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Me and my wife played the course for the first time and were both disappointed with the condition. It was described as ‘immaculate’ by the member of staff on arrival and this, arguably, set expectations quite high, but we found the condition to be relatively poor compared to other local courses of similar calibre. The prolonged hot and dry weather was definitely a factor in poor grass growth but there were many patchy/scruffy areas and the tee-boxes were particularly beat up. It was also quite frustrating to find our balls had come to rest in sunken depressions of old drainage channel work in the middle of fairways. Sadly, the number of interesting holes is well outnumbered by less inspiring ones. We had higher hopes for this course - especially for £40.

I had excellent memories from playing this course in April 2016. Unfortunately, this time was really poor. I was only told that the back 9 was closed when I turned up to play, not at the booking stage. I asked what would happen when I completed the front 9 and returned to the first tee, and was reassured that the tee would be free. You can guess where this is going... I played the front 9 in a very fast time because I was off first at 6:50am, then returned to the first tee to find a 4ball on the green and another group waiting on the fairway. To say I was annoyed was an understatement, so much so that I left, after asking for 50% of my greenfee back. I appreciate it must be a nightmare to schedule golf in this format, but why does the course accept the bookings in the first place!? It’s purely for financial greed, in my opinion. If they simply took a 9-hole booking then there could’ve been no complaints, surely?

Aside from the timing issues, the course looked really tired on the approaches to the greens. The greens themselves were in generally poor condition with many, many pitchmarks all over them. This is mainly down to lazy golfers not repairing their pitch-marks, I appreciate that, but they looked terrible. I’d like to add that the greens were fantastic when I played in 2016, so something has gone amiss since then.

The layout of the course is really good, still, and it’s enjoyable to play. The holes are challenging without being miles long and it’s pleasant on the eye, too. Hopefully, they will sort out the maintenance issues and return the course to the same standard that I enjoyed so much two years ago. The location is convenient and the price for 18 holes is decent. I’d like readers of this review to remember these last points, and for the staff at the course to pay attention to the first ones - and fix them!