OldBrain

Always a relaxing game of golf in this awe-inspiring national park location. The new forest ponies just put the cherries on the cake to what is always a great course to play.

Second time of playing a round here, and I reiterate all the positives repeated with my first round. Only negatives are the signage to the next tee positions after finishing a hole is often weak, and seems to be mixed up in the two sets of tee locations on some holes with the first nine holes to playing the second nine holes. As newbies to this course we found this very confusing, but felt sure even the more regular players would still be confused.

With beautiful scenery and wild ponies, golf doesn't get much better than this. A fantastic day out, even if my score said otherwise.

This course is amongst the loveliest of Dorset best countryside settings, and far from one to regret playing. In fact, the fairways and greens were in exceptional condition, especially following a season where many others had suffered greatly from the hot summer and long period of little rain

When the sun shines and the rain stays away, you will have an amazing round

I've been looking forward to playing this course for several years, coordinating the other playing partners being the only factor delaying the experience.

I was advised to play when wind speeds were low, which was an important selection date, and good advice. The weather was beautiful and better than expected on the day, and this further enhanced the spectacular views over Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island.

Probably the most difficult course I've played due to the high risk of lost balls when a shot doesn't go to plan, but familiarity would probably make it easier with future rounds.

From the very first hole, it'll be easily realised that the fairways are as important as the greens. You won't be disappointed@

Course conditions at even the most challenging time of year could not be faulted. The tees, fairways and greens were very well protected/maintained, and everything makes for a very enjoyable round of golf. A very fine example to many other courses indeed.

Every single tee area is littered with discarded tees. I'm seems obvious that the perpetrators are the club members due to regularity of the offence and the unique tee style. They may be wooden and biodegradable eventually, but the visitor shouldn't have to sweep them to one side just to tee off themselves. It's disrespectful on so many levels, and completely unnecessary. It has nothing to do with effects of Coronavirus because was happening before the pandemic existed.

Also, the greens are in very poor condition and not being maintained, and the fairways have so many uneven channels running in all directions that your ball is constantly bouncing off to one side or the other. It's akin to trying to play golf on a freshly ploughed field.

The only criticism to be made would be my golf play being below my best, otherwise a faultless round on this beautiful Spring day.

The fact that we (a 3-ball) had to let 3 single golfers through before we finished hole 5 might have been the worst luck ever known, but along with previous experience of a culture of golfers keen to get around the course in the absolutely minimum amount of time this can be typical of what you can expect during a round here.

However, what is always annoying is the poor quality of the course. For instance, the cuts of the fairways and immediate rough are always longer than they should be, but it is the ruts that criss-cross almost every fairway which often hinders the length of your shot or redirects it to one side into the rougher areas that make this a very poor golfing experience.

We've not experienced other Progolf courses, but would be reluctant to try for the fear that the maximise for profit at the unacceptable course quality would very likely to be what is offered.

Certainly not a course in the mid or upper percentiles of Bournemouth' s and surrounding areas selection of alternative courses.

Despite the initial lack of signs indicating which direction we would find the 1st tee, and the 1st temporary green that hadn't even been cleared of the light snow, despite it being the only area on the 1st hole that had any snow at all, the course slowly showed it's potential as having some great potential as a bit of an easy and leisurely round just for the fun of it. It has definite potential for those days when a mixed ability group can all get something out of their round. Not sure how the normal green fees could be justified against the more professionally established and challenging local competitiive options though.

Challenging, but never too frustrating. All in all, it's a very enjoyable course and highly recommended.

As you wade through the bogged areas between the green and the next tee, just recall how lucky you were to not to land in one of the many areas of casual water on the last fairway, even though your ball had probably become plugged once or twice on the way again. An absolute disaster course as soon as the annual water table starts to rise, and is probably best avoided until Summer has well and truly returned once more. Don't waste your money!

A lovely location amongst the ponies and cows, and very peaceful too. As for the golf, it was a very enjoyable experience.