Ballards Gore Golf Club

I’ve played here many times over the years & it’s the worst I’ve ever seen it. Tee boxes are quite frankly appalling. It’s incredibly difficult to get a tee into most of them & it looks like they have been rolled by a rotivator. Honestly disgusted that I paid £26 for that. I very much doubt I’ll ever come back to be honest. The owner should be ashamed of themselves!

Excellent condition both fairways and greens. Couldn’t ask for better In November. Congrats to course staff.

Great course it had a lot of challenging holes that where enjoyable to play , I would recommend it to the above average golfer.

Decided to play here as it was a new course for my 11 year old son. I was a member approximately 10 years ago. Wasn't disappointed. Course was in great condition, greens excellent for time of year. Will definitely return. Good value for money.

Whilst reasonably local I had never played this course before.
The first thing that hits you as you set out is the tranquility with only the occasional plane coming into Southend Airport challenging the quietness.
The course is reasonably long and challenging. Even the shorter holes have very tight fairways or approaches that test the mettle of handicap golfers.
Following a very hot and dry summer a lot of courses are still suffering, however Ballards Gore seem to have countered this better than a lot of the more revered courses in the area.
It was an enjoyable round (although the weather was wet and I didn't play well) and a course I'd want to play again.

Good value for money, greens well maintained, little rough.

Booked round as a last minute decision, as wanted to try a course had not played before. Considering how hot weather has been over the last few weeks, was in great condition. You could fire ball into the green as were very receptive. Fairways were firm but plenty of grass on them. Like to commend the green staff for getting course in that condition.
Would recommend this course to all standards as a very fair test of golf. Will return in very near future.

When we arrived we was told there was a seniors tournament about to start, but we were directed to the 10th tee with no problem to start our game. I have to say this was the first time at this course and I was a little apprehensive, but to my surprise what a fantastic course, the condition,layout and whole experience was just first class

Rude staff, no off course facilities. Not good

Arrived 45 minutes early for a midday tee off and wasn’t allowed to book in. No explanation just “come back at 12”. But that’s our tee time?”. “Sorry, come back then”.

Warming up and chatting to other guys doing the same it became apparent there was a tournament going off at 12 and they wanted the course clear ahead of them. Shame the guy in the office couldn’t be bothered to explain. In the end we got forced to go out from the 10th so it wasn’t an issue anyway. Odd.

The round takes under 4 hours, which seems to be good going these days. Eventually the 4 ball ahead begrudgingly lets our 2 ball through and there are clear holes ahead as far as you can see. We knew they stopped doing food at 4pm but we’d made it with 10 minutes to spare. I picked up a menu and didn’t even get to look at it before I was told they’d stopped doing food.
“Oh ok, when do you stop doing food then?”
“4pm”
“But it’s 10 to?”
“Yeah chef went home half an hour ago”
“So you stop doing food at half 3?”
“No, 4pm”
“In 10 minutes time?”
Pause. “I can do you a drink, do you bloody want one or not?”

Sadly that’s an improvement on the time before when we came off the course at half 4 and the whole clubhouse was shut and locked up.

It’s a good tough course but it just appears to be run badly.

Avoid. Unless you enjoy being treated shoddily.

This was a good hour drive on a very wet good Friday but it was worth the trip. Course was pretty much empty due to the heavy rain. But loved the course has a bit of everything from short par 3s over water to long par 5s. Will defo be returning in summer to play the course in full conditions.

I've played here many times and always find it a challenging course.
For the time of year the course was in very good condition and was helped by several tee positions having been moved closer to allow for the conditions.
Greens were in good condition but slow at times due to the dampness. Fairways were quite good but could have been better in paces if it weren't for the buggies cutting up the ground a little. That said. most greens were roped off to prevent damage by buggies and trollies.
The course never disappoints and I look forward to playing there again very soon.

Loved the course. The layout,directions to each tee,diagram of hole at each tee,towels at every ball wash, condition of fairways and tees, water features, par 3s all different,friendliness of members made the the day a great success. Will definitely go back even though it took us over an hour to get there.

On the whole a good course with some challenging holes. However, the tee boxes need some attention, in particular the 9th hole, as there was no white, yellow or red tee markers so was having to guess where to tee from? Fairways also need cutting in places.

Course was in great nick greens where fast and true very long made even longer by strong wind great test fantastic day out

Live close to course and with my home club having a charity day 4 of us, who have played the course many times, had a 'friendly'. Some holes quite challenging and can catch the higher handicapper out.
Still a good day and worth visiting although no real ale served at the bar so we adjourned to local hostelry 50 yards away.

Only played here once before, when recovering from a broken toe! That time, I played badly and didnt appreciate course. This time round, I loved it! Difficult enough to be fun, but some wide open fairways as compensation. Course was in great condition, very beautiful trees and water features and wildlife. Will deffo book again.

I booked Ballards Gore golf course through Tee Off times, and rang the golf club to confirm the booking. Pro Shop advised me that Tee Off times cannot normally be booked, especially not on Bank Holidays so I was "lucky" to have the slot. The guy then moaned about Tee Off times weren't supposed to have booked me in, but that is not on my concern, that is between Tee Off Times and the golf club themselves.

On the day,the guy from the Pro Shop again moaned that my group shouldn't really be playing and criticised my trousers for having 1 outer pocket - people with this golf snobbery are ruining the excellent game of golf for casual players with this golf snobbery.

Despite the objectionable member of staff, course itself was excellent but I will not be returning - the guy has put my group off from returning and we will take our business elsewhere and I suggest others do too.

The course has a natural feel , but is also very neat and tidy.
It was in great condition, although the greens were slower than they looked.
There are a good mix of holes with some open fairways where a long drive is useful and others that require a bit of thought from the tee.
Overall it is a decent test and I would recommend a visit.