Ealing - Middlesex - England

Golf course come in many shapes and sizes. Some are grand - not Ealing. Some are long - not Ealing. Some offer you peaceful seclusion - definitely not Ealing. Some make the most of what they've been given. Yes yes yes. Ealing is a lovely example of how to take flat, riverside land and create a golf course that’s worth playing.

It does this by condition. As has been said before the greens are excellent. They are also fast, so make sure you land the ball on the right side of the hole. But they very much do reward the well struck putt; just don’t be tentative. The condition extend to the fairways which were lovely and lush.

So, not all the holes are great, indeed a few, most notably 11 I just did not like. There’s nothing wrong with a short par 4. But it has to offer risk and reward. The river Brent was just too far away and too wide for anyone to actually take it on - so it becomes an iron then wedge hole for everyone. In contrast the 12th does offer a reward. Get over the bunkers and miss the out of bounds right and you are pretty close to a tough green. Lay up and your approach is a hard one to a severely sloping green that is well protected.

I also liked 5 where the reward comes from being bold with the drive to get far enough round the corner to take out the river and the accompanying trees. A short drive and means you take them on, and if you bale out right a nice bunker forces you to think rather hard about whether your third will find a watery grave.

Yes, the course is tight, yes there are some crossover holes, but my abiding memory will be the greens; quick, subtle and a perfect demonstration that in a flat part of the world 2ft matters and 5ft matters a lot.

Played here on 20th April in glorious weather! The greens were quite simply the best i have ever played on, and its only April!! The course itself is rather short and the holes are very tightly packed together, but its is thoroughly enjoyable.I have to agree with the other posters, i think the 2 par 5 finish would be better (and making the last a par 4 would make it seriously tough). 17 and 18 (as they stand are quite weak)

The land at Ealing Golf Club is pretty flat and at first glance is not ideal for a top-end course. In saying that the team that look after the course are doing everything they can to get the maximum impact from it. It is clear that the course condition is high priority. I enjoyed my recent round and I can see that the course has come along a lot since my original visit in 2007 – After a slowish start, the 4th hole is a beauty, only around 320 yards but this takes an accurate tee shot of around 200 yards, before turning sharp left – add in the River Brent on the left side which works it way around the green and this is tough short hole. The 6th is the toughest par-4, around 450 yards with the river cutting in 60 yards short of the green, the approach is the premium shot. On the back nine, the 13th another tough par-4 will be a favourite for many.The will some discussion over the way that the course finishes, the current holes 7 and 8 used to be 17 and 18 but this was thought a weak finish as both are par 5’s – the current 17th and 18th are now a short par-4 and a par-3, certainly not an easy pair of holes but for me the original closing sounds better, especially if the last hole was shortened by 50 yards and made into a tough par-4 – just an idea… I would recommend a visit to Ealing for a few reasons…. 1. Superb conditioning and near to perfect greens, 2. A warm visitor welcome, 3. Probably the best course in the county of Middlesex.

I thought I would be the first to post a review on Ealing. I have been playing this course for over 25 years (I'm not a member) and this year have played it four times. It is in as good a condition as any course I have played this year and that is why I have given it the rating I have (Three balls). However, as a piece of golf landscape it is very disappointing. In recent years the layout has been altered and what used to be a par 5, par 5 finish has been replaced by a short par 4, par 3 finish. This can never be an improvement. I believe that locally there are better options, West Middlesex being the stand out favourite.