South Essex (Heron & Hawk) - Essex - England

I can’t help but feel that this is a course with a lot of potential that never quite lives up to it. There are a lot of interesting holes across some interesting and undulating land - holes 3, 7, 12, 13 and 14 are all very strong holes and 18 is a cracking finish). There are also some solid holes in between that offer plenty of variety and a lot of fun.

Where the course is let down is the conditioning of the course. The greens are not great, bunker quality is poor in places and it’s quite hard to play a round here in under five hours.

It offers a good value course for those who aren’t too bothered around those finer points and the sport needs these courses that offer cheap green fees for golfers but still offers an interesting track. However, for me, that lack of TLC will always keep this course back - with a bit of investment, this course could easily be a 4 ball rating.