PKJ280554

Having heard that Haydock GC was rated as a good course and that our group (4 of us) had not played it before we thought we would give it a try, and we where not disappointed. The fairways, which where in good condition considering the amount of rain the night before are reasonably generous in width, though if you do stray to much from the fairway/ semi-rough then you will, as it should be penalized. bunkers you will come across, along with being strategically placed around the greens.
When it comes to the bunkers, James Braid the course designer was a masochist, that whilst the bunkers have plenty of quality sand, the bunkers are deep compared to most other bunkers you will come across, along with being strategically placed around the greens, thus you need either to lay up or land on the green.
The greens where in very good condition - very few plug marks - and ran true.
The course is a combination of straight and dogleg holes, and whilst the majority of the greens are "flat" there are a couple of greens that require large borrows.
Overall the course makes you continually think your drive, approach and putting, and as such we will be returning to Haydock GC in the next couple of weeks.
The only minor negatives are that: due to the age of the club there are a couple of places where holes cross each other, and that like a lot of courses there is a lack of signage indicating to someone new to the course where the next tee etc is.

As my colleagues said, even though we played the course on a reduced rate we would paid the full rate, which compared with other courses we have played recently of a similar cost represents excellent value for money.
Whilst we were waiting for our tee time there was thunder and lightning resulting in a heavy downpour, which though slowing the greens down slightly were still fast due to them drying out so well.
The only negatives were that some of the fairway grass was a bit long, that you could be virtually on top of your ball, yet not be able to see it, though they did have the tractor mower out cutting the fairway grass back to more manageable levels, and that a couple of tees/greens are too close to each other, but then that is how the course has been laid out for x number of years: if it's not broken why fix it.

As a former member and now as a casual visitor to Frodsham Golf course I have played it many times, however, on my most recent visit my colleagues and I found the course to be in the worst condition we have every experience at Frodsham.
On arrival you will find the main car park closed because the original clubhouse and pros shop are being converted into a nursery!!! Since there is no pros shop you then confirm you have a booking to a man sitting in his car. How you proceed if you just turn up to play is questionable.
After struggling through the 12 inch deep stone (pebble) path to the 1st tee you will find that you do not tee off from the normal tee, but rather a half finished teeing area; this should possibly alert you as to what other travails to expect.
On reaching the first green you will find it to be devoid of grass, that you are effectively putting on soil and that this continues with all of the greens except the 4th - 7th. The greens at the local municipal we recently played where in better condition than those at Frodsham.
Whilst some of the teeing areas have been moved back, due to them not having bedded in they are uneven and that even if you go back two club lengths it is difficult to find a flat spot.
Though it is nice to see potential improvements being made to the course at the same time a number of strategic bunkers and water hazards have either been filled in or are now so overgrown as to be redundant.
At the end of our round we made comment to the "starter" as to the state of the greens with him informing us that they where burnt due to the recent hot weather and had recently had had several thousand gallons of water used on them, however, when we spoke in the car park with a member he informed the reason the greens where so brown was that the management has furloughed all of its staff; and it shows.
The "starter" had also suggested, even though they are currently closed, that we should have a look at the new clubhouse and pros shop. Compared with the original clubhouse and pros shop they are glorified sheds, that the clubhouse is no more than what you would expect at the mid point of a Birkdale style course, that it is doubtful if it could handle a society of even 10 players.
Until there are drastic quality improvements to the course, then for the same money you would be better to consider other courses that charge a similar rate, and who maintain the quality of the course and facilities.