Chipping Sodbury Golf Club

Alex Frolish has been a pilot for approaching 20 years and now travels to all corners of the globe in his role as a commercial airline pilot. His passion for flight is only equalled by his passion for golf and golf travel. Having picked up a golf club over 35 years ago when aged just 3 years old, Alex has played over 550 courses across every continent on planet earth furnished with a fairway. Over the next few months you’ll be able to follow Alex’s golfing travels as he brings you anecdotes of his life both in the air and on the course. One thing about being a travelling golfer and panellist who is also an airline pilot, is that you can guarantee nobody will have played the same last ten rounds that you have. This always makes for interesting clubhouse conversations, although keeping tabs on exactly where you’ve just been can be a little troublesome. I’ll be honest, life can be chaos at times. To illustrate that exact point, May might have been my most jam packed and varied month in some time, with thirteen rounds played in three countries at some of the best courses those countries have to offer. Summer rounds, winter rounds, links and parkland. My golfing diary is a myriad of contrasts. The month started on Top100 regional duty, at Bristol & Clifton Golf Club, the final course I had yet to play in my home county of Gloucestershire in England. It has to be said that Gloucestershire isn’t blessed with an abundance of architectural heritage, but it is in the Bristol area of the county that you find the most historic and well rounded golf clubs. One such club is Bristol & Clifton, located just a couple of miles from the famous Clifton suspension bridge, where the members and staff are fiercely proud of their golf course. I was impressed with this place (particularly the conditioning), and would highly recommend a visit if you are ever in the area. Photo credit: Bristol and Clifton Golf Club My next outing was formed in friendship rather than in the hunt for architectural splendour. Rocco and I first connected in 2018 and shared a round at Pittsburgh Field Club in Pennsylvania. It had been five years but we had stayed in touch and I had vowed I would get back out to share another round with him. This time we played at a local municipal, Pittsburgh National, a course I knew little about. It turns out that when you come to a golf course with no expectations, you are often pleasantly surprised, and this ex Country Club layout demonstrated an abundance of interest and value. A first time visit to a quartet of gems of English golf followed, played over two of the finest weather days of the year so far. I will remember Broadstone for its magnificent land and the way in which the course wraps itself around and across the varying undulations. Ferndown was possibly the most supremely conditioned course I have played in the U.K. in the last twelve months; the vista looking down the effervescent 1st fairway will be imprinted on my mind for some time. Woking’s understated historical majesty charmed me nearly as much as the brunch on the terrace after the round. And Worplesdon, just a few hundred yards from Woking, completed an epic 48 hours of golf in emphatic fashion. Photo credit: Ferndown Golf Club Next to the clifftops of Oregon, to play arguably the most wonderful par 3 course on the planet. Coore & Crenshaw were presented with some piece of land to route Bandon Preserve across, but they have done one hell of a good job in telling a story in just 13 par 3 holes. Surely the growth of the game should be focussed on creating more golf courses like this one; playable, enjoyable and accessible to all. Then on to Old Macdonald, to complete the Bandon set (for now). I played the tips in a steady breeze and played one of the rounds of my life to shoot a few under my handicap and a couple over the par of the course. Old Mac might get some stick in certain quarters, but I found it to be a solid blend of beauty and playability, two key ingredients for the enjoyment of a golf round for me, and it was a round I will remember for some time. The Duchess at Woburn was quite the contrast to play just a couple of days after Old Macdonald. This tree-lined parkland layout in the heart of the English countryside places a heavy premium on accuracy rather than options, and I found the contrast in styles a leap too far, following my best round in some time with my worst in living memory. That’s golf I suppose, and as my golfing years pass, I seem to be able to more easily accept these ups and downs! The game is always bigger than your score. Let that be no slight on the Duchess though, which is a beautifully peaceful place to play and to take in the relative solitude that the dense avenues of trees provide. The Jockey Club in Argentina is revered as one of South America’s most prized golf clubs. It boasts two (yes two) original Mackenzie golf courses, routed across surprisingly spacious grounds on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. We played the Red course, the more highly regarded of the two layouts, and we visited in early winter after a sustained period of wet weather, the course was in simply stunning condition. The land here was as flat as a snooker table when Mackenzie arrived, and this is one place in the world where the good Doctor had to work hard to generate undulations and interest that felt at the same time, in keeping with its surroundings. Of course, he managed it with aplomb and in doing so, left Argentina with one the best dual course layouts in world golf. As an aside, if you ever get the chance to play here, make sure you order the steak. However your round has gone, this plate of food (and accompanying glass of Malbec) will send you home one contented golfer. Photo credit: Patrick Koenig Finally, a whistle-stop stay in New Jersey found me visiting another world-renowned 36-hole golf club, Baltusrol. This golf club is the stuff of dreams for the average golfer, boasting two world-class golf courses with facilities to match, and it was awe-inspiring to walk the fairways of the Lower course just prior to the LPGA Championship. My lasting memory will be my drive into the 18th fairway which rolled to within a few inches of the plaque, celebrating Jack Nicklaus’s famous 1-iron in the 1967 US Open. Slightly overawed with the potential for replicating such a heroic piece of golfing history, my wayward 3 wood did no justice to the drive that had managed to follow so closely in greatness's footsteps. It didn’t matter though; to have had the chance to attempt it in the first place was the greatest of privileges. On to June, which looks no less packed with golf. It all begins with a pilgrimage to a part of Scotland I have wanted to visit for most of my golfing life. After that, there is plenty of potential for some last-minute madness, with trips planned to Spain, India and Singapore. In the meantime, the golfing season in the Northern Hemisphere is in full swing, so wherever you are and whatever you have planned, I wish you the straightest of drives, well-negotiated four- footers and happy rounds.

Review of the Month March 2021 – Painswick There are nearly 1,900 golf courses in England and in Golf World’s latest ranking of the Top 100, Painswick comes in at No. 91. This position surprises me, as for instance it sits a lowly 15th in the county of Gloucestershire according to the top100golfcourses.com list, and this county is not generally regarded as a ‘hotspot’ of English golf. So after three months of no golf in Lockdown, we ventured out in glorious Spring weather to learn more by playing the course. The golf course is set out along a narrow ridge leading up to Painswick Beacon, with its magnificent views over Cheltenham and surrounding area from the edge of the Cotswolds. The area around the Beacon is rugged and very hilly with both golfers and numerous walkers, with their dogs, much in evidence. The golf course is very old-fashioned and quite bewildering in style with criss-crossing fairways, blind shots, massive changes in elevation and a totally unique layout, measuring in length just 4,800 yards. The front nine, for instance, starts with four par 4s, only one of which is over 300 yards long, followed by three par 3s and ending with two par 5s which share the same fairway whilst going in opposite directions. Conventional, Painswick is not, the undulating Common land makes consistent green-keeping nigh impossible, but the delightful old layout gives a remarkable insight into how golf was played in its formative years. The welcome from members was warm indeed, and the fun to be shared by playing their course should be experienced by any golfer interested in the game’s history. In my view, Painswick is nowhere near the Top 100 of golf courses in England, but as an experience with no concern about the modern influences in the game, the course is right up there. It is cranky and gives endless enjoyment, although your scorecard seems quite irrelevant. Tim Elliott Review of the Month March 2021 selected by Editor-in-Chief, Keith Baxter, and sponsored by TaylorMade – click to read more about Painswick. Photos courtesy of Painswick Golf Club.

Alex Frolish has been a pilot for approaching 20 years and now travels to all corners of the globe in his role as a commercial airline pilot. His passion for flight is only equalled by his passion for golf and golf travel. Having picked up a golf club over 35 years ago when aged just 3 years old, Alex has played over 600 courses across every continent on planet earth furnished with a fairway. Over the next few months you’ll be able to follow Alex’s golfing travels as he brings you anecdotes of his life both in the air and on the course. There are times on the course when you just have to smile and make the best of a bad piece of luck. A plugged ball in the face of a pot bunker after the best strike of the day. That impossible horseshoe when the ball loops around the cup, seemingly defying gravity. Or walking out into the fairway to find your ball nestled in a wedge created crater the size and shape of a Viking long boat. My DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) diagnosis seemed like one such point of misfortune, a random act of bad luck that could not be dwelled upon. The prognosis was positive, we’d caught it nice and early and most importantly, the Doctor had prescribed plenty of walking in my enforced time off. It was time to get over the bad break and birdie the next hole. My life as a commercial pilot has meant I have spent an average of 150 days away a year during the last 15 years, meaning a lot of my golf is played while on my travels. This unplanned break presented an opportunity that was too good to miss; to look closer to home and make it to some of those gems in the UK that I had been meaning to visit for some time. My first inclination was to look west from my home in Gloucestershire. I have an affinity for the rugged variety that Welsh golf has to offer. From cragged links courses that hug the Welsh coastlines, to the heavily contoured courses on the mountain tops and valley bottoms further inland, I have found much pleasure exploring Wales’s many less heralded tracks. I decided I would make two forays into Wales in September, playing 36 holes on each day. Photo credit: Ashburnham Golf Club The first such trip encompassed one of the finest links double salvos in Wales. Tenby has long been regarded as one of the rawest and most naturally beautiful links courses in the UK. The land here (for the main part) is wild, offering many of the usual links conundrums such as blind shots, crumpled and irregular fairway lies and heavily defended green sites, where if you miss the target, there may be severe repercussions. I wanted to go back out again as soon as I had finished, and I could remember every hole easily with little reference to the scorecard; two surefire signs that the course boasts plenty of engaging qualities. Their extensive clubhouse and lodging renovations are going to make Tenby an interesting stay and play option for lovers of links golf in the coming years. Anyway, leave I must as the still and sun soaked afternoon promised a round along the coast at the highly acclaimed links with championship pedigree at Ashburnham. This is a classy club, benefiting from a clubhouse boasting beautiful views and equally appealing atmospheric vibes and more importantly, a stretch of links golf that is up there with some of the best stuff I’ve seen in Wales. Buoyed by the success of my first trip over the Severn Bridge, I returned some two weeks later to repeat the mission, this time taking on the characterful moorland course (boasting wonderful sea views) at Clyne, and the self proclaimed ‘Pebble Beach of Wales’ at Langland Bay. Those of you that know me or have followed my travels for some time, will know I love a natural course that is played in the way golf was first imagined; on the ground and battling the elements. The welcome from the wild horses and sheep grazing the fairways of Clyne only adds to the intrigue. Go with that image in your mind's eye and embrace the challenge and you will surely enjoy this charmer. The wind started to bristle for our afternoon visit to Langland Bay, where the clifftop section of the course in particular boasts some of the most spectacular golf I have seen in the UK, with plentiful views of the sea and some quite jaw dropping precipitous holes. Four golf courses, four very different characters and plenty to admire. Photo credit: Stoneham Golf Club The depth in the middle tiers of the English Top 100 is one of the most staggering facets of U.K. golf course architecture. There is so much to admire, both in Golden Age architecture from historically significant architects, to newer designs crafted with big budgets and bold plans. My English September travels contained a plentiful mix of all of those qualities, with trips to Stoneham, Isle of Purbeck, Knole Park, Piltdown, Remedy Oak, JCB and Tandridge. In that itinerary, there lay some classic work from the likes of Willie Park Jr, Harry Colt, John Abercromby (assisted by Herbert Fowler) and JH Taylor. In more recent times, John Jacobs and Robin Hiseman had worked on the more modern layouts. I’ll let you mentally test yourself as to which courses were designed by who…I could easily write a page or two on each of my visits, such was the quality and variety to behold. However, it was my experiences at Stoneham, Tandridge and JCB that deserve special mention. Stoneham is just splendid, and its splendour comes from its abundance of variety and the iconic routing. Whether you define it heathland or parkland, it doesn’t matter. It is a fine inland golf course, made finer still by the recent renovation work that has taken place to the course (and practice facilities). This piece of land is quite frankly magnificent, an undulating old deer park that has taken on a heathland demeanour, and the blend of the best bits of both types of golf course makes Stoneham a special place indeed. Photo credit: Tandridge Golf Club Tandridge, crafted by my favourite architect (not declared so as not to ruin the quiz above) is a course that boasts two nines distinct in character from each other, the front a subtle yet exacting test around the greens and in terms of strategy, and the back nine a wild rollercoaster of picture postcard views and wow moments played across tumbling terrain. Not relevant to the golf course but it has to be mentioned; this clubhouse might be one of my favourites in the land. The bar is named after the architect, and a drop of your favourite tipple in those surroundings tastes all the sweeter. As for the lunch, well it is the stuff of legend! Make sure to sample the infamous Tandridge Pudding! JCB is a rarity in UK golf circles as it one of the few golf courses that you can’t access by paying a guest green fee, much more in line with a US country club model, as it was initially built by Lord Bamford for the benefit and enjoyment of JCB staff and clients. That lack of accessibility means that the quality of the course has been seen by fewer eyes, so it flies slightly under the radar. However, this is a fine golf course, possibly the finest golf course built on parkland ground in England. It is the boldness of the design features and the quality of the playing surfaces that elevates it above its peers. I have played a significant portion of my golf in the USA, and in both conditioning and architectural boldness, this course is more reminiscent of sights I have seen stateside than anything I have seen on British soil. This may not have been a month to rack up the air miles due to my enforced layoff from work, but it has been incredibly memorable in terms of the fine British courses I have visited. Next month, there is much more of the same planned, with a little jaunt over to Ireland thrown into the mix. In the meantime, wherever you are reading this and whatever your October has in store, I wish you many well struck drives, a minimum of lost balls and most importantly, plentiful happy rounds.