Cleeve Hill Golf Club

Review of the Month February 2019 – Cleeve Hill Let’s make no mistake here, Cleeve Hill is municipal golf. The course is scruffy and tatty, basically being shared farmland where sheep graze and maintenance is minimal. The greens are very poor with most surfaces suffering damage from animal scratchings, there are even heavy tractor tracks to the right of the 11th hole. I say this not to criticise the course but manage potential visitor’s expectations. Cleeve Hill is not a premium product, nor is it trying to be. And for £12 per round on a Saturday afternoon in February, you’re getting what you’ve paid for. Actually I’m being unfair, I’ve had lesser experiences for far more expensive green fees. If you look past the on-course presentation, you have the very definition of a rough diamond. The bare bones of a great course are all there. Cleeve Hill Golf Club photo by Thomas Dean Set high above the Cotswolds’ countryside on Gloucestershire’s highest point, prepare to be joined across the course by more than just golfers. Due to the breathtakingly beautiful scenery and pleasant hike, you’ll have to hold back from hitting your tee shot at various points through the round to wait for a fell-runner to pass or a group of walkers to cross the fairway with their dogs. If you’re able to put course conditioning aside….and a really pleasant walk with gorgeous views, amazing green surrounds and clobbering your ball across ancient quarries sounds like your thing, then come and visit Cleeve Hill. The fairways are generous and that’s putting it mildly. Due to what I assume to be a small maintenance budget and some greenstaff disguised as livestock, the rough and fairways are both cut to generally the same height. The course sets itself up well for creativity rather than placing a premium on accuracy and whilst the course is in no way a links, it shares many characteristics with links golf; the soil is free draining, there are blind shots aplenty, the land is clear of trees and gorse bushes are scattered here and there. The high winds I experienced were also verging on the extreme, so the playing strategy lends itself to keeping your ball low and bumping it along the ground. Cleeve Hill Golf Club photo by Thomas Dean When the highlights of the round come, they’re of extremely high quality. The 2nd has a wonderful stepped green, sculpted into the side of the hill and the long drop-shot par three 10th across gorse is a great test of your long iron accuracy. The signature 13th has a bell-shaped green sat between earthwork ruins, themselves surrounded by treacherous moat-like gulleys; this is all set before a beautiful panoramic view of Cheltenham in the distance. 15, the first of two back to back par threes has the most noteworthy of canyon carries, don’t scuff or top your tee shot here. 16 was an amazing yet bewildering hole where I gazed around unknowingly for longer than I ought to before I finally figured out where the green was located; perched over a hill, semi blind with two quarries separated by a grassy spine above which to keep your ball aloft, this is a hole to intimidate even the best of amateur golfers. Take the time to breathe in the views whilst walking Cleeve Hill, golf doesn’t have to be a rush. The views are truly outstanding and both the triangulation marker at the pinnacle of the hill and the isolated tree doubling as a memorial to loved ones passed at the 13th should offer the wandering golfer a time to reflect. Despite the sheep poop and scratchy greens, I liked Cleeve Hill. Some heavy investment in combination with the engagement of a top course architect could make this place pretty special, but maybe it already is, maybe upgrading the course would ruin the experience that the likes of Cleeve Hill provide. It’s a course that’s at one with its community and environment and the type of golf that people go on a pilgrimage to play at places like Askernish, so just maybe this is golf the way it’s meant to be? Personally I’m not there yet, but my inner eco-hipster wants to be. Thomas Dean Review of the Month February 2019 selected by Editor-in-Chief, Keith Baxter and sponsored by TaylorMade – click to read more about Cleeve Hill.

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. Negotiating the January Four-Footer January is like a testing four-footer for par to a Northern hemisphere golfer; it is one of those golfing experiences that has to be endured rather than relished. Those of you residing in Buenos Aires, Cape Town or Melbourne may not be able to relate to the scale of the dreariness of a boggy English parkland golf course in January, but to most northern hemisphere golfers, to some degree, we know it all too well. One of the greatest plus points of my life as a commercial pilot is that I get to travel to where the weather is good. Most months I’ll see the summer sun and a temperature upwards of 20 Celsius, and that is undeniably one of the greatest perks of my job. As January 2023 has shown however, that doesn’t always translate into any more golf than I would have played at home in the UK. Very similar to my December 2022, my start to 2023 has been littered with golf rounds nearly played. Photo credit: Cleeve Hill Golf Club A pre-planned round in Tel Aviv didn’t come to fruition as it transpired the course I was heading to play was closed on Mondays (a small detail that had been missed from my extensive email exchange with the club). My trip to California was timed with one of the many winter storms that have battered the west coast of the USA in recent weeks, meaning a trip to the hills of Lake Tahoe to enjoy the snow was more appropriate than trying to negotiate the sodden fairways of the Bay Area. Finally, a locked in trip to visit Bandon Dunes in Oregon was disrupted by a change to my flight schedule and subsequent inability to renegotiate my tee times. Sometimes the best made plans are just that. I only played two rounds in the whole of January (and both were in the UK), my quietest golfing month in a number of years. My travelling luck been particularly scarce, whereas my UK based plans have been remarkably resilient. I played my home course, Cleeve Hill, on a particularly balmy morning in good company and finished the month with my first visit to the best golf course in England, Royal St George’s on the perfect winters day; cold and crisp with a light breeze and plentiful sunshine. Royal St George's, photo credit: Jason Livy What my visit to Royal St George’s reaffirmed for me was my love for links golf and everything it represents. Links golf courses share many similar qualities, but the more I play, the more I feel that a crucial element of an elite links layout is that the ground boasts tumbling undulations on pretty much every part of the course bar the teeing grounds. So many links courses boast firm turf and routings intelligently stitched across varied coastal ground. However my favourite links (and the ones that tend to feature highest in the rankings) generally offer the least amount of time with your feet on level ground, adding intrigue and challenge to every single shot. Royal St George’s is special and joins the likes of Royal Dornoch, Royal Porthcawl and the North Berwick West Links in the highest echelons of my links golfing experiences to date. Looking ahead, February on the face of it should be a healthier golfing month. Another trip to the San Francisco Bay area should lead to a game at a resort golf course who’s star is rising rapidly, Yocha Dehe. A trip to Dubai is planned to coincide with my first outing on the Earth Course at the Jumeriah Estates, and a long awaited trip to Los Angeles is planned to include a trip to the intriguing Rustic Canyon, and possibly, to one of the most revered country clubs in North America. In the UK, unless the weather defeats me, I’ll be enjoying the links of the Church course at St Enodoc and possibly, visiting a couple of other courses in England for the first time. Whether you are reading this on the beach in Rio de Janeiro or wrapped in blankets on your sofa in Montreal, at the soonest opportunity, I wish you the straightest of drives, well negotiated four- footers and happy rounds.

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.