[Mike Hendren]

Of course there is no meaningful way to measure this proposition but it seems to be in my limited travels that England has the greatest bench depth in accessible golf course architecture with a starting line-up that also holds its own. 


Thoughts?


Mike

[David_Tepper]

Mike -

I am inclined to agree with you.


The stretch of links golf from Liverpool to St. Annes (Hoylake, West Lancs, Formby, Southport-Ainsdale, Hillside, Birkdale, Hesketh, Lytham-St. Annes) is likely as good as East Lothian, maybe better.

The stretch in inland/heathland golf south/southwest of London (Sunningdale/2, Walton Heath/2, Berkshire/2, Wentworth/2, New Zealand, St. George's Hill, Swinley Forest, et al) is likely as good as anywhere in the world.

And that is just scratching the surface.

DT

[Tommy Williamsen]

I have thought that for a long time. I have played about 100 courses in England over the years. From the links courses, to the heathland courses, to the parkland courses, the variety and quality are simply excellent. The fact that you can tee it up at RSG and Sunningdale is glorious.


The quality of the lesser know courses like Delamere Forest, or Prestbury or Cavendish is just outstanding.

[Mike Sweeney]

Of the "Black Holes" on the golf resume, England is #1 in terms of reasonable logistics. My only course played is London GC - International:


https://www.londongolf.co.uk/Golf/International.aspx






I really did enjoy it at that different stage of life. Maybe I was better off with less information from Ran !!

[mike_malone]

David and Tommy are spot on. Another thing that I find attractive is that it’s not as tour driven. I can contact the courses directly.
 I doubt the combination of links and inland can be matched anywhere else.


 Since I’m not into British history or politics I can include Wales since England is north and south of it.

[Jeff Schley]

David and Tommy are spot on. Another thing that I find attractive is that it’s not as tour driven. I can contact the courses directly.

Mike this is a large reason I enjoy it so much, I can figure it out on my own. The secretaries and staff are welcoming and thankful for our interest to play their courses IME. I'm thinking now I can't recall any club I have contacted not responding or being anything but warm and welcoming. Without living there, I won't be able to really dig in deep to some off the beaten path courses as I think there are over 2,000 courses England. If one were to rank them all and play the bottom half, I would surmise it wouldn't be a wasted life.

[Jeff Schley]

For those that know, what are the toughest courses in England to get on?  Are there any that are truly private or singularly owned and not possible to access? I have heard of two that are very tough:

• Queenwood
• Royal Household

[Charles Lund]

I've traveled a lot for golf and have different regions in England I would like to visit in a two to three week trip, with a few days in area from which relatively easy day trips were possible and which provided for repeat play at selected courses.

A prototypic trip which worked for me a few years ago involved the Devon/Cornwall Coast and was about two weeks.  I decided to stay in close proximity to St. Enodoc and figured on about three rounds.  They offered a five day ticket in a seven day period as another option.  I visited the course on the first day and decided in looking at #1 and #18 from the clubhouse to get the five day ticket.  I drove north and stayed near Saunton and got in three rounds there, with two on Saunton East and one on Saunton West.  I had an enjoyable time on Royal North Devon and drove one day for a round at Burnham and Berrow.

There are a couple of other areas I would like to travel to and do a similar trip in terms of logistics and time.  There are a lot of quality courses north and east of Manchester and several north of Liverpool which tick some of the boxes for me as far as cost, stay and play options, and accessiblity.    I did inquiries a couple of years ago and opted to stay in Ireland  and keep the trip simpler and not try to do a two country trip.  Courses which come to mind include Silloth on Solway, Formby, Gaunton, Woodhall Spa, and Alwoodley.  A trip like this would potentially allow repeat rounds on some courses, purposely avoid courses on the Open Rota, and be less expensive.  Driving times would be manageable.  They all seemed relatively accessible when I inquired about three years ago.

Having spent a lot of time in Ireland and Scotland, it seemed to me that England offered something different, particularly with a mix of heathland and links courses. 

The pandemic constraints on overseas travel and other priorities has prevented me from looking into this seriously since travel was disrupted a year ago. 

Charles Lund



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[Ally Mcintosh]

For depth and variety, England wins. This is primarily because it can offer the heathlands but it also has better parklands than Scotland and Ireland.


If I was limited to links courses only, it would be a close call between all three.

[Sean_A]

Of course there is no meaningful way to measure this proposition but it seems to be in my limited travels that England has the greatest bench depth in accessible golf course architecture with a starting line-up that also holds its own. 

Thoughts?

Mike

Bogey

I guess much depends on what accessible means, but if its just phone call booking then I wonder if there is a country which comes close to England for quality and depth of architecture.

Ciao

[Jeff Johnston]

Echoing all of the above on England's offering as to quality, depth, variety and access.

Wasn't aware of the Royal Household track! Other than Queenwood, I can only think of The Wisley as similar in terms of not facilitating visitors (but obviously there may be others). Overall, the few exceptions v much go to prove the rule.

[Adam Lawrence]

Echoing all of the above on England's offering as to quality, depth, variety and access.

Wasn't aware of the Royal Household track! Other than Queenwood, I can only think of The Wisley as similar in terms of not facilitating visitors (but obviously there may be others). Overall, the few exceptions v much go to prove the rule.

There are a few 'new money' US-style privates in the UK. Wisley was the trendsetter. Queenwood followed, and the quite similar model Beaverbrook is more recent. Others that aspire to that sort of model are Centurion Club, Bearwood Lakes and Remedy Oaks. But their level of success rather influences how rigorous they can afford to be in excluding visitors.

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