Swinley Forest - not quite as good as I had hoped

[Josh Stevens]

Played Swinley late last week - decent weather, played ok, good lunch, but i confess the course did not thrill me.  Been rather dry of late and they dont have much in the way of a sprinkler system and so course was rather parched - but i dont mind that, it was really that the course didnt live up to expectations.

Some lovely moments and some of the greens were splendid - but then you would come across a hole that just had lots of heather covered humps scattered all over the place that really just seemed to look rather silly.  The 8th for example is a beauty - simple and clever, but then the 9th gets all silly - lovely shape to the hole, but they have these two long, heather covered linear mounds that jut right out into the fairway from the right side.  Hole bends to the left, jungle and bunkers on the left and then they effectively build two fences across the right hand side of the fairway?

I am sure I will offend some, but it lacked the quality of other courses in the area and seemed very contrived at times - perhaps contrived 100 years ago, but still contrived.

[Mark Chaplin]

Josh - Sad to hear you didn't rate SF. The 2 fences you refer to on the 9th were once bunker lips, when I played there a few months ago I was in the second bank and had to hack out. No complaints though as it's clear to see from the tee.

SF is all about the members enjoying their golf and lunch. The members do not play competitions - well 1 a year - and handicaps are a non issue.

[Josh Stevens]

I almost felt a little victimised as these things all seemed to be at my driving distance.  I dont mind bunkers as it is then my job to steer clear of them, but a fence??

Yes it is an yeh olde worlde club that the world has passed by, but i wonder if they take it too far.

Dont get me wrong, it is a lovely course, but in some lists it is rated as top 10-15 in England, and that is absurd.

[Mark Chaplin]

I guess trouble that used to catch the long hitter now catches the more average player unless the tees have gone back or the bunkers moved up the fairways.

[henrye]

Interesting take Josh.  Curious to know what other courses in the area you thought were of stronger quality.  From my take, Swinley is a treasure of a course.  It's intimate, brilliantly routed and one of the most fun courses I've played.  A scratch golfer may find it a bit easy, but I'm one who hopes they never pander to that target.  I don't know where it ranks on lists, but it is certainly one of my favourites in the area.

[Sean_A]

Played Swinley late last week - decent weather, played ok, good lunch, but i confess the course did not thrill me.  Been rather dry of late and they dont have much in the way of a sprinkler system and so course was rather parched - but i dont mind that, it was really that the course didnt live up to expectations.

Some lovely moments and some of the greens were splendid - but then you would come across a hole that just had lots of heather covered humps scattered all over the place that really just seemed to look rather silly.  The 8th for example is a beauty - simple and clever, but then the 9th gets all silly - lovely shape to the hole, but they have these two long, heather covered linear mounds that jut right out into the fairway from the right side.  Hole bends to the left, jungle and bunkers on the left and then they effectively build two fences across the right hand side of the fairway?

I am sure I will offend some, but it lacked the quality of other courses in the area and seemed very contrived at times - perhaps contrived 100 years ago, but still contrived.

Josh

How good were you hoping Swinley to be?  

For the record, I like the course, but don't' think it is nearly the world beater that many give Swinley credit for.  Much of its reputation rests with the par 3s and rightfully so.  That said Swinley does have a few very good two-shotter, the 12th being an obvious example and the short par 4 3rd being less so.  I also think the 15th is very good.  BUT, from a visitor's PoV I do know what you mean.  Considering that many believe par 4s to be the heart of golf design, Swinley is curiously lacking in high quality two-shotters despite the great variety.  For me, this and the greens (and the geen fee!), which aren't Colt's best set, place Swinley as just below the first tier of London courses.  However, the club is still top notch and unusual in its approach to the game.  For me, the course combined with the club make an ideal paring for membership purposes and one of the few clubs around London I would like to join.

Ciao

[Josh Stevens]

Yes it is a nice atmosphere, although the staff were a tad surly.  But then to be fair, other than the 8th, i didnt think the par 3 's were all that good either, hard certainly, but not necessarily good.

Anyway, i doubt they care, locked in their own little world - lovely day out but i suspect it is one of those courses that gets rated a bit higher than it should because it is full of princes, dukes and earls and so hard to get a game.

[Sean_A]

Yes it is a nice atmosphere, although the staff were a tad surly.  But then to be fair, other than the 8th, i didnt think the par 3 's were all that good either, hard certainly, but not necessarily good.

Anyway, i doubt they care, locked in their own little world - lovely day out but i suspect it is one of those courses that gets rated a bit higher than it should because it is full of princes, dukes and earls and so hard to get a game.

Josh

You will get no succor from me concerning the par 3s.  As a set they are one of the best I have seen.  The only possible complaint I could have about the threes is there isn't a properly short one - something I always like to see on a course.

To be honest, I don't need a better course than Swinley.  I like the short yardage and relative ease of walk given some up and down terrain.  At 6000 yards Swinley punches well above its weight - the par 3s being a big reason for this.  The conditions are not what they could be, but that would suit me to a tee as a member.  Perhaps visitors are slightly put off by this and maybe rightly so at £150 a pop.  The club tends to cater more toward the society crowd to take in its visitor money which still leaves the members with a sense of an empty course a handful of days per week.  Swinley is a place all its own.  

Ciao

[Rich Goodale]

Josh

Swinley is a great golfing experience, comprising a great golf club but not a great golf course.  The course is a comfortable one, with its own challenges and thrills, but not one which makes you want to rush to the tee for another 18.  Why would you want to, anyway, when the alternative was to sit in the clubhoue or on the veranda with a beer or other beverage in your hand, with or without company, and just watch the world go by?

Rich

[Adam Lawrence]

There's certainly a bit of an aura about Swinley, and maybe that uprates it a little in peoples' eyes. I think that is also true of the smallish number of US-style private clubs that have sprung up around the UK in recent years - Loch Lomond, Queenwood, Wisley etc. Because UK clubs have generally been accessible to visitors, exclusivity, whether perceived or real, creates a fair amount of buzz in golf circles over here. Even more so (sadly) when you add a celeb-heavy membership as they have at Queenwood.

[Scott Warren]

Josh,

I've not played Swinley yet, but am hoping to before my time here is up. Where would Swinley fit into your ranking of the London courses you've played?

[Mark Pearce]

Scott,

I'm not Josh but like Sean I like the course without thinking it's great.  Top club, though.  I haven't played too many of the heathland courses west of London but of those I have I'd probably have the course at Swinley behind both courses at the Berkshire and Woking.

Mark

[Paul_Turner]

I guess I'll have to defend her.  All repeated tosh that it's only a great club.

It's a great course and perhaps the best of the London heaths.  Loads of variety in green sites and shots to play.  Completely disagree with Rich that this isn't a course you would rush out and play another 18.   Also disagree that the par 4s aren't particularly strong, again lots of variety in length, shape, hazards and green sites.

The 9th is one of the best par 4s.  Pretty absurd to think this is a silly hole. The heather banks jutting out on the right predate the course.

[Rich Goodale]

I'll agree to disagree, Paul.  I'll be playing Rye on Sunday for the third time in 28+ years (two rounds in 1981), and if it does not blow away Swinley in my comparative memory I'll make a mental note to return there earlier than I will have done with Rye.

[Dan Boerger]

I have not played as many of the heathland greats as so many here have, but I did play Swinley this past spring. As noted, the par 3's were just exceptional. The conditioning of the course was also top notch and I was there when the Rhododendrons were in full bloom, so some of the surrounds were breathtaking. Nice strong finishing stretch of holes. While some might find the lack of handicaps and club competitions quirky or odd -- I think the golf world is richer for places like this.

[Mark Pearce]

I guess I'll have to defend her.  All repeated tosh that it's only a great club.

It's a great course and perhaps the best of the London heaths.  Loads of variety in green sites and shots to play.  Completely disagree with Rich that this isn't a course you would rush out and play another 18.   Also disagree that the par 4s aren't particularly strong, again lots of variety in length, shape, hazards and green sites.

The 9th is one of the best par 4s.  Pretty absurd to think this is a silly hole. The heather banks jutting out on the right predate the course.

I'm also going to have to agree to disagree.  I don't think anyone is saying that it's not a very fine course, or that it is ONLY a great club.  For me, though, I prefer some of the other local courses.  I do think the longish par 4 early in the back 9 (is it the 13th?) is a great hole.  I would also agree that the 9th is a good hole and one of the better par 4s at SF.

[Dan Boerger]

Mark - I'm pretty sure it's #12 you're thinking of ... 455 "blue" yards as they say. #13 is a par 3.

[Mark Pearce]

Dan,

That sounds right - the hole is almost a double dogleg (or at least looks it from the tee!), with a long bunker short right of the green?  It comes immediately before a shortish par 3 with a copse of trees on the left, going back the other way?

[Paul_Turner]

What Swinley has is a fine mixture of the spectacular (holes like 8 and 17) and subtle (holes like 6 and 14).  Most of the greens take a lot of skill in putting too like the 1st and the small swales/bumps around the greens are classic.

[Sean_A]

I guess I'll have to defend her.  All repeated tosh that it's only a great club.

It's a great course and perhaps the best of the London heaths.  Loads of variety in green sites and shots to play.  Completely disagree with Rich that this isn't a course you would rush out and play another 18.   Also disagree that the par 4s aren't particularly strong, again lots of variety in length, shape, hazards and green sites.

The 9th is one of the best par 4s.  Pretty absurd to think this is a silly hole. The heather banks jutting out on the right predate the course.

Paul

Do you really think the par 4s are special for Colt?  I didn't get the impression they were any better than those at Harborne or Whittington Heath - two courses off the map for rankings.  Though #12 is very fine. 

Plus, the fives at SF aren't special.  I like #15, but it isn't all that and in fact it probably works better as a brutal par 4 with the tees well up because the turn of the fairway would require a very good drive to enable the golfer to get home in two.

Ciao

[henrye]

Josh.  Still curious about which courses in the area you felt were of better quality than Swinley.

[Tim Gavrich]

From reading this thread, I find the idea of the attitude at Swinley Forest rather quaint.  One might argue that because they are so laid-back, the members understand golf's place in life.  As for the course, how does it compare to Sunningdale Old?  That's the only inland UK course of note that I've played (the other being Hartsbourne, NW of London), and it's hard to imagine much better.

[Josh Stevens]

To answer teh question of which other courses in area would i rate higher - well most of them in fact; all 3 W's, both sunningdales, both berkshires and walton heath old, hankley etc.

But it was a fine lunch - and that makes up for a lot

[Sean_A]

From reading this thread, I find the idea of the attitude at Swinley Forest rather quaint.  One might argue that because they are so laid-back, the members understand golf's place in life.  As for the course, how does it compare to Sunningdale Old?  That's the only inland UK course of note that I've played (the other being Hartsbourne, NW of London), and it's hard to imagine much better.

Tim

Swinley really is one of a kind.  It has changed a bit now, but my memory of the place from playing it back in about '91 is still very vivid.  That is, I vividly remembered the club, not the course from that visit.  I was really taken by how non-golfy the club was and its ragged, genteel charm that can only exist in England.  I think the course compares fairly well to Sunny Old - probably a bit tougher, but similar in that the course is there to be enjoyed and have a few laughs on rather than put your back against the wall with a stern examination.  I would join Swinley in a heart beat even though I don't think the course is as good as the best of London - which is purely opinion because all the best London courses have something for everyone.  But how good does the golf have to be before its good enough?

Ciao  

[Mark Pearce]

Tim,

I haven't played Sunningdale, so can't make the direct comparison.  However, most of those I know who have played Sunningdale and the Berkshire reckon Sunningdale Old is better than either Berkshire course and I reckon both Berkshire courses are better than Swinley.  Let's not get this out of proportion, though, all of these courses are very fine and Swinley is an excellent golf course, it's just one jewel in a handful in that area.  I would also stress that comments about the club are not intended as any sort of back-handed swipe at the course.  It really is a great place to play and would be a wonderful club to belong to.