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David_Tepper

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"10 Hidden Gems in England"
« on: May 02, 2021, 09:40:01 AM »

Tommy Williamsen

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Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2021, 10:50:22 AM »
I have played a few of those but haven’t heard of a few them as well. England indeed does have many “hidden gems:” that’s why I can keep going back.
I’m not sure I’d put Rye as a second tier course, though.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2021, 04:33:39 PM by Tommy Williamsen »
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

Paul Dolton

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2021, 12:31:02 PM »
I'm a member at Frilford Heath .  As mentioned they had to change the first four holes when they added the blue course. The new 2nd, 3rd and 4th still feel out of place and are not of the quality of the old holes.
If I was to add a "hidden gem" to the list I would nominate Ipswich golf club at Purdis Heath, Suffolk.

Tommy Williamsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2021, 12:48:06 PM »
I'm a member at Frilford Heath .  As mentioned they had to change the first four holes when they added the blue course. The new 2nd, 3rd and 4th still feel out of place and are not of the quality of the old holes.
If I was to add a "hidden gem" to the list I would nominate Ipswich golf club at Purdis Heath, Suffolk.


FH is a great spot. I would think it would be a good place to be a member.
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

Brett Meyer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2021, 02:24:19 PM »
I wholeheartedly agree with Stoneham, which I thought was on par with the lower first tier Surrey heathland courses like Woking. 12-14 is one of the best three hole stretches that I can think of, with two par 5s that fall beautifully over the heavily rolling land and a great drivable par 4 in between. Playing the back nine at Stoneham, it felt like I was on a great course.


I was a little bit disappointed with Ashridge, which I had really wanted to play, but it took me a few years to realize that it was easier to reach from London than I thought. It's a lovely and very pleasant course but aside from a few holes just after the turn, it was just a very nice course. It has a bit of the same feel as Knole Park, but I preferred the latter.

Michael Whitaker

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2021, 06:12:06 PM »
Canterbury, sadly, doesn’t live up to the “hidden gem” moniker. It’s a decent enough course, but could be so much more. It’s just a “good” course and worth a visit... maybe once, just to say you’ve seen it. Not too keen for a return visit.
"Solving the paradox of proportionality is the heart of golf architecture."  - Tom Doak (11/20/05)

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2021, 04:39:48 AM »
This is an interesting selection of courses. Mannings Heath intrigues, but nobody has told me I should play it. I plan to play Woodbridge this year...always interested me. By far the course I want to see most is Mullion.

Ciao
« Last Edit: May 04, 2021, 04:42:10 AM by Sean_A »
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2021, 05:38:57 AM »
South Staffs is worth playing. Not an easy course to score well on. If you play it, whatever you do, don't get above the hole on the 17th green!
atb

Adam Lawrence

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2021, 05:57:29 AM »
Canterbury, sadly, doesn’t live up to the “hidden gem” moniker. It’s a decent enough course, but could be so much more. It’s just a “good” course and worth a visit... maybe once, just to say you’ve seen it. Not too keen for a return visit.


I have to say that I don't agree with Whitty here. I was stunned after my first visit to Canterbury. Yes, for sure, there is a lot more to be teased out of that course (the club knows this and is in the middle of a long-term restoration plan running up to its centenary in 1925) but there was a lot there to like as it was. Some of Colt's boldest holes imo.
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.

Richard Fisher

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2021, 06:06:01 AM »
I am a cracked record on GCA about the merits of Woodbridge (all 27 holes), which I do think a notch above Purdis Heath, and Ashridge (which arguably looks harder than it actually is) is one of the nicest parkland courses (and best-organised facilities) that I have sampled in the UK. Stoneham was once (in 1949) the venue for the Brabazon Trophy and has been excellently Arbled here on GCA
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,30823.msg1603268.html#msg1603268
in that context Mullion emphatically looks like Sean's kind of place!

Richard Fisher

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #10 on: May 04, 2021, 06:08:14 AM »
PS Meant to say that Bernard Darwin (no less) thought the old nine-hole course at Frilford a genuine candidate for 'second-best nine-hole-course in the UK' (no prizes for guessing Number One), parts of which I think must have been subsumed into the current 54 hole complex.

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #11 on: May 04, 2021, 06:56:39 AM »
PS Meant to say that Bernard Darwin (no less) thought the old nine-hole course at Frilford a genuine candidate for 'second-best nine-hole-course in the UK' (no prizes for guessing Number One), parts of which I think must have been subsumed into the current 54 hole complex.


I suspect that these are the holes on the Green course that lie 'over the road'. The Green is a cracking short-on-the-card but more challenging than it appears course and deserves merit it its own right.
atb

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #12 on: May 04, 2021, 07:25:14 AM »
Canterbury, sadly, doesn’t live up to the “hidden gem” moniker. It’s a decent enough course, but could be so much more. It’s just a “good” course and worth a visit... maybe once, just to say you’ve seen it. Not too keen for a return visit.


I have to say that I don't agree with Whitty here. I was stunned after my first visit to Canterbury. Yes, for sure, there is a lot more to be teased out of that course (the club knows this and is in the middle of a long-term restoration plan running up to its centenary in 1925) but there was a lot there to like as it was. Some of Colt's boldest holes imo.


I didn't take to Canterbury at all. Its somewhat similar to Meyrick Park in that there are some excellent holes for sure, but the presentation is bloody awful. I am pleased to hear the club is rolling up their sleeves...its long overdue.


Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Paul Dolton

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #13 on: May 04, 2021, 04:38:30 PM »
PS Meant to say that Bernard Darwin (no less) thought the old nine-hole course at Frilford a genuine candidate for 'second-best nine-hole-course in the UK' (no prizes for guessing Number One), parts of which I think must have been subsumed into the current 54 hole complex.


I suspect that these are the holes on the Green course that lie 'over the road'. The Green is a cracking short-on-the-card but more challenging than it appears course and deserves merit it its own right.
atb


The nine holes over the road were added to the original eighteen. They now are part of the Green course. I've been a member for the last thirty years ,apart from one. All courses are enjoyable and solid if not spectacular golf. It suffers slightly being on a very flat piece of land. There are plans to redo the bunkers .
If in the area you should take a look at Oxford Golf Club. Colt and Braid were both involved early on. It has a couple of great par threes ( 12 and 17) and several par 4s of note. Its location is also of interest being in the middle of the City.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2021, 04:40:19 PM by Paul Dolton »

Richard Fisher

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #14 on: May 06, 2021, 04:09:13 AM »
Is the Oxford Golf Club the course I used to know as Southfield? In which case 100% agreement: I always really liked the pair of long two-shot holes (5th and 6th?) at the top which were on rumpled ground that could have been (say) at Hoylake, and there are some super short holes. Just don't play there after too much rain...it was always (sadly) infamous for mud, and often rudely juxtaposed with The Sacred Nine by way of contrast (back in the days when it, rather than Huntercombe, was the home course of the Oxford University Golf Club).

Adam Lawrence

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #15 on: May 06, 2021, 04:33:23 AM »
Is the Oxford Golf Club the course I used to know as Southfield? In which case 100% agreement: I always really liked the pair of long two-shot holes (5th and 6th?) at the top which were on rumpled ground that could have been (say) at Hoylake, and there are some super short holes. Just don't play there after too much rain...it was always (sadly) infamous for mud, and often rudely juxtaposed with The Sacred Nine by way of contrast (back in the days when it, rather than Huntercombe, was the home course of the Oxford University Golf Club).


Yes, it is. They changed the name to Oxford GC a few years ago, about the same time as they butchered the eighteenth hole by installing a lake. Nice course, Southfield, I was a member for a short while when I lived in the area. But I don't think it will be around forever. The development pressure on Oxford is too strong, and the golf club's next door neighbour is the Churchill Hospital, where I was an outpatient for many years. I fear the course will at some point fall victim to a combination of hospital and housing development.


You're right about it being wet from time to time, Richard. Henry Longhurst, describing his own home course in Bedford, wrote: "The only muddier course was perhaps Southfield in Oxford, at which the University played their home matches. The tenth hole was about six hundred straight yards of absolutely damn-all and evoked from a distinguished Walker Cup player, Rex Hartley, visiting it for the first time on a foggy, drizzly day in February, the immortal comment, 'Only two clubs to play this hole with. A rifle and a spade.'"
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.

Mike Hendren

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #16 on: May 06, 2021, 10:52:35 AM »
This is an interesting selection of courses. Mannings Heath intrigues, but nobody has told me I should play it. I plan to play Woodbridge this year...always interested me. By far the course I want to see most is Mullion.

Ciao


I was stunned by the Mullion flyover this morning.   


How about a future Buda at Mullion and Perranporth?


Mike
Two Corinthians walk into a bar ....

Peter Flory

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #17 on: May 06, 2021, 12:37:34 PM »
Mannings looks pretty interesting. 

Sam Andrews

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #18 on: May 06, 2021, 01:40:04 PM »
Mannings looks pretty interesting.


Played it in a corporate a few years back, remember very little about it, other than I felt it was humdrum at the time. Then again, it may have been the humdrum nature of 4-ball, corporate-day golf that got to me and I should have paid more attention. Come to think of it, it may be corporate-day golf — I disliked East Sussex National, Kingswood, Silvermere and the Belfrey for the same reason. I wonder if time taken to play in the company of businessmen ought to be a factor in the design of golf courses...
He's the hairy handed gent, who ran amok in Kent.

Adam Lawrence

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #19 on: May 06, 2021, 02:26:59 PM »
Mannings looks pretty interesting.


Played it in a corporate a few years back, remember very little about it, other than I felt it was humdrum at the time. Then again, it may have been the humdrum nature of 4-ball, corporate-day golf that got to me and I should have paid more attention. Come to think of it, it may be corporate-day golf — I disliked East Sussex National, Kingswood, Silvermere and the Belfrey for the same reason. I wonder if time taken to play in the company of businessmen ought to be a factor in the design of golf courses...


I haven’t been to Mannings Heath but I sincerely hope it is more interesting than those four (well Kingswood is Ok Braid work).
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.

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #20 on: May 06, 2021, 06:53:49 PM »

I was stunned by the Mullion flyover this morning.   

How about a future Buda at Mullion and Perranporth?



Bernard Darwin wrote about Mullion in THE GOLF COURSES OF THE BRITISH ISLES . . . not favorably.  I have never been there because I didn't realize it still existed when I did my tour of the UK in 1982; there were no reviews of it or photos of it anywhere.  From what I've seen on Google Earth, it would have beautiful views, but it is short, severe, and quite hilly.  Could be fun, not likely anywhere close to great.


A BUDA at Mullion and Perranporth would require strong legs, but by the end I think you'd wish you'd included Yelverton instead.

Ally Mcintosh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #21 on: May 07, 2021, 02:18:54 AM »
I didn’t play it on my 2019 Cornwall trip either, primarily because everything I’ve read had it as the third of three behind Bude & North Cornwall and West Cornwall and I only had limited time (St Enodoc, Trevose and Perranporth being the givens)...


Maybe I read the wrong writings...

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #22 on: May 08, 2021, 02:18:19 AM »
I didn’t play it on my 2019 Cornwall trip either, primarily because everything I’ve read had it as the third of three behind Bude & North Cornwall and West Cornwall and I only had limited time (St Enodoc, Trevose and Perranporth being the givens)...

Maybe I read the wrong writings...

I don't expect Mullion to be in the class of Bude or West Cornwall, but if is as good as Warren that would be a pleasant surprise.

Ciao
« Last Edit: May 08, 2021, 04:33:08 AM by Sean_A »
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #23 on: May 08, 2021, 03:51:45 AM »
.. I think you'd wish you'd included Yelverton instead.
+1
Yelverton is a damn fine golf course mostly the work of the terrific Herbert Fowler. Plenty of challenge and interest with splendid use of natural features and pre-golf manmade earthworks. A course very much worth playing.
Atb

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: "10 Hidden Gems in England"
« Reply #24 on: May 08, 2021, 04:36:17 AM »
This is an interesting selection of courses. Mannings Heath intrigues, but nobody has told me I should play it. I plan to play Woodbridge this year...always interested me. By far the course I want to see most is Mullion.

Ciao

I was stunned by the Mullion flyover this morning.   

How about a future Buda at Mullion and Perranporth?

Mike

Bogey

We already had a Perranporth Buda. Perranporth wasn't a hit.

Ciao
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

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