers cut into the terrain.


Rolling par 4, 7th.


All kind of angles at the 8th.  One of the ancient oaks.


Target shot at 2nd


3rd.  Stream and bunkers to tackle.  Ideally play the run up.

[Sean_A]

Paul

What is up with the sand colour at Copt Heath?  I don't recall that coppery brown tint the last time I was there.  

Thorndon Park looks like quite a winner!

Thanks for posting the pics.

Ciao

Sean

[Paul_Turner]

Sean

Yes I think the sand might be new.  I like it a lot.  A rich earthy look.

[Sean_A]

Paul

I think the sand at Sandwell is similar if I am not mistaken.  

On another note.  I played Swansea Bay today.  A proper working man's club.  We were going to play Pennard, but the greens were not on.  It is a strange old club.  The course is actually quite good considering the land available.  Fantastic routing really.  The M4 is quite close and the A road which leads to Swansea runs right through the middle of the course leaving six linksy holes on the waterside of the A road.  There are nasty factories of Port Talbot which are the backdrop.  Somehow the course is able to overcome the environment.  

There are at least 10 really good holes.  One is particularly unusual.  It is a short par 5 that turns abruptly left.  The drive needs to be well left to get a line on the green for the second.  This much is obvious from the tee.  What is wild is the second.  It is about a 200 yard uphill approach with very tall trees and a bunker guarding the middle/right.  The green sits askew to the fairway and sits UNDERNEATH the M4 exit ramp.  Brilliant use of a dead corner.  I wish I had my camera because this course was textbook on how to use a single bunker, tree, drainage ditch etc. to make up for its lack of length.  

Ciao

Sean

[mark chalfant]

Thanks,  Paul , i love the 18th at Romford

[T_MacWood]

I like the sand color too, it reminds of The Golf Club, which is more a tan or dirty blond color.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Great Pictures Paul, 3 Colt’s, how similar did you find them?

As Sean and Tom have said that sand colour is amazing – looks distinctive but fits in much better than white would.  Woodall Spa had a similar colour and it was really fluffy.

Haven’t played Romford but you do a much better job of making it interesting than the club website does.  http://www.romfordgolfclub.com/home.php   They only mention Braid and the bunkers you show look nothing like his work at Hainault Forest down the road.  Another must play thanks to GCA.

Got to play Thorndon Park this year and I was really impressed as were the two guys with me who have played pretty much all the recognized courses.  Last week someone defined Pedantic on here but I still have to say that the hole you show as the third is surely the fourth. The Third plays across the lake and the better driver gets a big advantage as the more adventurous line will run downhill and gain upto 40 yards on the timid.  

I will visit again with camera next year and report back. Suffice to say I thought there was lots of variation in holes and most offered width and strategic choices a plenty.  It did remind me of St Georges Hill.

When were you there? Around here most of the leaves are still on the trees, (until this last frosty weekend), and I’m interested in how you found the greens.   Locally many people have said to me that they lost the greens a few years ago and it’s no longer the course it was.  In May they had just applied a heavy top dressing and they looked more brown than green but they played true and quite fast.  

Next year I move my office and will be equidistant from Romford, Thorndon Park and Orsett.  Roll on the summer.

[Philip Gawith]

Nice pics Paul - so many courses, so little time!

I am not sure if any of these courses feature in the nice book Mark did on courses in England and Wales (maybe Copt Heath) which just goes to show how much there is to see out there.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

No, I didn't feature any of these in the New Holland book, but Thorndon Park and Copt Heath got highlighted in the Times Guide (also now defunct).  I think Peter McEvoy played out of Copt Heath in his great days and the Peter McEvoy trophy, one of the main 72-hole tournaments for juniors, is played there annually.  I'm afraid I have scant knowledge of the Essex clubs, but Chelmsford (Colt?) and Colchester (Braid, but how much survived the war?) and West Essex (Braid) have all been recommended to me.  Thorpe Hall was where Michael Bonallack, Peter Dawson (Bonallack's successor at the R&A) and England player Richard McEvoy played.

Nice pictures, as ever, Paul - even when there is little light.

[BCrosby]

The sand color reminds me of Cuscowilla (C&C). At Cuscowilla the sand matches the color of the native dirt. I like it very much.

[Steve Curry]

Paul,

Great photos, love the sand color and I love seeing these places I may never get to see.

Thanks,
Steve

[Paul_Turner]

Thanks for the feedback.

Tony

ahem, yes wondered who'd find the deliberate mistake ;-) Of course that's the 4th (!) and the 3rd is the great hole at Thorndon.  Didn't get a good photo.  To me Thorndon was similar to Moor Park.  Similar quality and feel.

Romford would look better if some of the scraggy trees were pulled out, they look like the sort you find on a roundabout in Milton Keynes.  Once it was convered in stately oaks mixed in with some gorse.  If you have "British Golf Links" by Hitchinson, you'll find Romford and a photo of a very young James Braid (Hutchinson predicts he will be the "Champion Golfer")

I'd like to see Frinton in Essex a flat links style course covered in ditches that the locals call "Fletes"

[Tony_Muldoon]

Paul (or anyone) do you know when Colt worked on Romford?  Cornish & Whitten don't list it at all but he is credited on the Colt association website?

[Paul_Turner]

Tony

It's in the 20s sometime, I don'y have to hand.  The Romford club history is a nice one and has it all detailed.

[RJ_Daley]

I never get tired of seeing Mr. Turner's photographs.  He has a keen eye...

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