Simon Vazquez

A typical parkland course without much to get excited about. A few ‘nerve racking’ shots over and around water, a mixture of lengths of par 3 and par 5 holes, but pretty flat and not very memorable. If it’s in the top 50 of Surrey then this website shouldn’t have a Surrey top 50, for me it’s moving too far away from the great and the good courses that we enjoy reading about on here.

A decent course, well maintained, nice greens, some memorable holes and some not-so-memorable ones, but overall a very consistent performer. Does everything pretty well.

A perfectly fine course for a nice round, but nothing to get too excited about really until the 18th hole, a short extremely pretty par 4 where a birdie as well as a double/triple is easily scored. Great to conclude a tight match. I wouldn’t go out of my way to play here, but if invited or are staying nearby then it’s a nice way to spend a few hours. A typical parkland course, condition was pretty good although it can get quite busy at weekends as it’s a club very welcoming to visitors.

A really good ‘club’ course around Cork City. The first thing that stands out for me are the quality of the greens (mainly subtle slopes but the speed of them is what sets it apart from other similar courses). It’s also quite a varied course, some significant changes in elevation (which makes it a tough walk for some people) are spread out quite evenly around, and the par 4s are a mix of shorter and longer ones, culminating in perhaps the strongest and most exciting finish in the area (and that’s including all the local big guns, although I haven’t played Old Head).Stand out holes for me would be hole 6, a long iron or fairway wood Par 3, with a big valley in front of you all the way to the hole and a raised green: anything short or right will leave you well below the green, and all this is in front of the clubhouse so likely a few onlookers for added pressure. Hole 14 par 5 takes a few goes to find the right strategy for your own game, from the high tee a big downhill drive awaits, with the fairway turning right with a big tree on the left just beyond the landing area. So a ball on the right hand side would seem best, but the second half of the hole has a massive right to left camber, which is more easily approached from the left hand side. The last 4 holes have been branded as the ‘Shournagh Challenge’, after the local river, although it doesn’t really come into play until the 17th. 15th is a drop-down par 3, hole 16 is a straightaway par 4 where the drive is the key shot. Hole 17 is one of the toughest in the area, a long tree-lined par 4 with the river guarding the green 20 yards short. I’m a 12 handicap and have never been on the putting surface after 2 shots (maybe 15 attempts). And hole 18 is a medium length par 4 with the river guarding the approach again, although slightly diagonally this time. Trees also come into play, narrowing the angles. After the 4 standout courses in the area (Old Head, Castlemartyr, Fota and Cork GC), Muskerry is as good as any other option for a local game.

I played Bantry Bay on a typical May day in Ireland: mist, rain and wind to start off with broke out into glorious sunshine for the final 7 holes. If I’m honest I didn’t have that high expectations of a course that was more famed for its views than its holes, but I came away very impressed with the overall experience. A parkland course where the sea is never too far away, it passed the ‘I remember all 18 holes’ test with quite a few I will be excited about playing again: the drives were especially good on holes 5 (a draw required to utilize the big drop in the fairway and get a level second shot), 10 (a fade needed to a thin looking fairway where the sea is all you can see on the left and I guess the wind usually blowing in from there), and 16 which is a beautifully framed downhill right to left long par 4 hole. And some exciting approaches to holes 5, 8, and 14 where undulation changes give you a chance of playing them a number of ways. These undulation changes were probably the main thing I took from the course, it really helped give many of the holes their own character and challenge. I walked it and it was tougher than normal, but nothing to concern you if you usually walk and carry. It’s not championship golf but it’s a lot of fun to play, and I felt like I hit a lot of different clubs and a lot of different types of shots.

I went back to Mach Dunes in June 2018, 6 years after having played it for the first time. I had fond memories of the course and its many unforgettable holes, despite its overall brutal nature, and I have to say that my hopes for as good an experience as before was easily surpassed. The course was extremely difficult in 2012 with invasive rough colluding with a general sense of disorientation as you played. However, with the rough now more controlled, a clearer idea of the task in front of you, greens that hold approaches much more than your typical links course and whose speed is moderated due to the severity of the breaks, scoring can be made with good shots and poor shots are still heavily punished. You are forced to think all the way round, especially when faced with multiple options on and around the greens. Many drives have to be aimed at marker posts, a couple of approaches as well, massive changes in elevation on fairways can help or hinder, on plenty of putts the only way to get it close is to aim off in a totally different direction and try to use the massive borrows around the greens. Whilst I found all this enthralling and the most fun I’ve had on a course in years (bar playing Ballybunion last year), another of our party found it all a bit too unfair and less proper than it should have been. There are too many amazing holes to go through them all, however I would play hole 10 over and over again despite the raw deal it gave me! If you get a chance, play it, and enjoy all it throws at you.

Played in May 18, first time back after a number of years. Friendly welcome, good practice facilities including range, chipping and putting green. The course was very well presented, fast and true greens with some subtle and not-so-subtle breaks, the property is very large so you did feel often in a world of your own.there were some exciting holes and shots, however at other times the course took a bit of a breather, especially in my opinion from holes 11 to 16. The drive at the second was a classic risk/reward shot where a well judged fade would leave an easy approach. The long uphill par 3 fourth really tested your ball striking, with a false front ensuring you had to land on the green (with a 4/5 iron in my case) and then hold it. I was a bit underwhelmed by the par 5 seventh, where a good drive could go into the brook, and also your second shot needed to be 100 yards in length max in order to stay on the fairway. I don’t see the point of a par 5 that almost forces you to play 3 irons. The 8th and 9th were picturesque holes, and the drive on the 10th also got the heart beating a little quicker. After that it fizzled out a bit, still very enjoyable but not quite as thrilling. Somewhere between a 4 and a 5 ball rating, but there’s string competition in the area if you have the cash!

Leaving the noise of the main road down below and driving up through the posh houses around the estate gives you a feeling of exclusivity as you approach the course, but this members club is actually extremely welcoming to visitors. The course itself is a lot of fun to play, some very demanding holes and others that would be considered weaker in comparison, but sure help with your score! Not exactly a great course, but a nice gem in an area where many courses are prohibitively priced.Standout holes for me would be the par 5 hole 5 (any slice will disappear down the slopes on the right, and the approach also needs to be very precise), the view from the tee of hole 11 really frames the par 3 and the challenges it brings, hole 12 is a quirky short par 4 with a severe dogleg right but a strong right to left camber on the fairway, so anything but a controlled fade will end up in the left rough much further away than expected, hole 16 is a beast of a par 4 for its length and the drop off areas around the green, hole 17 is a 220 yard par 3 that slopes severely downhill: use the contours and be lucky! Many other long par 4s as well make the course no pushover whatsoever.My quibbles would be that some of the holes feel very similar to each other, in terms of direction and layout, and also two par 5s (holes 1 and 10) run parallel to each other down a strong slope, so don't play like par 5s and again fell very similar to each other.Some of the views of London in the far distance are also very impressive (look backwards on hole 14, or was it hole 7...?).

Old Fold is an oasis of calm located on the border of London and Hertfordshire: only on one section of the course, around hole 8, do you notice that you are so close to busy, noisy London life. Tree-lined but never narrow, with draws and fades needed for different holes, spongy fairways that are lovely to play off, the real challenge here is the greens: fast and true, some obviously severe but others that are trickier to spot but no less devilish like the Par 3 14th. I wouldn't agree with some of the earlier comments about repetitive club selection at the start: if I hit decent drives I would usually be left with 9 iron, wedge, 6 iron, 8 iron, wedge and 7 iron on the first 6 holes. It's true though that the only long par 4s are on the back 9: despite being 432 yards from the tips, the dogleg right hole 11 plays much shorter with a downhill drive and approach, although a lake is on guard to catch anything right off the tee. Hole 12 goes back up the hill and is quite tight which makes for a long, difficult par 4, and then the last 2 holes as commented already are lengthy, hole 18 being a great finish with the moat 20 yards short and right of the putting surface. I loved this place when I lived in the area and can't wait to go back.