Thetford - Norfolk - England

TGC situated next to Thetford Forest is a forest/woodland course. The website states heathland, and whilst there are aspects of heathland with bracken and heather, notably the par 3 16th hole, the bulk of the course is played through tall, thick stands of pine trees which flank and define each hole.

The course is very well routed through the pines. With the sun shining casting shadows across the fairways, it's a photographers dream. Visually on the eye each hole was a delight, yet at the end of the round, most of them blurred into each other, mainly because a lot of the hole templates felt similar - sweeping right to left (2,7,10,12,14,15) or left to right holes (6,8,13,17,18), framed by pines. This isn't a negative, as each hole was a delight, but for me, standout courses at the higher end of the rankings leave you years later remembering individual holes and Thetford didn't really do that even after finishing my round.

The 1st hole that grabbed my attention was the 3rd, a medium length par 3 'across the road' and the view off the 4th tee was superb - looking over heather through a narrow avenue of trees.

The par 3's were all strong. I'm not a fan of par 3's starts, especially after rushing onto the tee to beat a society heading out! I have a 'go to'1st tee driver swing, but have usually loosened up enough after a few holes before hitting my 1st par 3! It is however a good looking hole, playing down through a narrow opening in the trees to a green protected by bunkers to the front. After 2 par 3's in the 1st 3 holes, the next isn't until the 11th, the longest of the 4 on the course, and the last one at hole 16 - perhaps the pick of the 4. At 152 yards, the carry is all heather, then a large bunker that acts as a moat to the front and sides of the green, which is set in a bowl so you cannot see the putting surface off the tee.

The course felt a little disconnected early on with you having to cross the very busy A47 to play holes 3-5 and then initially when back on the clubhouse side of the road, hole 6 is still close to the road and the passing traffic and accompanying noise. However as you start to move inland into the forest, you are left in perfect isolation, peace and quiet, a course at one with nature.

My pick of the stretch 7 - 13 was the 8th and 10th. The 8th plays downhill sweeping right to left and gently bends left to right. A good drive past the fairway bunkers leaves a mid iron into a green protected by bunkers front right and left. And then the 10th, as you start the back nine is a vast par 5, mature pine tree lined hole. By vast I mean wide open fairway, and this is a trend throughout the course. The fairways are generous, and even the rough at this time of year not penal. One would need to stray quite a lot off line to end up in the trees.

The 14th and 15th are good holes, the 1st playing downhill and the 2nd, playing slightly back uphill.

The back 9 is longer but helped by 3 par 5's, the 10th as mentioned above being the pick. The 13th and 17th are not long - the par 4 18th, at 475 yards long, is only 25 yards shorter than the par 5 17th, leaving a tough finishing hole. It sweeps downhill which helps your drive distance but then you hit up to the green located outside the clubhouse.

At 6680 yards off the yellows and 6851 yards off the whites, it's not a short course but the springy turf does help shorten each hole slightly. The fairways were patchy but this is traditional sandy turf and with no fairway sprinklers, it is reliant on rain to water the course. The greens however were in excellent condition and ran true, although not overly quick.

Overall this is a course worth playing if you are in the area, add it into the mix of Links courses you may play; the welcome was friendly, the green fee good and the Club Sandwich for dinner superb. Add a dozen found Taylormade golf balls for £10 to help the Captains charity and a very enjoyable afternoon out was add.

Played on one of the hottest and dryest spells in record. The course was great interesting layout that uses the natural contours and weaves through some breathtaking woodland. Thankfully I played with a couple of members who were able to show me around, as due to the hard and fast condition accuracy was a premium. A thoroughly enjoyable game of golf to be had here.

I played Thetford on Friday 14th February. It starts with a par 3. Always tough on any course ...if you play them well you always have a good round. Conditions were windy...backend of Storm Dennis. Front 9 was tough but back 9 felt easier. Definitely would go back. Par 3 15th was a great hole. Nice to play on a well drained, not muddy course. Members were very welcoming as was the Pro.

Played Thetford in Mid Feb, on a warm pleasant day. Firstly, it's very unassuming, it's a friendly place with no airs and graces, your here to play golf !

To the golf course, the first is a great par 3, followed by a lovely par 4 dog leg, then another par 3 over the road, and two more brilliant par 4's, how is this only £40 !! this is my kind of place, with heather, pines, gorse, shape & slopes.

But then we have the 'middling bit' 6, 7, 8 & 9, not bad holes, but out of character, and as mentioned elsewhere, samey.

Then we're back on track, as we come back to the 'originals' with possibly the 14th being a favourite.

My one gripe would be the encroaching trees around the tee boxes especially that hide the fairways, it's a beautiful place, it would be nice to see it from the tee more, and it makes it feel a bit gimmicky, which it doesn't need to be.

From my personal taste, if they could do some tree clearance work, it could be a really fantastic heathland track, who needs another parkland course, and maybe just add some bunker interest, or shape to 7, 8 & 9 and Thetford would easily merit a 5*

Well worth the visit, go and have a look...…….

For the final day of our Norfolk trip we ventured to Thetford GC. We had been trying to decide between Kings Lynn GC and Thetford and plumped for Thetford based on personal reviews we had been given. Upon hearing that the two courses were similar, we opted for Thetford on the understanding that it’s more welcoming and a fair bit cheaper - and are pleased we did so.

Thetford is a heathland style course, although the day we played the course was burnt to a cinder by the long dry spell of weather – as a result all the fairways were firm and completely brown. The greens however were absolutely fine and would hold the well-struck approach shot. The course is long, around 6,700 yds, however this is largely compensated by the relatively generous fairways. If there’s one gripe of the course, it’s the fact it becomes a little monotonous with its length – we felt it would benefit from having a couple of shorter par 4’s in its layout to offer something a little different.

That aside it’s a lovely layout, a trail-style course winding its way through the wooded, heathland terrain. Only a couple of holes run up and down and that we think always makes for a more enjoyable and varied experience. It opens with a tricky mid-iron par 3, never an easy start and another par 3 at the 3rd. Thereafter, you dive into the guts of the course, which as said is notable for its length. The course finishes with an extremely tough, slightly uphill par 4 at around 460 yds !

Everyone at the course was very welcoming to the extent we were able to play as part of the Captains Charity day despite not being affiliated to the club. Overall, it’s a course we would like to visit again in less arid conditions – however, we’d recommend playing here if you have the opportunity to do so.

I’ve never known an inland golf course play as firm and fast in March as Thetford did on my first ever visit to this lovely Norfolk venue.

Traversing superbly dry and fast draining terrain this course wends its way over beautiful heathland and through established woodland of pine, oak and birch.

It was a real joy to hit from its tight fairways on a mild East Anglian Spring day and I came away hugely impressed with not only the course but the feel of the club in general.

There are a couple of reasons it doesn’t quite fall into the top category of heathland courses in my eyes; the bunkering is quite tame and the course loses its way for a few holes around the turn; nothing disastrous but the seventh to ninth holes in particular are not up to the same high standard that the rest of the course sets.

But let’s not focus on the bad points because there’s so much to enjoy about the course and the positives far out way any negatives.

There are few forced carries, the only one I can recall comes at the 17th, and as a result this really is a course for all ages and abilities. The running game is very much alive and allows weaker players to eke out a bit more distance from the tee than they might do elsewhere whilst the firmness of the ground creates a real test for the more accomplished golfer.

Minimal fairway bunkering also allows you to get the ball in play from the tee.. that is if you avoid the gorse, broom and heather than abounds this property in the Breckland Forest.

I enjoyed my round at Thetford in the company of two members who were very pleased to belong to this fine club. There is also a lovely short game area just to the left of the 18th fairway where I’m sure many of the membership will spend time honing their pitching and chipping.

Ed is the founder of Golf Empire – click the link to read his full review.

I have to agree with most of the reviews already on this page about Thetford. Being a junior member I played in the Norfolk Boys Championship last year and with the nasty weather that was presented with us, the course was playing very well throughout the 36 holes that we all played.

It's a fabulous test of golf starting with a tricky 180 yarder par 3 down the hill where you really want to hit the green as anything off it is a challenging par. You cross a very busy road after the 2nd and 6th(?) holes which is always a negative from a golf course in my eyes. However the condition of the course is always good with matured heathland fairways and very top quality greens.

The rivalry between King's Lynn and Thetford is a tough one in my eyes for the 5th spot in Norfolk because they contrast in different ways though both being inland forest courses. I would say that Thetford always has an edge on King's Lynn for the greens however the fairways at Thetford can look less appealing than KLGC from the superb fairway irrigation they have there.

The food and facilities there are all very good with friendly catering staff to top off what will hopefully be a solid test of golf! The last hole is one of the toughest finishing holes in Norfolk in my eyes. My first time playing it I genuinely thought it was a par 5! But to sum it up, definitely worth the trip up to Thetford if your in the area!

On arrival, we headed to the pro-shop to get started, and we were directed to the changing rooms, which smelled quite a lot like a care home, but did the job.

Once we got to the tee, we found out that we’d been joined up with another group, a one-ball in this case. Whilst I understand that this is common practice at many clubs, it was a bit annoying- we hadn’t been informed of this by the proshop and there didn’t seem to be anyone else teeing off before or after us. I’ll also admit that there was a sinking feeling when we peered into his bag and saw a 7 hybrid- never an indicator of a strong playing partner.

The opening hole was a par 3 of about 175 yards, downhill. I stuffed a 4 iron to about 10 feet, and J put his tee shot pin high just off the green- we both made par. Our new friend did not- his fifth shot (the aforementioned 7 hybrid) was a 60 yard pitch (can you pitch with a 7 hybrid?) In the end it was a well-scrambled 7 for him.

Golf’s handicap system is a fantastic thing, but a combination of the 40 year age gap and hitting the ball in very different parts of the course meant that our small-talk ran out after precisely two holes. He spotted some friends on an adjacent fairway, shook our hands and headed off to join them- I can’t imagine that two 21 year olds were his idea of ideal company either.

The greens were fast, and on the day we played, the wind made downhill, downwind putts were seriously tricky to stop. A couple of rain-showers (and some quite painful hail) didn’t affect them too much, and the sandy heathland soil meant that there were no mudballs at all, which was pretty impressive considering the state of some of the other courses in the region.

We were both very impressed with the course actualy- not too flat and not too long (but at 6850 yards from the tips, not short). Wayward tee shots ended up in difficult but not impossible situations.

Standout holes included the par 4 5th- the tee shot played down a valley, and the second shot played up to an elevated, well-bunkered green, and the par 3 16th, played over heather and a horseshoe bunker.

After the round, the clubhouse offered good value bar meals (£6.40 for a bacon & cheese burger with a good portion of chips), a pretty standard selection of beers, and a coffee dispenser that looked as if it should be avoided at all costs.

For £20 through www.teeofftimes.co.uk, I would definitely return- £40 a round is a fair price for the quality of this course, so it’s an absolute bargain.

http://shanksblog.wix.com/theshanks

This is the 3rd time i've played this course in the last year. The course layout is great, the welcome always friendly, and its a great test of golf with some big par 4's to contend with. If you've got your game on track its a course you can score well on. The main disappointment following my recent visit in late July 15 is the state of the fairways. the greens were little slow this time around but it was mid-week and there had been some heavy rainfall that day too, so perhaps i'll give them the benefit of the doubt. However the fairways are in a terrible state, and following my regular visits over the last 3 yrs they do appear to be getting worse and in need of some serious TLC now; and i dont think the lack of irrigation explains the poor state of them. Lack of investment and maintenance, who knows, but the club need to take some action on them or this great venue and course will start to certainly slip down my favourites list and spoil what is a fantastic track. PS

The course at Thetford has a lot going for it, the first obvious one is the setting – woodland all around which is reminiscent of the great courses at Ashridge and Royal Ashdown Forest. There is also a comparison with The Addington in the fact that both courses open with a par-3 and have another short hole at the 3rd. After this shortish start, holes 4-6 are pretty strong. The next three at the 7th, 8th and 9th could be described as a little ‘up and down’ – all par 4’s and similar in length. The back 9 is the stronger of the two halves and the opener is a great sweeping dog-leg to the left par-5, followed by what looks like a straight forward par-3 but by having trees on all sides gives a very attractive look. More good holes follow all the way to the 16th, which is a 155 yard par-3 that could be lifted and put on any of the world’s classic inland courses and not look out of place – it is all carry over heather and sand, brilliant. The 17th hole gives you something and the 18th could very well take it straight back; 17th is a 500 yard par-5 and the 18th is a tricky 425 yard par-4, my own finish was birdie/bogey which I am told is quite common. The club has a friendly atmosphere and has a decent visitor welcome – worth playing and probably a little low in the current Norfolk county rankings (#7) for me.