Great Golf Green Fee Deals

I have long wanted to combine my golf posting with a beer theme and as last I have found the perfect excuse. As a golfer how could I resist sampling a beer called Old Hooky? And when it turned out to be particularly flavoursome brew a new series of blog posts is to begin.
The idea is that I will identify a nice ale (or cider!) link it in with the brewers themselves and point golfers to a golf course near to the brewery.
To organise a days golf with a brewery trip and a few sherbets included would be a very civilised carry on indeed.

Old Hooky is just one of the real ales brewed by Hook Norton Brewery, Oxon, they have 47 pubs with a visitor centre and museum that is open to the public.
Hook Norton brew a range of core beers throughout the year and then seasonal ales and commemorative special brews.
Old Hooky is 4.6% ABV, was Gold Medal winner at The International Beer Challenge in 2009 and the brewers themselves describe it as “A beautifully beautifully balanced beer, fruity by nature, with a well-rounded body and the suggestive echo of Crystal Malt.”!!

Located only 4 miles from the brewery is Tadmarton Heath Golf Club and with a clubhouse that looks like this it is surely irresistible. *

The course itself sounds a delight too, The Times Guide to Golf Courses of Britain & Ireland describing it in glowing terms, “Tadmarton is for the traditionalist, for whom finesse is of greater importance than power…….plotting a way through holes…….which gives the connoisseur particular satisfaction.”

In the days of bomb & gouge this sounds an idyllic throwback to golfing days of old.
Donald Steel the renowned golf architect and writer has provided an evocative introduction to the course and if that doesn’t invoke a desire to look up Tadmarton Heath then you have no golfing soul

* I hope Tadmarton Heath GC does not object to my use of the photo of it’s clubhouse but if so I’ll happily remove it from the post.

As the cold weather continues I’m getting withdrawal symptoms from golf, by this time each year I’m about ready to hit the ground running having practiced hard during the winter. This close season with so much snow and other adverse conditions I haven’t been able to do as much work on my game as I would have liked.

Step forward therefore The Indoor Cafe Bar Leeds, as I mentioned in my last post I discovered this place and was very impressed, particularly with the practice settings on the simulator creating a virtual range. This got me thinking of the pros and cons of indoor practice on the simulator over a traditional driving range.

The most obvious advantage of the simulator is that it is inside and warm, let’s face it ranges are pretty bleak places, particularly on a dark wet Tuesday night in December. But beyond that I think the simulator has a particular advantage in that I always find it tricky to gauge the wind strength and direction from the range bays and if you don’t want to practice in a strong left to right wind then sometimes you might as well go home. On the simulator you can set the wind strength and direction to suit, which is an excellent option.

Range golf balls are notoriously iffy, even if they are in good condition many ranges now use golf balls that only fly a percentage of a “proper” ball. That’s just no use at all for practising distance control and besides the trajectory and flight of range balls is completely different to the ball you would choose to play in the course. On the simulator you can use your own ProV1s or whatever.

With inconsistent range balls it is difficult to gauge any meaningful feedback from a practice session without keeping a regular log and analysing over a period of time but the simulator gives instant feedback on every shot both accurate numerical data regarding distance, spin rates, direction etc but also a visual feedback. This shows a representation of every shot so it is very easy to identify patterns and trends in your shot making.

The range does have the edge on cost, on average the ranges I visit charge typically £3.00 for 50 balls that I usually take about 45 minutes to hit. The simulator, however, charges a practice rate of £10 per half hour.

NB. I cannot guarantee you a game on The Old Course but I can offer you a free round of golf on your birthday. See our free report. 

Simulated golf sounds like a less than satisfactory experience but I went along to the Leeds Cafe Bar Golf recently to test out the latest in indoor golf and was mightily impressed.

A quick whirl around The Old Course gave me enough memories to be able to say during The Open this summer “When I played The Road Hole I kept it out of the bunker and off the road!”

Actually I had used an indoor golf simulator before, abut 7 years ago but the quality of the graphics and accuracy left a lot to be desired. This experience was, however, much more like the real thing and I really enjoyed it. The added bonus was that the weather outside was horrendous, all the local golf courses were closed and the driving range wasn’t an attractive proposition.

In fact, Nick the Pro, showed me how the simulator can be set up on driving range mode so some serious work on your golf game can be undertaken indoors with the machine accurately measuring ball flight, trajectory, spin rates, carry distance etc.

So, for those golfers in urgent need of a fix or if you just want a laugh with your mates Leeds Cafe Bar Golf is an excellent location. City Centre Leeds very near the railway station.

The prices are reasonable (£20 - £30/hour depending when in the week you visit) and with Sky Sports on a big screen, good food and drink available I do recommend having a look particularly in the evening, the bar has a great number of social events organised for individuals and groups.

As a greenfee deal this represents excellent value, particularly for a fourball.

NB. I cannot guarantee you a game on The Old Course but I can offer you a free round of golf on your birthday. See our free report.

I was recently alerted to a concept that I haven’t come across before
Free Birthday Golf, courses offering you a free round of golf on your birthday!

Researching this further I found over 320 clubs offering Free Birthday Golf
(all in the US & Canada I’m afraid, UK wake up!!) and I’ve put them together in a report.

Check it out and claim your free rounds. Click here or on the book cover.

The idea requires you to register with the course online and you get a day pass or voucher to be used on or around your birthday or in the case of winter birthdays a more suitable time when the weather is improved.

Now, I appreciate that club will send you follow up emails etc but lets face it we get so much spam and rubbish anyway we might as well get some information about something we are actually interested in for once!

A criticism I have of golf clubs, particularly in the UK, is that in general they are pretty poor and unimaginative in their marketing but this innovative approach creates a win win situation for all concerned. The club gets to showcase it’s course, clubhouse, facilities and atmosphere and the golfer gets to enjoy a memorable free day out and may well come back again in the future. Loss leaders have been used successfully by business for many years to tempt customers into trying their products for many years and I’m sure golf clubs would make up any reduction in revenue very quickly as word got round.

As all golf clubs are facing a very difficult and uncertain financial future it’s great to see something different being tried.

These must represent the ultimate great golf green fee deal!

I’ve mentioned Seaton Carew GC before in a blog post but it wasn’t until recently that I’d actually played the course and I’ve got to say
WHAT A MAGNIFICENT GOLF COURSE!!!

At that time I referred to it in a context of urban golf due to the industrial skyline but I can honestly say that doesn’t detract from the golfing experience one bit.

So let me explain the deal and then I’ll wax lyrical about the course:

Monday – Friday October 27th – March 27th between 09:30 and 10:30. £20.00 for coffee and bacon butties and 18 holes on the 10th oldest golf course in England, a genuine championship links that will test your golf, stamina and character.

The course itself has 22 holes that are configured into the “Old Course” 1-18 holes and then a possible 4 other layouts. As you would imagine of a traditional links the wind is a massive factor out on the links and as the Old Course is a straight out and back layout you are fighting the wind for at least half of your round. It is true to say that you never quite get back any luck playing with the wind that you lost playing into!
Add into the mix sand dunes, heavy rough, gorse, slick undulating greens and deep links bunkers and you get a stern examination of your game.

Here is an extract from the club’s website to give you a flavour of what to expect:

Don’t be put off by the industrial surroundings of chimneys and chemical works; this excellent golf course is one of the best in the East of England, a real MacKenzie treat. There are a few ridges of sand dunes and the fairways undulate gently, but otherwise this is a relatively flat links course, always at the mercy of the wind.

The 17th hole, called “Snag”, is one of the Club’s many great holes. The late Derek Hornby, a historian and author of the History of Seaton Carew, poetically described the 17th. “The seventeenth’s dangers are countless, beginning with whin, gorse and dune, the rough and gathering bunkers, and the green’s undulating tune. To veer even slightly is fatal, the cost distressingly high, many the cards that’s been torn up, just here with home, oh so nigh”.

So that’s the course but a mention ought to go to the welcome you will get at Seaton Carew. This is a most friendly golf club with members always willing to have a drink and chat. Whilst I was there last a gentleman told me a fascinating story of how the club had relaid the seventeenth green because generations of golfers playing out of the greenside bunker had gradually built up a ridge on the green with countless layers of sand. Obviously, that wasn’t in the original design and careful renovation using traditional methods was needed to restore the green to it’s original state.

I do urge you to look up Seaton Carew it’s a memorable experience.

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Honesty is always the best policy and that’s certainly what Ben Rhydding Golf Club believe. They trust their visitors to leave their green fee in the “honesty box” when they visit this beautiful golf course in West Yorkshire, though it will hardly break the bank as green fees are very reasonable.
Situated in the shadow of the famous Cow & Calf rocks at Ilkley in West Yorkshire the course is short but very demanding requiring accurate placement of shots and a deft short game.
With a yardage of only 4621 Par 65 SSS 63 you will forgiven for thinking each hole was a drive and a flick. However, the nine hole layout has 8 Par 3s when you go around twice with the 9th/18th being one of the most difficult anywhere. An uphill semi blind shot of 208 yards to a green protected by an OOB lake on the right and a severe slope all down the left it takes a brave or foolhardy shot to attempt the green.
Ben Rhydding has a number of blind shots and a risk & reward factor comes into play on most holes. None more so than at the intimidating 4th/13th, it’s name of Khyber Pass give you an idea of what lies in store here. A blind tee shot, usually into a prevailing wind, over a hill into a deep gully leaves a tricky uphill pitch to an undulating green. All this under the watchful eye of the Cow & Calf.
Off the course the members are a particularly friendly crowd happy to share a pint and post round inquest in their comfortable clubhouse.
Another great green fee deal in West Yorkshire.

The 4th/13th Khyber Pass hole with Cow & Calf in background

The 5th/14th Green

The 9th/18th green you’re OOB in here

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When I saw comments on their website about golfers who wanted to “step outside the comfort zone” I was intrigued. Eden Golf Club & Driving Range near Carlisle, Cumbria has a championship American style 18 course and a 9 holer with an offer of an £80 Fourball deal after 1:30pm. As the days draw out this looks a great golf green fee deal. Alternatively they accept 2-fore-1 vouchers midweek afternoons.
The course features many natural water features with the River Eden regularly in play and has spectacular views of the Lake District and Pennine fells in what is a beautiful part of the country. Find out more www.edengolf.co.uk

Disclaimer - Whilst every care is taken in searching out offers Great Golf Green Fee Deals cannot guarantee that they will be available at any given time. It is your own responsibility to check before travelling. We strongly recommend you to telephone the golf course to check the availability of deals, tee times, handicap certificate requirements, dress rules etc etc. We also offer no guarantee over the quality of the golf course and/or catering.

For details of many Great Golf Green Fee Deals
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If you fancy playing a 621 yd par 5 look up Chalgrave Manor Golf Club near Dunstable, Bedfordshire where they have a cracking deal for test-driving the course.
So, if you are looking for a club to join or a venue for a society day a £30 fourball deal midweek looks just the ticket. Visit the website and click the link to request a voucher for the offer. www.chalgravegolf.co.uk
Alternatively Chalgrave Manor Golf Club accept 2 for 1 vouchers against the regular visitor rates of £14 Twilight, £20 Round, £30 Day - Midweek or £16 Twilight £30 Round Weekends.

Disclaimer - Whilst every care is taken in searching out offers Great Golf Green Fee Deals cannot guarantee that they will be available at any given time. It is your own responsibility to check before travelling. We strongly recommend you to telephone the golf course to check the availability of deals, tee times, handicap certificate requirements, dress rules etc etc. We also offer no guarantee over the quality of the golf course and/or catering.

For details of many Great Golf Green Fee Deals
- subscribe to our free ezine here or complete the form on the right.

Greetham Valley Golf Club was the venue of my 2008 golf break, this was our third trip to the complex and as usual we had a great time.
Greetham Valley offer great golf green fee deals to the casual golfer at £14 per round in March which is incredible value for money.
The set up has 2 courses, The Lakes and The Valley, both of which offer a good test of golf though are very different in characteristic.
The main thing you will probably notice if you visit Greetham Valley is the wind! Each time we have visited a stiff wind (read howling gale :-)) has made scoring difficult and a conversation with a couple of members confirmed that the wind is an integral part of playing golf there. I should note here that the Greetham Valley members are an extremely friendly bunch.
The Lakes is the longer of the two courses at 6764 yards from the white tees and I can vouch that the two Par 5s 13th and 16th are genuine 3 shot holes into the wind and winding lateral water hazards and ponds add to the difficulties. Obviously, as the name suggests, water comes into play a lot on this course, particularly on the 18th which requires a precise shot over 2 lakes to the green. Another memorable hole is the Par 3 10th which requires an intimidating tee shot over water, uphill to a well guarded green, to be executed in front of an audience on the patio, putting green and restaurant.

The Valley is much shorter at 5595 yards but this Par 68 includes 6 tricky Par 3s that can quickly add dropped shots to your card. With numerous shots back and forth across the valley the wind plays havoc with club selection. There are a number of stand out holes on The Valley but the downhill Par 3 3rd, picturesque Par 3 13th, 3 tier green Par 3 16th and intimidating Par 4 17th stand out. The 17th is played down the tree lined valley from an elevated tee with stream running down the right of the fairway which widens into a lake to the right of the green.

All in all a trip to Greetham Valley Golf Club in Rutland is well worth your while and represents great golf green fee deals.

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I was able to take advantage of a great golf green fee deal yesterday at Rudding Park GC near Harrogate. Until the end of March they have a £40 fourball deal which is superb vfm (value for money!).
The course runs through the park overlooked by the Regency house and for the time of year was in very good condition. Despite some heavy rainfall recently the fairways were quite firm and running and greens very receptive.
You can see more of the complex here www.ruddingpark.com and view the new 6 hole par 3 course that opens in April with a Sawgrass style signature hole.

For details of many Great Golf Green Fee Deals
- subscribe to our free ezine here or complete the form on the right.