Tag: Golf Guru Group

U – Ullapool

ggg127web30th January 2021Comments OffUncategorized

GB&I Golf Course Review – Z to A

Over the next 26 days, I am going to showcase one golf club a day in GB & I. It is my ode to some great golf in the UK and Ireland. Full write up’s and more images can be found on golfgurugroup.blogspot or www.golfgurugroup.com Travelling Lady Golfer tab. So there is no missing out on that extra little bit of information, if needed.

Feel free to share them to help others.

Ullapool Golf Club

North Road, Ullapool, IV26 2TH

The place time forgot?

Benches dotted around the course, taking time out to enjoy this 9 hole course seems to be the best way to embrace the ethos of Ullapool Golf Club.

Just North of the fishing village of Ullapool is this friendly golf club awaiting your presence to give it a go at only £20 per 9 holes (£30 for 18 holes/day ticket). It doesn’t try to be something it isn’t, it doesn’t claim to be a long course, or even a particularly hard one either, but it does have wildlife aplenty and stunning scenery to enjoy as you play a relaxing round at Ullapool. And if you fancy a bash whilst on holiday, you can hire clubs with golf trolleys being free to use.

My friend and fellow journalist, Kevin Markham, has played Ullapool and has this to say about the course:

So many of the Highlands golf courses are wrapped in glorious views, mountains rolling across horizons and sea stretching out of sight. Ullapool is no different. This is a nine hole course (18 tees) and you get a wonderful taste for it as you start your descent into the large village, coming from the north. Ullapool sits in the heart of Lough Broom, and dates back to 1788.

The golf course came 210 years later and is laid out at the eastern fringe of the village. It is a picturesque coastline course, squeezing up against the lough’s edges and promising views all day long. Visitors are always welcome (there’s an honesty box) but this is very much a local affair. You won’t find immaculate conditioning because it’s simply not needed at a club that was founded for the love of playing golf… and not perfect fairways.

It’s an enjoyable ramble and the holes are well routed with holes 1 and 9 taking you to and from the clubhouse, from the shoreline. Thereafter, holes run parallel to the water. That ‘local’ feel is emphasised by the shapes and flow of the land which have been absorbed into the course. To say the course has a ‘natural feel’ is an understatement.

Over the 18 holes

There are four par threes and two par fives (three for ladies). The par fours are rarely long: the shortest is 230 yards, the longest is 378 (298 for ladies), and with 18 different tees you will find the course changes its length to the tune of 260 yards for men and 244 for ladies. Sometimes the second tee on a hole doesn’t make much difference… on others it does. It means playing the nine hole loop twice offers different challenges.

Holes 2/11 and 3/12 are the most memorable and tempting holes. The par three 2nd hits straight out at the water, curving around a beach onto a little peninsula jutting into the lough. Mountains rise beyond and the men’s tee boxes on the two loops are 40 yards apart… the ladies just 10.

The par four 3rd runs right above the stony beach. Fairway then beach then lough. At high tide it must be incredibly intimidating. Whatever the tide, two brave shots are required. It measures between 261 and 338 yards, with tee boxes again well separated. The green sits at the foot of a steep gorse covered hill and as tough as the drive is, the approach is even more of a knee trembler. A lovely par three follows, from a high tee, with the green once again right on the water’s edge.

That Gorse

That gorse is a common theme at Ullapool. There are trees here but they are widely scattered while the gorse embraces you time and again as you rise up the gentle slopes, channelling you towards small greens. Keep it on the fairways and it’s a sweet amble… if not, expect the occasional prickly end.

Don’t expect complex golf at Ullapool. That is not its attraction. This is a fun and friendly local club that promises an enjoyable day out amidst the beauty of the Highlands.

V for Vale of Llangollen

Photo credits Kevin Markham

V – Vale of Llangollen

ggg127web29th January 2021Comments OffUncategorized

GB&I Golf Course Reviews – Z to A

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Vale of Llangollen

Holyhead Road, Llangollen LL20 7PR

In the county of Denbighshire and regarded as one of the best inland golf courses in North Wales, Vale of Llangollen is a sight for sore eyes.

It is one of those places that you don’t really give it the justice it deserves until you round the building and overlook the Vale beneath with the golf course carefully mapped out in front of you, enticing in its appearance. With the Welsh hills stretching out in the distance this is a perfect backdrop to this inviting course.

Located in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, golfers have been enjoying this scene since 1908 where it started life as a nine hole course, extended to the full 18 holes, in the 1960’s. Vale of Llangollen is located within Pontcysyllte area which in itself, being a UNESCO site is in bed with such greats as the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids and the Great Wall of China. This designated heritage site cited as a ‘masterpiece of human genius’, is impressive in its pedigree. Does this alone make Vale of Llangollen unique in its pedigree as a golf club?

The River Dee is present, although not necessarily in play. It is most noticeable on three holes; with the 9th being regarded as one of the best holes in British Golf at 418/436 yards (SI 5/1). Sure enough as you stand on the elevated tee, it doesn’t show its true colours until you see where your drive might land. Favouring the large tree on the right, you can just about tuck in before the fairway twists left keeping the River ever present on the right before finally allowing you a glimpse of the green. A par 4 for men and a par 5 for ladies add to the male vs female friendly battle. Other holes which enjoy the River Dee are the 15th and 16th

Hole number 14

A 146/167 yard par 3 SI18 has a narrowish exit with large trees towering over you as you take on this otherwise non threatening par three. Add in the other tee box sitting next you though, and one might feel as they can’t mess it up ‘in front of a crowd’. But get used to the crowd you must.

The finishing hole is a crowd busting one too. An uphill par three often requires a bit more club than the distance of 115/153 yards (SI16/12). A ditch runs across the fairway and the green slopes back to front, so on the green in one is the only option to make a par. All this in front of the elevated patio with golfers watching your every move from their vantage point. It’s a nerve jangling finishing hole, but definitely worth a bit of banter in the clubhouse afterwards.

The times I visited Vale of Llangollen we met with friendly people in the clubhouse. In fact they believe in their club so much that one member signed up his child for membership at only 5 months old to help out the club doing Covid times.

Llangollen is a pretty nice to visit too, with the River dissecting the town. Famed for hosting the International Music Eisteddfod, a unique annual celebration of world music and dance since 1947. Castell Dinas Brân has been shadowing over Llangollen since it was built in 1260 by Gruffyd Maelor II the Prince of Powys Fadgo.

W for Wallasey Golf Club

W – Wallasey

ggg127web28th January 20212 commentsUncategorized

GB&I Golf Course Review – Z to A

Wallasey Golf Club

Baywater Road, Wallasey, Wirral, CH45 8LA Founded in 1891 by members from nearby Hoylake, with a sterling layout from Old Tom Morris it was immediately heralded for its great greens. There were a few tweaks to the course in 1901 by Alex Herd and 1913 by Harold Hilton. But it was in 1917 when the drifting sand from nearby beaches, coupled with lease issues threatened Wallasey’s future. Issues resolved, in steps James Braid in 1929 who consulted in the alterations of the course. It obviously worked as in 1930 Wallasey was selected as an Open qualifier course for Royal Liverpool. An Open qualifying course again in 1936, with reduced yardage, Hawtree and J H Taylor were drafted in with James Braid once again adding his two penneth to its tweaked design. Post war; a couple of lost holes were reinstated giving us a full 18 hole links once again. Continued improvements were being made with the last ones by Donald Steel who re-desgined 3 new holes for play in 2004. Little of the original 1981 course remains intact. Gales, blown sand, war office requirements and the desire for extra length have led to several reconstructions. Only holes 2, 7, 8 and 12 have the original greens, such as evolution dictates.

I honestly cannot remember the first time I played Wallasey Golf Club, it must have been over 10 years ago but have been back 3 or 4 times since. The first time, I was a reasonably high handicapper with the ability to hit the odd good shot, but nothing too reliable. Wallasey was the first golf course to have the Bagger Vance effect on me; just see the path ahead, everything else just blurs into the background and it is easy to see how on this course. Wallasey rarely has dunes that you have to play over or through. But the fairways are lined with Marram grass and gorse so you can literally see your chosen path ahead, snaking around in a tantalising fashion. I guess it is only fitting that in the movie the Legend of Bagger Vance that Junuh was playing against Bobby Jones. Bobby Jones played his qualifying round at Wallasey for the 1930 Open at Royal Liverpool. Wallasey must have had a lasting effect on Bobby Jones too, as he sat for a portrait painted by one of the members. This portrait ‘Bobby’ still hangs proudly in the lounge to this day.

As you start to play Wallasey, it lures you into a false sense of security with a fairly innocuous straight par 4 hole running alongside the road. Then as you turn towards hole two, you may see the resident fox sitting on the tee box waiting for a snack without getting too close and certainly not menacing. The second hole is famous for a totally different reason. A par 4, almost 90 degree dog leg right, wide enough to take on the corner or keep left and get on in regulation for your second shot. Doctor Frank Stableford a member at Wallasey Golf Club at the time came up with the Stableford scoring system on this hole. I wonder if he had a nightmare on hole 1? Either way, the scoring system we all know and love today is from this very course. If you do take on the corner, over the dunes, and you miss, give a little nod to Dr Stableford for inventing such a forgiving system. Your worst score on that hole is nil points, or blob as we loving like to call it in the UK.

Other holes of note.

In fact you won’t even know about this hole until you clamber over the dunes to the 4th hole and the world appears to just open up ahead of you. Out of the dunes and into a wide open expanse overlooking the sea. On the horizon a multitude of majestic wind turbines quietly going about their business glinting in the sunshine as they sparkle off the sea gently lapping around them. The forth hole is a par 5, and the hardest hole on the course playing 438 to 571 yards. With it elevated tee, it does give you a sense of whack ability but be aware of the shallow banks and burrows that are in play on this hole too!

Hole number 16 is worth a mention, in so far as the first time I played Wallasey I thought, blimey!! It is a relatively long par 3, 180 to 227 yards, SI14 over a ravine of unsavoury stuff up back to the green which seems to cling onto the edge of the bank. In fact it is set into the bank on the right hand side, with a drop off on the left. A little path connects the dots after your tee shot. There is little option than to try and hit the green in one, I remember the green being quite big, if that helps?

Navigating yourself around the course, enjoying the fairways set out inviting in front of you is no more present than on the 18th. You stand on the tee, and there is only fairway spread out in front of you. A beautifully inviting cut fairway leading its way in ten pin ball fashion to the pin at the end. With marram grass and the odd bit of gorse in the rough, it is less tempting, so stick with your inner Bagger Vance and see the field. You can guarantee that if you don’t, your golfing buddies sat on the patio deck area will notice any errant shots and give a sympathetic sigh. Knowing too well how difficult it is not only find your ball but then play for glory to the 18th green with all and sundry overlooking your every move. Wallasey remains one of my all time favourite golf courses to play in the world and I hope to return one day soon.

X for eXminster Golf Centre