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JWinick

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England Golf Trip
« on: August 13, 2019, 05:13:46 PM »
Leaving before Labor Day for a great trip to England.... Our itinerary is as follows:


Day 1 Land in London, play in the afternoon (2:50) at Royal Lytham
Day 2 Fornsby (36)
Day 3 Royal Birkdale
Day 4 Sunningdale (Old/New)
Day 5 Swinley Forest / St. George's Hill
Day 6 Royal Cinque Ports
Day 7 Walton Heath


I literally put this together 30 days ago and the only places we really wanted to play and couldn't was Royal St. George, which has a tournament and wouldn't have been available anyway.    For hotels, we are staying at the Vincent in Southport (walking distance to Birkdale) and the Marriott Twickenham.   


Thoughts? Advice? Criticism?   

Tommy Williamsen

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Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2019, 06:37:41 PM »
There is a lot of driving, especially after an overnight flight, so take your time and enjoy the scenery. It is a great itinerary. Enjoy your trip.
Where there is no love, put love; there you will find love.
St. John of the Cross

"Deep within your soul-space is a magnificent cathedral where you are sweet beyond telling." Rumi

JWinick

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2019, 07:11:37 PM »
It’s not terrible compared to prior trips we did in Scotland and Ireland.    England is pretty efficient with most of the courses in 3 areas. 

Ian Mackenzie

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2019, 08:26:38 PM »
Sounds incredible.
An enviable itinerary.


Suggestions: Advil, knee socks, and maybe a good foam roller. A Masseusse would be ideal.... ;D


Have fun and please report back.
I’d duplicate that schedule in a heart beat. Who put it together?

Tony_Muldoon

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Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2019, 02:28:45 AM »
Sounds great but unless someone is a huge Rugby fan, why have Twickenham as a base?  You are a good walk from the riverside pubs and restaurants.


Windsor or Weybridge  could be better.I


Southport is ok but the dormy house at Formby by is cool. You can then add he ladies course there  for little extra. An easy walk and we'll worth playing.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2019, 02:32:50 AM by Tony_Muldoon »
Let's make GCA grate again!

Craig Disher

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Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2019, 02:46:34 AM »
If Twickenham is your base after leaving Southport, I suggest staying overnight at Deal. The M25 can be a parking lot at any time and driving there could take 3 hours. If you stay in Deal, you would have a much easier trip to Walton Heath the next morning.

Adam Lawrence

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2019, 03:07:09 AM »
The only bit that really freaks me out is arrival day. A four hour drive (which could easily be six given the horrors of the M6) straight off a redeye? Not for me
Adam Lawrence

Editor, Golf Course Architecture
www.golfcoursearchitecture.net

Principal, Oxford Golf Consulting
www.oxfordgolfconsulting.com

Author, 'More Enduring Than Brass: a biography of Harry Colt' (forthcoming).

Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are the best of all.

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2019, 03:34:32 AM »
It's not an itinerary that I would do, but if you can cope with the driving all is good.

Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #8 on: August 14, 2019, 04:32:16 AM »
Good luck and enjoy. Hope you have more than one person who’s prepared to drive the vehicle.
Atb

JWinick

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #9 on: August 14, 2019, 04:59:03 AM »



Tony,


Twickenham appeared to be centrally located towards the clubs south of London and we didn't want the hassle of driving in and out of central London.   


Jon

Sounds great but unless someone is a huge Rugby fan, why have Twickenham as a base?  You are a good walk from the riverside pubs and restaurants.


Windsor or Weybridge  could be better.I


Southport is ok but the dormy house at Formby by is cool. You can then add he ladies course there  for little extra. An easy walk and we'll worth playing.

JWinick

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #10 on: August 14, 2019, 05:01:02 AM »

Adam,


That was essentially the compromise we had to make to play Lytham and Birkdale.   Originally, we were going to play Walton Heath on the day we arrived.   We get in at 8:30, and our fourth is getting in an hour and a half early, which means we will have the rental van ready so we should be there in enough time.   


Best,
Jon

The only bit that really freaks me out is arrival day. A four hour drive (which could easily be six given the horrors of the M6) straight off a redeye? Not for me

Mark Chaplin

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Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #11 on: August 14, 2019, 06:31:23 AM »
If you can get into the Formby dormy house that would be a big win, Southport is a toilet. Twickenham is proper no mans land, it isn’t convenient to any of the golf courses and has nothing going for it as a venue. I agree with Windsor and Craig’s suggestion for staying a night in Deal, otherwise you’ll leave Deal drive past Walton Heath for 45 minutes then the next morning have a 45 minute plus journey back to Walton Heath. Deal has decent restaurants and bars and several accommodation options.


The golf options are top notch. Let me know if you want good caddies at Deal.
Cave Nil Vino

Scott Warren

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Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #12 on: August 14, 2019, 06:42:19 AM »
This is essentially the same itinerary in the USA:



Day 1 Land Pittsburgh PA, drive to Washington DC, play golf, then drive to hotel in Baltimore MA.
Day 2 Golf in Baltimore
Day 3 Golf in Baltimore, drive back to Pittsburgh
Day 4 Golf in Pittsburgh
Day 5 Golf in Pittsburgh
Day 6 Drive to Cleveland OH, play golf, drive back to Pittsburgh
Day 7 Drive to Latrobe, play golf, drive back to Pittsburgh

Matt MacIver

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #13 on: August 14, 2019, 07:07:42 AM »
Scott - that’s a good way to break it down for someone who lives on the East coast and has never been to ENG for golf. 


Seeing this, the driving does seem ambitious but if it were courses I’d really want to see (Oakmont, Congo, Five Farms) I’d make the pilgrimage in a heartbeat. Enjoy the journey!

Adam Lawrence

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #14 on: August 14, 2019, 07:24:55 AM »
Jon -- I do understand what you're trying to do, and in one sense applaud you -- life on the road is hugely easier when you don't have to check in to a new hotel every bloody night. But the guys are right in a lot of what they say. Principally, you really do need to factor traffic into your planning. Google says Heathrow to Lytham is four hours and five minutes, and if the road is clear, I generally beat Google by a good amount of time. But you could literally get a jam anywhere between Heathrow and Preston, and it only needs one decent queue on the motorway to leave you racing to get to Lytham for your tee time, with your only nourishment post a redeye flight a chocolate bar grabbed in the pro shop.


Once ensconced in your hotel in Twickenham, you are at the mercy of the M3 and the M25 every morning and evening. Now, you _should_ be going against most of the traffic -- you will be heading out of town in the morning when the commuters are coming in, and back in the evening when they're heading home. But all bets are off once you hit the M25 and London's main roads are busy enough that they can stuff up anywhere, at any time.


It could, might, should even work out fine. But the south east of England is not rural Scotland. Yes we have better roads but they are cramful for a large part of the day. If you were doing an LA area trip, how long would you allow for a thirty mile journey in the morning rush hour that was mostly up 405? Those are the sort of questions you should be asking yourself for this trip.
Adam Lawrence

Editor, Golf Course Architecture
www.golfcoursearchitecture.net

Principal, Oxford Golf Consulting
www.oxfordgolfconsulting.com

Author, 'More Enduring Than Brass: a biography of Harry Colt' (forthcoming).

Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are the best of all.

JWinick

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2019, 01:02:41 PM »
I am Titanium with Marriott and we are guaranteed a suite upgrade.   Looking at the map, it looked pretty convenient.    Our tee times are generally after rush hour anyway.    I've done these trips for four years in a row without any issues, doing all the arrangements myself.    I think I could plan a trip better than any overpriced tour operator at this point.   

BHoover

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2019, 01:04:57 PM »
Are you playing more than 9 holes at these places? Do the kids in the bagroom or pro shop valet?
« Last Edit: August 14, 2019, 01:07:06 PM by BHoover »

Eric Smith

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Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #17 on: August 14, 2019, 01:13:10 PM »
I think I could plan a trip better than any overpriced tour operator at this point.


Nice one, Shrek! ;D

JWinick

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #18 on: August 14, 2019, 01:13:47 PM »



You're really being ridiculous.   It's four hours each way from London to Western England.   And about an hour and a half to eastern England.     And this is over 7 days or so.    Not much different than an hour commute to work everyday.   


Quite frankly, I really don't care what you think.    I'm sure I can poke holes in whatever you do every day.   All of us are busy and work for a living and we don't have two weeks for a leisurely trip.   

This is essentially the same itinerary in the USA:



Day 1 Land Pittsburgh PA, drive to Washington DC, play golf, then drive to hotel in Baltimore MA.
Day 2 Golf in Baltimore
Day 3 Golf in Baltimore, drive back to Pittsburgh
Day 4 Golf in Pittsburgh
Day 5 Golf in Pittsburgh
Day 6 Drive to Cleveland OH, play golf, drive back to Pittsburgh
Day 7 Drive to Latrobe, play golf, drive back to Pittsburgh

JWinick

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #19 on: August 14, 2019, 01:15:02 PM »

Robert Mercer Deruntz

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #20 on: August 14, 2019, 01:39:45 PM »
Since you have a Marriott deal, why not stay at the hotel between Ashford and Maidstone for your Deal and Walton Heath rounds.  The traffic when I played a tournament at Chart Hills, over the years, was brutal from Heathrow to just past Walton Heath.  And this was at different hours.

JWinick

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #21 on: August 14, 2019, 01:57:17 PM »
Of all the options in the area, Twickenham was the most attractive.  The other options are essentially at Heathrow.    Sure, we could have taken our chances on an AirBNB overseas, but I like my Marriotts, especially now that they merged with Starwood.   




Mark Pearce

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #22 on: August 14, 2019, 03:33:17 PM »



You're really being ridiculous.   It's four hours each way from London to Western England.   And about an hour and a half to eastern England.     And this is over 7 days or so.    Not much different than an hour commute to work everyday.   


Quite frankly, I really don't care what you think.    I'm sure I can poke holes in whatever you do every day.   All of us are busy and work for a living and we don't have two weeks for a leisurely trip.   

This is essentially the same itinerary in the USA:



Day 1 Land Pittsburgh PA, drive to Washington DC, play golf, then drive to hotel in Baltimore MA.
Day 2 Golf in Baltimore
Day 3 Golf in Baltimore, drive back to Pittsburgh
Day 4 Golf in Pittsburgh
Day 5 Golf in Pittsburgh
Day 6 Drive to Cleveland OH, play golf, drive back to Pittsburgh
Day 7 Drive to Latrobe, play golf, drive back to Pittsburgh
Why ask for advice if your reaction to it is going to be this?  That looks like an absurd amount of driving around just about the busiest part of the UK road network.  Scott may be a bit more upfront than some of the others, but his point is right.  You must like Marriotts a LOT to add that much driving to stay in a pretty dull part of West London.
In June I will be riding the first three stages of this year's Tour de France route for charity.  630km (394 miles) in three days, with 7800m (25,600 feet) of climbing for the William Wates Memorial Trust (https://rideleloop.org/the-charity/) which supports underprivileged young people.

Robert Mercer Deruntz

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #23 on: August 14, 2019, 04:28:04 PM »
The Tudor Park Marriot Hotel and Country Club is much more ideally suited for Walton Heath and Deal. It is a really nice place that is well located with easy on/off of the M20.  And there are quite a few great dining options in Ashford and Maidstone

Scott Warren

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Re: England Golf Trip
« Reply #24 on: August 14, 2019, 04:46:54 PM »

I must have misunderstood the request for:


Thoughts? Advice? Criticism?


I wasn’t trying to be a smartarse, it just appeared that you were doing this for the first time and might have underestimated what you were taking on logistically.


I thought you might appreciate a comparison you could identify with.


Good luck with the trip.

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