Fairmont St Andrews Review

Fairmont St Andrews Review

The medieval town of St Andrews in Scotland is known around the world as the Home of Golf, and it’s a golfing pilgrimage that all golfers should undertake at some point in their golfing lives, if time and fortune permit. Located on Fife’s northern coastline, St Andrews is just over an hour’s drive from Edinburgh and 30 minutes from Dundee, both of which are served by international airports. The Fairmont St Andrews resort sits on the clifftop to the south east of the town, along the coastal road towards Crail. Travel Times Edinburgh…Read more …
Al Zorah Golf Club Review

Al Zorah Golf Club Review

AL Zorah Golf Club is located in the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates, a mere 25 minute drive from Dubai airport and just a short distance north of the city. Al Zorah is becoming a destination, much like Jumeirah or Yas Island, with a focus being on relaxation,serenity, and a natural environment. Dubai is indeed a remarkable place, but Al Zorah provides a welcome tonic with the option to stay at the impressive new hotel at The Oberoi Beach Resort. Travel Times Dubai – 30min Abu Dhabi – 1hr 30min…Read more …
The Addington Golf Club Course Review

The Addington Golf Club Course Review

You might be surprised by the number of golf courses that lie within the boundary of London’s M25, not least for the fact that at today’s prices they must occupy countless millions of pounds’ worth of land. We should be grateful for these little oases, though, and especially those where the seclusion and peacefulness is so at odds with all the hustle and bustle that surrounds. One that truly stands out, and which stands comparison with courses anywhere in the country, is The Addington Golf Club near Croydon, just 10 miles south of…Read more …
Piltdown GC Course Review

Piltdown GC Course Review

I try hard to avoid the ‘hidden gem’ golfing cliché. For starters, there will be countless golfers that are already well aware of the delights on offer at Piltdown Golf Club in East Sussex, and, no doubt, the lovely courses at nearby Crowborough Beacon and Royal Ashdown Forest that make up this glorious triumvirate of heathland classics. I will concede that there are better known courses around the country, but that shouldn’t (and doesn’t) detract from Piltdown’s pleasures. I’d argue that it adds to them, in fact. Here, you feel like you’re stealing…Read more …
Walton Heath Golf Club, Old Course Review

Walton Heath Golf Club, Old Course Review

There are golf clubs and then there are golf clubs, those few whose names transcend the game. Walton Heath is one. Like so many of the finer things in life, much of Walton Heath’s charm is in its glorious subtlety. But if you come as a lover of the game, an aficionado of its history and a student of golf course design, you will leave feeling truly spoiled and envying each and every member of the club. There are very few golf clubs that can match the heritage, the pedigree, the tradition, the…Read more …
Moor Park GC Course Review

Moor Park GC Course Review

There’s no overstating the wow factor on arrival at Moor Park. With the grandest of 17th century Palladian mansions serving as the clubhouse, and the ambiance of a country estate, this is certainly a golf club out of the ordinary. Add to that the venerable name of H.S. Colt and a history of hosting numerous professional and amateur events, and you know you’re in for a treat. The Hertfordshire club on the outskirts of London is one of few quality venues inside the M25. As such, it will always appeal to city golfers…Read more …
Worplesdon GC Course Review

Worplesdon GC Course Review

Strolling through the traditional wood-panelled hallway of the clubhouse and out onto the veranda that affords views across the opening holes at Worplesdon is a delightful introduction to this lovely Surrey club. First impressions count, and all that. From inside, the bars and dining room share the same views as the terrace and on days when the sun is streaming through the windows you’d be hard pushed to think of a more agreeable setting. It can sound trite using words like charming and characterful but as adjectives go, they’re as good as any…Read more …
Vale Resort, Wales National Course Review

Vale Resort, Wales National Course Review

For a course that’s just 12 years old, the Wales National is far more mature than you’d expect it to be. But it’s the scale of the course that is most striking, and not just the monstrous 7,433 yards the card can stretch to from the tips. The trees are tall, the bunkers are expansive, and the water features are certainly more lake than pond. Avoiding the hazards is very much the order of the day if you’re to keep your scoring in check, but that’s considerably easier said than done. The Peter…Read more …
Sweetwoods Park GC Course Review

Sweetwoods Park GC Course Review

Entering the gates at Sweetwoods Park you wind your way dramatically down towards the clubhouse and gain your first impressions of this contemporary parkland design. What’s immediately clear is that the defining feature of the course, and with it the foremost challenge, are the undulations.  I guess, by its very nature, every course is defined by its topography but at Sweetwoods the gradient changes are the very essence of its character. Sloping greens, contoured fairways, and marked elevation changes are evident throughout the eighteen holes, with the result being a course that’s endlessly…Read more …
West Surrey GC Course Review

West Surrey GC Course Review

It wouldn’t be untrue to say that, in the main, parkland courses don’t tend to fair as well in the esteem of golfers (or at least those responsible for the rankings) as their heathland and linksland brothers. Not untrue, but perhaps unfair, I couldn’t help thinking as I strolled off the eighteenth green at West Surrey. The course may not share the same terrain as its fellow Surrey courses at Walton Heath and The Berkshire, but it does share the same designer in Herbert Fowler – and that instantly tells you much of…Read more …
Camberley Heath GC Review

Camberley Heath GC Review

It would be a little trite and lazy to describe the course at Camberley Heath as simply a traditional heathland layout. Yes, there are the towering pines, the attractive swathes of heather, the pitches and rolls – all characteristics of the best courses in this sandy belt south west of London. And, yes, it has the architectural hallmarks of the great Harry Colt, the subtle nuances, the soft yet strategically brilliant angles, the visual treats, but there’s something different here too. For us, the most distinctive feature that marks it apart from the…Read more …
Las Colinas Golf & Country Club Review

Las Colinas Golf & Country Club Review

When heading overseas for your golf, often the first thing you’d look for is convenience.  Las Colinas Golf & Country Club starts with a sizeable tick in the box. Easily reached from either of two international airports  - Alicante and Murcia San Javier – you arrive at Las Colinas ready to enjoy your stay, rather than exhausted from what’s felt like a formidable trek. Las Colinas Golf & Country Club is on Spain’s Costa Blanca, a few miles inland from Playa Flamenca and just south of the town of Alicante, in Campoamor. Surrounded…Read more …
Bridgend County Regional Review

Bridgend County Regional Review

Declaring anywhere to seem “far way” is obviously always relative to where you’re starting.  Even Timbuktu isn’t far away if you live in central Mali.  But for many people living in the British Isles, South Wales seems to be quite far away.  I am sure it can only be that misconception that prevents the fairways being overrun by enthusiastic golfers because this corner of the nation is uncommonly blessed by nature and has more than its share of exceptional golf courses that are an utter joy to play. Part of me wants it…Read more …
Littlestone Golf Club Course Review

Littlestone Golf Club Course Review

Give me a links course any day.  Even in the wind and rain they are a joy but given a sunny day, they are like golfing manna to those of us who dream of making up fourballs with Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones and Old Tom Morris.  And playing Littlestone, tucked away in the south-eastern corner of Kent, delivers that kind of unbridled purist joy. The course is laid out on classic golfing terrain, next door to the famous Romney Marshes. Dating from 1888, the list of architectural influences reads like a veritable Who’s…Read more …
Tandridge Golf Club Course Review

Tandridge Golf Club Course Review

In any other county, Tandridge Golf Club would be a jewel in the crown, but such are the riches of top class Surrey golf courses, it’s perhaps a course less familiar to some. Nevertheless, a classic traditional English golf club, Tandridge opened its doors back in 1924, and is privileged to bear the hallmark of the world respected Harry Colt as its architect. Located near Oxted, just off the southern stretch of the M25, it is easily accessible from London and all surrounding counties. With both parkland and woodland characteristics throughout, comparing it…Read more …

North Berwick Golf Club Course Review

Just 30 minutes east of Edinburgh on “Scotland’s Golf Coast” you’ll find one of the oldest and most revered golf courses in Britain.  It may not enjoy the fame of the Open venues, but the West Links at North Berwick Golf Club is one of those courses that rightfully enjoys a stellar reputation among golfing devotees.  For the links lover, this is on that “must play” list alongside the likes of Royal Dornoch and Royal County Down – special, historic places that promise exceptional golfing and life-long memories. Where to begin?  Let’s start…Read more …

Rockliffe Hall Hotel, Golf & Spa Review

Impressive. That’s the first word that springs to mind when you’re at Rockliffe Hall.  It may not be as established as more famous names or have three courses like a few of the grandest resorts, but this is a golfing retreat that holds its own with the best in the land. Not far from Darlington, Rocklliffe Hall is one of a number of golfing developments that have really put the North East on the golfing map.  The championship course bears the hallmarks of a quality, contemporary design and then there’s the fabulous five…Read more …

Royal Liverpool Golf Club Course Review

Located on the North West tip of the Wirral peninsula in Cheshire, Royal Liverpool Golf Club is one of the oldest and most influential golf clubs in the country.  Playing here, as at a handful of other comparably storied courses (and there are very few), the great joy is in allowing yourself to be swept up by the history of the place, as much as it’s in the pleasure of playing the fine links course itself. One of three ‘Royals’ that help make up England’s Golf Coast – a collection of 12 prestigious…Read more …

Caldy Golf Club Course Review

Playing golf at Caldy Golf Club you’re reminded why you love the game. This is a course that refreshes your enthusiasm for the game by reminding you that golf should be a joy, a pastime played for fun with a smile on your face.  The mark of a good course doesn’t always have to be the regularity with which you find yourself waist high in gorse on the wrong side of the most ferocious examination of your game. That’s not to say the course is easy, indeed the stiff breeze that no doubt…Read more …

Conwy Golf Club Course Review

Located at what is roughly the mid-point of the northern Welsh coastline, under the watchful eye of a moody Conwy Mountain, is the picturesque Conwy Golf Club. The Morfa links is one of Wales’s most esteemed golf courses, and in concert with the scenery it makes for a truly memorable golfing experience.  There’s the eponymous Conwy Mountain, the distant Great Orme at Llandudno, the sandy coastline, and the attractive seaside town of Deganwy, all combining to create a golfing setting that must rank as one of the most privileged in the British Isles. It was…Read more …
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