Golf Holidays with European Tour Stars

An uncle of mine used to belong to a golf society that had one agenda; to play every course that had hosted an Open Championship. It was an admirable goal, but they’d only got through Prestwick, Carnoustie, St Andrews, Royal Birkdale and Prince’s before they gave up, battered into submission by the tough layouts, often blustery conditions and their shaky golf.  The trouble was the focus of their approach was too narrow. These are some of the toughest courses in the land – regardless of the tees the starter makes you play off – that’s why they’ve been picked to host Open championships. Golf should be fun, remember? If you want to play on the same courses as your Tour Pro heroes there are plenty of options that are far more suitable for the average club golfer. The promise of some sun will also make the odd double bogey all the more bearable! Read more

The Belfry – The Best course in England?

With so many world class golf courses in England it is a hard task to name just one as the best in the country. Courses like the Old Course at Sunningdale, the West Course at Wentworth and the Hotchkin at Woodhall Spa certainly deserve to be considered but in a recent poll, readers of Going for Golf magazine have voted the Brabazon Course at The Belfry as the nations favourite. Read more

Doonbeg Golf Review

Thank you very much for organising our golf break to Ireland. I have been lucky enough to walk the courses at Wentworth, Sunningdale, Carnoustie and St Andrews and upon arriving at Doonbeg I thought it blew them all away in terms of the dramatic landscape and scenery that this Irish gem has been blessed with. It’s a truly stunning venue, an inspirational golf course, quite breathtaking, unlike any other…needless to say then, that we enjoyed the golf holiday! Read more

The Pros and Cons of Re-designing a Golf Course

Redesigning a golf course is never an easy job and it can, as we have recently seen, potentially involve a lot of risk. The greatest risk of all is perhaps the wrath of the players who are so used to playing on it, the players who have become so accustomed to every nook and cranny of it over years of playing time.

Ernie Els became the latest victim of such wrath last week as Ian Poulter had some strong words on his changes to the course after finishing 18^th in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in Surrey.

“I don’t like this golf course. Period. End of story,” he scathed. “It’s a very difficult golf course, especially now it’s been redesigned.”

Ernie saw red upon hearing Poulter’s comments and told him to “think twice” before he says anything like it again. “He has done a lot of damage to the flagship event,” he blasted.

If I was Mr Els, I would probably have expected such comments, since it’s obviously impossible to please all of the people all of the time. If a player has a bad round, or even just a bad hole, it is naturally easier to blame external influences above internal shortcomings.

But it just goes to show that, no matter how confident you are of your own work, somebody else won’t like it. There are pros and cons to everything – and that doesn’t change when it comes to redesigning a golf course.

The greatest pro is, surely, the antithesis of the greatest con: receiving the adulation of golfers who approve of the changes you have made. Lee Westwood, amongst many others, praised the very alterations that Ian Poulter so furiously criticised.

At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference. Some players will enjoy the changes and some players will inevitably loath them, especially if they hit a couple of bad shots.

Reputation is therefore always at risk when alterations are made. It can be both a pro and a con of a redesign, depending perhaps most heavily on how certain players perform on the day.

Due to the unpredictable nature of the beautiful game of golf, anything could happen on the day. If a round doesn’t go to plan on a redesigned course, then it just gives the players something other than themselves to blame it on.

Poulter & McIlroy vent anger at Wentworth changes

Ernie Els’ changes to Wentworth have once again come under fire from some top pros in the wake of the BMW PGA Championship, with the course setup at the famous Surrey venue being met with some dissention.

Els, a 3-time major winner, made extensive changes to the Wentworth west course ahead of the 2010 renewal of the BMW PGA Championship and revisited some of those changes ahead of this year’s renewal. But as was the case in 2010, both he and the European Tour have got both barrels once again; this time from Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy.

Poulter, winner of the Volvo World Match Play at Finca Cortesin last week has never been one for keeping quiet and on Friday the flamboyant Poulter was less than complimentary about the course.

“I don’t like this golf course. Period. End of story,” he said after signing for a 3-over par 74.

Much of Poulter’s ire came from the double-bogey seven that he carded on the 18th.

“I don’t have a problem with tough courses but I am absolutely fuming. I’ve hit what I thought was a perfect shot and it finishes in the water. Marvellous. Is it fun? No, it’s not fun.”

Poulter was joined by Rory McIlroy who said that some of the pin and tee placements were strange and made it very difficult to score well. Rory’s comments came after Saturday’s third round, despite him carding a 3-under par 68.

“I don’t know who set the course up this week but some of the pin positions today were brutal. You couldn’t get close to them at all.”

“The fans who have paid 35 pounds or whatever it is to come in, they want to see birdies and people hitting great shots and getting it close. On some of the holes round here you just can’t do that.”

Els however has hit back at the criticism, much of which he feels is unfair.

“Wentworth is now a fair and honest test of golf,” he said. “Players who don’t have a good time on the 18th will have a go and I understand that. But you have to look at the overall picture and I do not believe you will find better surfaces to putt on anywhere in the world.”

What do you think? Are Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy right to lambast the way Wentworth has been changed? Did you prefer Wentworth before Els’ changes? Or have Els’ changes made the course better?

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