The Up and Downs of a Life in the Sky: Bad Break? There are Always Positives to Take
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 600 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.
There are times on the course when you just have to smile and make the best of a bad piece of luck. A plugged ball in the face of a pot bunker after the best strike of the day. That impossible horseshoe when the ball loops around the cup, seemingly defying gravity. Or walking out into the fairway to find your ball nestled in a wedge created crater the size and shape of a Viking long boat.
My DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) diagnosis seemed like one such point of misfortune, a random act of bad luck that could not be dwelled upon. The prognosis was positive, we’d caught it nice and early and most importantly, the Doctor had prescribed plenty of walking in my enforced time off. It was time to get over the bad break and birdie the next hole.
My life as a commercial pilot has meant I have spent an average of 150 days away a year during the last 15 years, meaning a lot of my golf is played while on my travels. This unplanned break presented an opportunity that was too good to miss; to look closer to home and make it to some of those gems in the UK that I had been meaning to visit for some time.
My first inclination was to look west from my home in Gloucestershire. I have an affinity for the rugged variety that Welsh golf has to offer. From cragged links courses that hug the Welsh coastlines, to the heavily contoured courses on the mountain tops and valley bottoms further inland, I have found much pleasure exploring Wales’s many less heralded tracks. I decided I would make two forays into Wales in September, playing 36 holes on each day.
Photo credit: Ashburnham Golf Club
The first such trip encompassed one of the finest links double salvos in Wales. Tenby has long been regarded as one of the rawest and most naturally beautiful links courses in the UK. The land here (for the main part) is wild, offering many of the usual links conundrums such as blind shots, crumpled and irregular fairway lies and heavily defended green sites, where if you miss the target, there may be severe repercussions. I wanted to go back out again as soon as I had finished, and I could remember every hole easily with little reference to the scorecard; two surefire signs that the course boasts plenty of engaging qualities. Their extensive clubhouse and lodging renovations are going to make Tenby an interesting stay and play option for lovers of links golf in the coming years. Anyway, leave I must as the still and sun soaked afternoon promised a round along the coast at the highly acclaimed links with championship pedigree at Ashburnham. This is a classy club, benefiting from a clubhouse boasting beautiful views and equally appealing atmospheric vibes and more importantly, a stretch of links golf that is up there with some of the best stuff I’ve seen in Wales.
Buoyed by the success of my first trip over the Severn Bridge, I returned some two weeks later to repeat the mission, this time taking on the characterful moorland course (boasting wonderful sea views) at Clyne, and the self proclaimed ‘Pebble Beach of Wales’ at Langland Bay. Those of you that know me or have followed my travels for some time, will know I love a natural course that is played in the way golf was first imagined; on the ground and battling the elements. The welcome from the wild horses and sheep grazing the fairways of Clyne only adds to the intrigue. Go with that image in your mind's eye and embrace the challenge and you will surely enjoy this charmer. The wind started to bristle for our afternoon visit to Langland Bay, where the clifftop section of the course in particular boasts some of the most spectacular golf I have seen in the UK, with plentiful views of the sea and some quite jaw dropping precipitous holes. Four golf courses, four very different characters and plenty to admire.
Photo credit: Stoneham Golf Club
The depth in the middle tiers of the English Top 100 is one of the most staggering facets of U.K. golf course architecture. There is so much to admire, both in Golden Age architecture from historically significant architects, to newer designs crafted with big budgets and bold plans. My English September travels contained a plentiful mix of all of those qualities, with trips to Stoneham, Isle of Purbeck, Knole Park, Piltdown, Remedy Oak, JCB and Tandridge. In that itinerary, there lay some classic work from the likes of Willie Park Jr, Harry Colt, John Abercromby (assisted by Herbert Fowler) and JH Taylor. In more recent times, John Jacobs and Robin Hiseman had worked on the more modern layouts. I’ll let you mentally test yourself as to which courses were designed by who…I could easily write a page or two on each of my visits, such was the quality and variety to behold. However, it was my experiences at Stoneham, Tandridge and JCB that deserve special mention.
Stoneham is just splendid, and its splendour comes from its abundance of variety and the iconic routing. Whether you define it heathland or parkland, it doesn’t matter. It is a fine inland golf course, made finer still by the recent renovation work that has taken place to the course (and practice facilities). This piece of land is quite frankly magnificent, an undulating old deer park that has taken on a heathland demeanour, and the blend of the best bits of both types of golf course makes Stoneham a special place indeed.
Photo credit: Tandridge Golf Club
Tandridge, crafted by my favourite architect (not declared so as not to ruin the quiz above) is a course that boasts two nines distinct in character from each other, the front a subtle yet exacting test around the greens and in terms of strategy, and the back nine a wild rollercoaster of picture postcard views and wow moments played across tumbling terrain. Not relevant to the golf course but it has to be mentioned; this clubhouse might be one of my favourites in the land. The bar is named after the architect, and a drop of your favourite tipple in those surroundings tastes all the sweeter. As for the lunch, well it is the stuff of legend! Make sure to sample the infamous Tandridge Pudding!
JCB is a rarity in UK golf circles as it one of the few golf courses that you can’t access by paying a guest green fee, much more in line with a US country club model, as it was initially built by Lord Bamford for the benefit and enjoyment of JCB staff and clients. That lack of accessibility means that the quality of the course has been seen by fewer eyes, so it flies slightly under the radar. However, this is a fine golf course, possibly the finest golf course built on parkland ground in England. It is the boldness of the design features and the quality of the playing surfaces that elevates it above its peers. I have played a significant portion of my golf in the USA, and in both conditioning and architectural boldness, this course is more reminiscent of sights I have seen stateside than anything I have seen on British soil.
This may not have been a month to rack up the air miles due to my enforced layoff from work, but it has been incredibly memorable in terms of the fine British courses I have visited. Next month, there is much more of the same planned, with a little jaunt over to Ireland thrown into the mix. In the meantime, wherever you are reading this and whatever your October has in store, I wish you many well struck drives, a minimum of lost balls and most importantly, plentiful happy rounds.