Swinley Forest v. St. George's Hill

[Carl Nichols]

I'll be in London later this year to visit a relative and play a few rounds of golf.  I'll likely play both Sunningdale courses, Walton Heath Old and maybe Berkshire.  But for various reasons I have to choose between playing either Swinley Forest or St. George's Hill.  Based on rankings and discussions here, it seems like the consensus would be Swinley, though both are excellent options.  Is there anything about one or the other that makes it particularly unique, especially when compared with the courses I'll already be playing?     

[Steve_Roths]

Swinley.

[Dan Boerger]

Well, you can't go wrong with either, but I would opt for 27 at St. George's Hill.

[Simon Barrington]

Swinley is charming, but they have done some in-house work of late that has upset some.
It has a real old school feel and therefore should be experienced, as should New Zealand GC (uniquely English both)



St Georges Hill is I think more interesting from a fundamental architectural perspective.
HS Colt had more to do and more scope and budget to do it.
The Swinley crowd might say its more "new money" bu the land and scope is broder and so Colt was mre adventurous in his design.
It has had some work done over the recent past that is a bit obvious and uninspiring (meh!)
The great news is that Rennaisance Golf; Brian Schnieder and team along with Jasper Miners (EVALU18) on the research are engaged there now, so exect great things to come there...so perhaps wait until that comes to fruition to get the full authentic HS Colt experience.
That project will be as notable as CDP's work at The Addington with Ryan Noades.


Hope that helps, tough dilemmas that we are lucky to have!

[Michael Moore]

I prefer St. George's Hill. The movement of the land, the diversity of the holes, the shot values, the quirkiness in a grand context, the visuals, and yeah, the clubhouse experience were plainly superior. It's in my top ten.
 
Swinley Forest is better as an oasis of solitude.

[Tony_Muldoon]

I would choose a day at either,27 or 36, over a visit to the Berkshire.

[Adam Lawrence]

I would not want to have to choose between SGH and Swinley, but I wholly agree with Tony that both are way ahead of The Berkshire (which is still a lovely club, and famous for its lunch).


If forced to choose, I'd say that in my opinion the golf is slightly better at SGH but the vibe at Swinley is more special.

[Sean_A]

I don’t know, perhaps SGH just pips Swinley….its close. I would rather play Swinley though. I like the heather, mix of short 4s, 3s and the house vibe more than SGH. Both are comfortably better than Berkshire so you can’t go wrong. One thing about Swinley is if you can jump early doors in front of society/group you will have the course to yourself. Makes it easy to relax a bit for lunch and still get out in front of the society for the early pm game. It’s entirely possible to play 36, have lunch and drinks afterward and be out the door by 4pm. Swinley is nowhere near as crowded as SGH.


Ciao

[Carl Nichols]

If I could bump Berkshire for either I would, but that’s not an option—if it was, I wouldn’t have started this thread!

[Ira Fishman]

For me, it is a coin flip with a slight preference for SGH because of the land movement and because number 10 is a not to be missed hole. However, given that you have Colt on the agenda, I would schedule Woking. I know that it is not the question that you asked, and overall it is not as good as the other two, but the green complexes are all world, number 4 is a museum for good reason (and number 3 may be even better), every serious gca fan should hit a wedge into number 14, and the vibe is old school English relaxed.


Ira

[mike_malone]

Another close vote for SGH. I agree with “ land is better” point. Love Swinley Forest.

[John Handley]

I'll weigh in at the end of August after I get to play both of them.      Will also include reviews of Berkshire Red and Walton Heath Old.  I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!