South Essex (Heron & Hawk) - Essex - England

I've been playing South Essex for many years and the current investment in the club is really beginning to notice. A new clubhouse, buggy paths and GPS buggys and carts are a great and welcome addition.

The course when I last played (30-03-21) was in great condition - as to be expected as no one had played on in for 3 months, but I would say I thought the greens would have been slightly better but the roll was still very good.

The par 5's are some of the toughest you will play. Only the 10th is ever reachable in 2 and that is for the biggest hitters. A tough but really enjoyable course - par 3's aren't the greatest, all pretty stright forward but no two holes are the same. I really enjoy playing here.

(facilities and staff are worthy of a higher ranking but we can only judge on the course alone)

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.