Walton Heath

Our London reciprocal club, Walton Heath, was the third course on the tour.

Walton Heath was founded in 1903, designed by Herbert Fowler, and opened for play in 1904.  The opening was celebrated with a match between golf's "Great Triumvirate", Walton Heath club professional James Braid, JH Taylor and Harry Vardon.

For those unaware of the "Great Triumvirate", these gentlemen were the stars of golf at the turn of the 20th century.  Between the three of them, they won 16 of the 21 Open Championships held between 1894 and 1914.  In the five other Opens during this time, one or more of them was runner up!

Again the heather was beautiful, but challenging as it was located on either side of most fairways.

The vistas here are quite different to the previous two courses we played.  There are far fewer trees here, and the ones that are here frame the course rather than each hole.  You can see across fairways, and feel a sense of space.

The membership of Walton Heath has had some notable names.  It is the only English club to have a reigning monarch as it's Captain.  The Prince of Wales was the Club Captain in 1935 / 36 when he became the King of England.  Winston Churchill was a member from 1910 - 1965, and currently young David Boote has been named in the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team.

Elizabeth Knight is pictured here prior to her birdie attempt on the par three 7th hole.  Elizabeth's magnificent approach navigated it's way past the greenside bunker, finishing here.  Unfortunately the birdie attempt fell just shy.

Walton Heath has a strong tournament history as well, having hosted the European Open, and the 1981 Ryder Cup.

The stunning heather on the inside corner of the par four 12th hole.

Ian Paroissien fires his second shot down the 13th fairway.

The heather separating the 15th and 16th holes.

Sue Nicholson prepares to hit her fairway wood on the 16th hole.

You may have seen this in the background of the previous shot.  The massive greenside bunker on 16.

Thanks to Ian borrowing my camera, I was captured actually hitting a good shot into the 18th.  I might need him to follow me paparazzi style for the rest of the tour.

We had a great day, and yet again were blessed with brilliant weather.  Elizabeth Knight was our champion today, with a very consistent 35 points.
Tomorrow we head to St Georges Hill.

New Zealand GC

Today we made our way to New Zealand Golf Club, a course designed by Samuel "Mure" Fergusson in 1895.  It was one of the earliest courses in the area to be routed across dense heathland.

There are many similarities here to Swinley Forest from yesterday.  New Zealand is short, but being only a par 68, plays longer than the yardage suggests.

The 200 members here play foursomes for the majority of their golf, and like Swinley, do not have official handicaps, and are not part of the UK Golf Association.

The heather flanks both sides of most of the fairways, meaning if you are even slightly off line, you are spending a lot of time looking for your ball.

The bunkering is one of the strong features, rugged shaping, with heather growing on the edges making them challenging propositions.

Grant Nicholson blasts his way out of one of these bunkers, for a great par save.

The heather is very pretty, and a great feature, but it is brutal when you are caught in it.  It can only be cut once a year or else it dies, and the timing of that cut is just after it has flowered.  We are here in the time where it is at its thickest.  Great for photos, but not great for finding balls.

The club had a series of foursomes matches being played today, 18 holes in the morning, a good long lunch, and then another 18 in the afternoon.  Playing individual stableford in 4's, like we did, is certainly rarely seen here on a Saturday.  We let through 6 groups of foursomes matches during our round.  Dogs on the course are a common thing, the one above acting like an LPGA caddy, lining up the putt.

Whilst very pretty, and very tranquil, the course does not really possess any standout wow factor holes.  Andrew Cookes is preparing for his shot here on what is the signature hole, and the most impressive, the 16th.  This hole is a 205 yard par three, 180 yards of carry is required to avoid the field of heather in front of the green.

This is a closer view of the heather you need to carry.  Like many older courses, the women's tees did not provide a great advantage, and many very long carries over the heather are required.  This makes driving very difficult.  Sue Nicholson mentioned that she was not a fan of the heather to the Club Secretary Roger Marrett. He responded promptly in his proper English accent that "Heather is a bitch, and her sister Erica is no better".

 Again it was another very enjoyable experience, and we were made very, very welcome.  Gary Jones was determined to regain household bragging rights after Jenny's win yesterday.  He played beautifully, recording a fine 39 points.  His bid was undone however by his good friend Ian Paroissien, who played really steady golf, and took the win with 40 points.  Well done Ian.

This is a shot of the member lockers in the men's locker room.  You get your name painted on your locker, and then you get crossed out when you pass.  Yet another quirky thing here at New Zealand.

Tomorrow we head to our London reciprocal club Walton Heath, and play the Old Course there.

Swinley Forest

Today we commenced our tour at the Harry Colt designed Swinley Forest.  Not often do you head to play a course with relatively high expectations, and be blown away by how good it is.  This was definitely the case with Swinley Forest today.

Swinley Forest has always been a very exclusive club, and generally play by their own rules. Course measurements, scorecards and competitions are all only fairly recent additions here.

Handicaps for members are not obligatory, and considering they choose what they play off, are a bit of a waste of time.  But this gives you a bit of an idea of the feel around the place.  It is very old school.

Ian Paroissien fires his drive away at the short Par four 3rd hole.

One thing that is not a recent addition is the welcoming of female members.  In fact this was one of the reasons Swinley was created back in 1909.

Lord Stanley, the Earl of Derby, who was one of the founding members at Sunningdale Golf Club, was the driving force behind the development of the course.  Lady Stanley had become quite a keen golfer, however she could not play at Sunningdale as at that time women "be not allowed to play over the links".

Lord Stanley mentioned this to King Edward VII, who suggested that he should build his own course. The land, which is crown land, was provided on a nominal rent.  Lord Stanley built a clubhouse and commissioned Harry Colt, who was the secretary at Sunningdale at the time, to design the course.

Alex Knight driving with his lovely hire clubs at the par five 5th.

Bernard Cassell also driving at the 5th, on his way to a solid 33 points.

Harry Colt referred to his design here at Swinley as his "least bad course".  It definitely is one of the "least bad courses" I have played.

We could not have asked for a better day, 25 degrees and not a breath of wind.  No one else really on the course, and the late afternoon tee time meant that the shadows from the lowering sun were brilliant.

The heather around the course is in abundance, and the purple flowers are stunning.

Only in very recent times have the club been more open to visitors.  Certainly the coach we had in the car park today is a rarity.

Stunning!  There is not much more to say.

Swinley is only a fairly short course, a 6373 yard Par 69 from the back tees, but the variety of holes, and the space around the property, make it feel longer.  It is certainly a good test.

A great start to the tour.  Jenny Jones certainly thought so.  Jenny played brilliant golf, recording a win with a magnificent 44 points!

Tomorrow we head to another short and quirky heathland gem, New Zealand Golf Club.

Welcome to the blog for the Best of British 2017 Tour.

This year our tour is heading to the UK to play some of the world's greatest and most exclusive courses.  

Please feel free to follow our journey, and if you would like to be emailed when the blog is updated, please type your email address into the "Follow by Email" box on the left side of the screen and follow the links.

The map below gives you a guide as to our travels.

Here is our travel itinerary.

THURSDAY 24 AUGUST 2017: Arrive in the UK, and make our way to Egham, Surrey, where we will stay at the The Runnymede on Thames. The tour officially starts at 6.00pm with our welcome function.

FRIDAY 25 AUGUST 2017: Golf at Swinley Forest.

SATURDAY 26 AUGUST 2017: Golf at New Zealand GC.

SUNDAY 27 AUGUST 2017: Golf at Walton Heath.

MONDAY 28 AUGUST 2017: Golf at St. Georges Hill.

TUESDAY 29 AUGUST 2017: Travel to Nottinghamshire and play golf at Notts GC, then travel to Woodhall Spa, staying at the Inn at Woodhall Spa.

WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST 2017:  Golf at Woodhall Spa, then travel to York, staying at The Grand Hotel.

THURSDAY 31 AUGUST 2017: Golf at Ganton.

FRIDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2017: Golf at Moortown.

SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2017: Travel to St. Andrews, staying at Rusacks.

SUNDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2017: Play St. Andrews New.

MONDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2017: Play St. Andrews Old.

TUESDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2017:  Play Carnoustie.

WEDNESDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2017:  Play Kingsbarns.

THURSDAY 7 SEPTEMBER 2017:  Play Ladybank, and then travel to Loch Lomond, staying at Rossdhu House at Loch Lomond GC.

FRIDAY 8 SEPTEMBER 2017:  Play Loch Lomond.

SATURDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2017: Participants Depart.