Abridge - Essex - England

Abridge is an immaculately manicured golf course overlooking some pretty countryside in West Essex near to Epping Forest. Costly improvements have recently been made to install an irrigation system and when we played, in high summer, it’s condition was nigh perfect. Whether the drainage system can cope in winter with the predominant Essex clay subsoil, I don’t know.

The holes make the most of the undulating terrain with a number of drives from raised tees to greens that are similarly raised, a design feature that became a little repetitive.

I much prefer holes that I can see clearly from the tee, excluding the odd dogleg, and in this respect there were some excellent holes. My favourites were number 7, a picturesque uphill short par4, 11 a scenic long par4 across a valley with danger lurking on the left, 13 the best par5 on the course with exactly the right balance between risk and reward and 14 a seriously challenging stroke index one requiring two mighty blows, the second across a pond, to reach the green.

We enjoyed our round at Abridge for it is a solid test of golf, although in my view there are too many ordinary holes for it to justify a higher rating, despite its excellent condition.

A lovely course, despite being a lovely sunny day it rained a lot the day before so there was 3 temporary greens but I didn't spoil what was a great day. Greens were fantastic as were the fairways, it played very long as no roll on the fairways. Great facilities, well worth a day out if you are within 1 hour of the course.

Definitely one of the best courses in Essex. As a member I'm delighted to see the investment in the irrigation system produce such great results with the course greener than ever before despite the wonderfully hot summer. The greens are in tip top condition and you need to have a putting stroke to match.

Played this course last year and went back, they have done loads of work on the course and its so beautiful one of the best ones in Essex in my opinion. Fairways are like carpet due to new irrigation system they put in. Golf pro in the pro shop was really friendly and gave us some good tips. The course is really challenging, Some long par 4s especially around Amen corner, however its really rewarding when you get it right, The greens are extremely fast and true but reading them and judging speed is a trick.....make sure you go on the putting green before you go out. It caught a few of us out to start with.

I was in Essex this week and as Abridge was ranked 4th in the county decided to make this my first course in Essex. A good welcome and the course to myself mean't I managed the whole course on a twilight fee. Overall course condition was not the best; greens were being worked on and therefore slow and whilst the fairways were all nicely mown they were very patchy/poor in condition. Very close to the M25 so a constant noise. Thought the front nine more interesting than the back. Downhill tee shots and uphill second shots seemed a theme meaning quite a few shots to blind greens. My favourite holes were the par 3 2nd (a nice short hole guarded by a small pond) and the 6th, a short dog-leg par 4

I played Abridge a week before open qualifying with a very friendly member called Dave. The course was in great condition as would be expected and was incredibly tough.After a fairly easy opening hole and a short par 3 with a difficult green you reach one of the toughest on the course. A 90° dog leg left you have to hit an iron off the tee unless you can shape your drive considerably - as you risk running through the fairway into a pond. After this you are left with a long uphill approach to a large elevated green. A very tough par and one of the few times you can be quite relieved with a bogey!After 2 quite short but very hilly par 5s the course becomes a little easier until you reach hole 10. This along with 11, 12 and 14 is a long 400+ par 4. With a testing uphill par 3 15th too, you may need to capitalize on the easier final 3 holes to get a respectable score.Yes there are a lot of elevated tees followed by hard shots into elevated greens, but this just adds to the challenge. Make your score on the easier holes and hold on during the tougher holes to ensure you enjoy your day on this lovely, undulating but tough open qualifying course with its brilliantly fast and true greens. Joe

I went to Abridge to watch Regional Qualifying in June 2011 and was lucky enough to play the course later that week with a friend who is a non-Jewish club member. Presented in its championship livery, Abridge is a great course and I have played it many times over the years and yes, it can get soggy in the winter (as can Chigwell and the vast majority of other courses in this area) but Abridge is always in better condition than the others. Overall I think Abridge is a solid golf course that tests the very best. Only three players broke 70 during Regional Qualifying this year and that is why it’s used. I suspect had the same pros played at Chigwell most players would have scored in the 60s. Don’t get me wrong, I like Chigwell, but it’s not in the same league as Abridge re the golfing test.

The R and A came here and chose to host Open RQ hope they sort out the appalling 18th hole - considering they have the whole of suffolk and essex to choose from i cant believe its for golf reasons they chose this, very bland up and down side by side design- the members who payed to build this couldnt get on the waiting list at Chigwell ,a proper course , there is an almighty large practice ground the track is heavy underfoot in places - uninspiring

I found this to be a decent course with some pleasant holes, although I have to agree with earlier reviews that there are too many holes where you can't see the bottom of the flag on your approach. There needs to be a little more varity. To cap it off there is quite a poor finishing hole.

Abridge has been chosen to be an Open qualifying course for next year so I was expecting it to be a level above the other local courses but it left me slightly disappointed. There is no doubting the course is well maintained and there are several holes where standing on the raised tee it’s very pleasing on the eye with the hole laid out in front of you, the par 3’s were varied and testing but what bothered me was that the majority of the Par 4 & 5’s you were hitting into a raised green where you either couldn’t see the bottom of the flag or even see the green at all.