Golf weekends

[Hedontplayforyou]

Any recommendations for booking a golf weekend/break, either abroad or on these shores?

[fatboy47]

Spent more than one enjoyable weekend on Arran in recent years...5 very different courses, sensibly priced, non-snobby and very easily accessible. Weather can be variable.

Google Arran golf...packages available as are cheap flights to and car hire from Glasgow airport.

[jrgbfc]

Going abroad has got stupidly expensive. Personally i'd rather just save the hassle and play in this country.
We had a great trip to Northumberland last year. Played at Goswick, Dunstanburgh castle and Bamburgh castle.

[Leon_C]

I'm not a big golfer, but I enjoy an annual golf weekend with a great bunch of mates.

In recent years, we've had trips to:

Carden Park
The Mere
Tytherington
Mottram Hall
Herons Reach

All great.

Last October, we also had a few days in Portugal (Obidos, near Lisbon.). That was outstanding.

[Hedontplayforyou]

I’m looking for somewhere that isn’t too serious in its etiquette given our skill set and we just want to have fun really. I do think over here is the answer but I do want to play abroad and have that experience too. I’ll check Arran later today cheers .

Any recommendations are welcome open to anything really

[lakedistrictclaret]

I too can recommend Northumberland.
Four of us went last October and played Seahouses, Alnwick Castle and Dunstanburgh Castle.
Alnwick was slightly disappointing, but the other two were excellent.
Green fees are quite cheap as well.

[HB Claret]

Off to Florida in November for a couple of weeks of golf. Pirates Cove, Pirates Island, Congo River, Hawaiian Rumble, Disney Fantasia to name just a few of the courses !

[Devils_Advocate]

I’m looking for somewhere that isn’t too serious in its etiquette given our skill set and we just want to have fun really. I do think over here is the answer but I do want to play abroad and have that experience too. I’ll check Arran later today cheers .

Any recommendations are welcome open to anything really

We go to Caba Roig every summer which is a small holiday town with bars and restaurants and 6 or 7 good golf course within a 20 min drive. Rounds cost between £70-£100 depending on the course and despite the cost the courses are very relaxed and chilled out. A week in a Villa, flights, hire car, golf, food and drink normally comes in at about £1500pp for everything

If you wanted to book a golf package and stay on a resort you can stay at La Finca and you get transport to Villamartin and Ramblas so can play 3 different courses included in the package (we prefer to be down in the town where there' a bit of nightlife)

There's tons of these places in Spain, Portugal and Turkey and Im sure others will have lots of other different recommendations but hopefully this might help as a start by giving you a view on cost and options for playing abroad

[cornishclaret]

Hi

8 of us go to benalmadena / fuengirola every year early october for 4 nights play 3 rounds of golf 27 degrees temp approx cost inc flight is 700 / 800 quid per person inc golf hotel and flights we hire a van but you can go through your golf travel or golf breaks and they will do a complete package inc everything

[Woodleyclaret]

It's my big regret that I didn't try golf when we lived in a small village in Scotland with a 9 hole course .Our neighbour used to play in his boilersuit and boots straight from work but I was brought up near Royal Birkdale and saw all golfers as snobby Tory voters not accepting of poorer folk.

[fatboy47]

It's my big regret that I didn't try golf when we lived in a small village in Scotland with a 9 hole course .Our neighbour used to play in his boilersuit and boots straight from work but I was brought up near Royal Birkdale and saw all golfers as snobby Tory voters not accepting of poorer folk.

I guess the games changed a bit over recent decades.. along with society becoming more of a meritocracy. I loved my golf during my 8 years in the west of Scotland(Beith)..I'd meet up with lads from council estates who'd turn up on the bus or cycling with a 9 club bag across their backs...the egalitarian outlook of Scots in general made this possible, and the standard of some municipal courses was incredible.
Obviously not all English golfers were pringle wearing social climbers, but honestly, in my time playing in England I had to deal with so many utter w@nkers that it put me off playing for over a decade.

[Duffer_]

I guess the games changed a bit over recent decades.. along with society becoming more of a meritocracy. I loved my golf during my 8 years in the west of Scotland(Beith)..I'd meet up with lads from council estates who'd turn up on the bus or cycling with a 9 club bag across their backs...the egalitarian outlook of Scots in general made this possible, and the standard of some municipal courses was incredible.
Obviously not all English golfers were pringle wearing social climbers, but honestly, in my time playing in England I had to deal with so many utter w@nkers that it put me off playing for over a decade.

My granny taught me to play on a modest 9 hole course at Falkand in Fife. She used to do a cleaning job to pay for her golf and caught the bus from Auchtermuchty. I fell in love with the game but had similar experiences to you fatboy. As a junior player from a comprehensive school I endured so much snobbery at English golf clubs, that I too didn't pick up a club for well over 10 years. Things are a bit better nowadays but the officious sock measuring gimps still make me bristle. Love the game, hate the institutions of golf.

[aclaretinstevenage]

If you want value for money and can do the journey, Wensum Valley near Norwich is worth doing. It's not Wentworth by any means but has two decent courses, recently refurbished rooms, great food, bar open late. What's not to like.

Our autumn away weekend last October based on single occupancy rooms one night, dinner B&B and 2 rounds of golf £125 each

[Casper2]

Played 3 rounds at the Belfry last September 3 rounds BB&EM , £400 including one round on the Brabizon course

[Casper2]

Hi

8 of us go to benalmadena / fuengirola every year early october for 4 nights play 3 rounds of golf 27 degrees temp approx cost inc flight is 700 / 800 quid per person inc golf hotel and flights we hire a van but you can go through your golf travel or golf breaks and they will do a complete package inc everything

Decent shout

[Hedontplayforyou]

Excellent thanks everyone. Keep them coming.

Regarding the snobbery stories, I remember being a junior member around 14-15 years old maybe a bit younger , I first started going with my grandad who was a member at my local club. I was by my grandads friends opinions , “a natural”. I really enjoyed it and started to make a few friends my own age along the way, however the attire and rules brigade absolutely ruined it for me with their roasting of my grandad for me (14-15 ish) not having the correct shirt on or something of that ilk. Made me feel that uncomfortable being watched all the time that I just stopped going and didn’t play again until I was perhaps 24-25 ish.

I’m not saying my incompetence these days is because of that but I am distinctly below average nowadays but boy do I love it when I hit a good shot.

Played towneley last week and it was in good shape .

[expoultryboy]

12 of us are off to Los alcazares in a weeks time for 5 rounds on great courses . Same as Devil Advocate but we also play La ronda and las colinas as well . If you fancy staying in the UK , we go to Llandudno in September staying at the Post house Hotel on Llewellyn street . It's OK and caters for a group of golfers . Courses we play : Abergele , Prestatyn , Conway , Maesdu and North Wales . All within a 30 minute drive .

[Devils_Advocate]

12 of us are off to Los alcazares in a weeks time for 5 rounds on great courses . Same as Devil Advocate but we also play La ronda and las colinas as well . If you fancy staying in the UK , we go to Llandudno in September staying at the Post house Hotel on Llewellyn street . It's OK and caters for a group of golfers . Courses we play : Abergele , Prestatyn , Conway , Maesdu and North Wales . All within a 30 minute drive .

Our other 2 main courses as well as the 3 I mentioned that we play are Colinas and Lo Romero (between Caba Roig and Los Alcazres). I used to stay on Mar Menor when I used to go with family (10 + years ago) which is a nice little course and Id also recommend El Valle out of the Polaris courses down that way. I assume you mean Roda rather than Ronda that has the island green hole.

[expoultryboy]

You're right , there's a few of my balls at the bottom of the 18th !! Lo Romero's a good course , but not to sure about El Valle and Villamartin .

[Devils_Advocate]

You're right , there's a few of my balls at the bottom of the 18th !! Lo Romero's a good course , but not to sure about El Valle and Villamartin .

Hope you have a good one and I'll be out there in about 6 weeks. We've got Romero, Villamartin, Las Ramblas and La Finca lined up this year with possibly a new course more towards Alicante called Vistabella as our 5th game. We alternate between Colinas and La Finca each year as they are the pricey ones

[dougcollins]

ROI takes some beating.

[ClaretCliff]

Leon-C mentions a few hotel courses above, Carden Park, Herons Reach , etc. if you’re looking for that sort of place, which do so,e really good deals, then I would recommend Hawkestone Park near Shrewsbury. Two good courses.

[jrgbfc]

12 of us are off to Los alcazares in a weeks time for 5 rounds on great courses . Same as Devil Advocate but we also play La ronda and las colinas as well . If you fancy staying in the UK , we go to Llandudno in September staying at the Post house Hotel on Llewellyn street . It's OK and caters for a group of golfers . Courses we play : Abergele , Prestatyn , Conway , Maesdu and North Wales . All within a 30 minute drive .

We went to Llandudno and played at North Wales and Maesdu a few weeks ago. The greens at North Wales were really suffering with the lack of rain and had 3 temporary greens at Maesdu which was a bit dissapointing in April.

[CaptJohn]

North Wales is interesting for a short break. Try Nefyn GC, a wonderful, picturesque location and plan to play the "Point course" in addition to the 18 holes of the main course. (Talk to the pro shop to arrange as they have rules as to when you can play due to the number of walkers in the area) Stay at the Nanhoran hotel in Nefyn itself. Nice hotel with a decent restaurant and just five minutes from course. You can then play Royal St Davids at Harlech the following day. Tough course but you are treated to glorious views of the castle. There are a couple of hotels nearby or you could head back up the coast and play Conway. Again a lovely course but the greens are a bit iffy at the moment. Lots of hotels nearby in Llandudno. I wouldn't bother with Maesdu or North Wales as they have really suffered these past two years with the wet weather.

[Duffer_]

Add Bangor St Deiniol if you're in North Wales. A James Braid gem with stunning views.

[basil6345789]

Great stuff, this - "Easygolf Almeria" . Contact Jim Bound on +34 681 355 796 info@easygolfalmeria.com. www.easygolfalmeria.com
They sort everything out for you. Courses such as Desert Springs, etc at low prices. Good time to go before it gets well known and expensive.

[ayrshireclaret83]

Spent more than one enjoyable weekend on Arran in recent years...5 very different courses, sensibly priced, non-snobby and very easily accessible. Weather can be variable.

Google Arran golf...packages available as are cheap flights to and car hire from Glasgow airport.

Couldn’t recommend Arran I live in the town where you get the ferry to arran.

If you come to Scotland I’ll happily sign you on to my course Rowallan Castle designed by Colin Montgomerie

[Stockbrokerbelt]

Come to sunny southern Spain a golf mecca, plenty of courses, choice of med or Atlantic coast with a 30 min drive in between with fantastic courses, the very western end of the costa del sol with around 24 courses to choose between between Marbella & Sotogrande.

[expoultryboy]

Played Maesdu in their open last year ct John and it was fine ( September) . Agree about north Wales , it's more like a municipal coarse nowadays and the tees are awful .

[expoultryboy]

DA , just seen our itinerary and we're playing roda twice , las colinas , la ronda and the one you mentioned mar menor .

[Devils_Advocate]

Ive never heard of La Ronda but Roda, Colinas and Mar Menor are a decent three to play and you'll only be 5 mins away from both Roda and Mar Menor.

[expoultryboy]

Got it wrong again , lo romero

[Devils_Advocate]

Haha Romero and Colinas are two quality courses with Mar Menor being a bit gentler. If you're staying a Roda or next to it in Los Alcazeres then thats about as good a schedule as you'd get so enjoy. Been 10 years since Ive played Mar Menor so let us know how it goes and if its still in good nick

[cornishclaret]

From memory vistabella and las ramblas are good shouts if staying around alicante . Still prefer costa del sol though la cala resort and calanova take some beating

[SlidingTackle]

I'm not a golfer, but ever since 2004 I have been involved with the development of the Castle Stuart / Cabot Highlands property.

Initially, I did ornithological surveys to support the Environmental Impact Assessment that accompanied the first planning application.

Then when they achieved planning approval for the construction of two golf courses, they needed someone on the environmental side to ensure all the good stuff that was committed to was actually implemented.

Castle Stuart was duly opened in in 2009. I used to walk the course (where the Scottish Open was held a couple of times soon after it was opened) to undertake post-construction bird surveys, and as I did I used to think 'I wish I played golf!'

Subsequently, it remained an aspiration to create a second course, but although the planning approval was renewed when it lapsed, this scheme was thwarted as the original developer sadly died and securing the backing to undertake the project was very difficult.

Thankfully, this was achieved when the Cabot group bought the property in the last few years, and as a result, Old Petty has recently been completed, and I was again involved during the construction of the same.

I visited site early this week, and summoned up courage to ask whether four of my friends from various aspects of my life how are golfers and have asked me to get them a free round could indeed get a free round. And the answer was, 'Yes'!

Very pleased with myself, and very pleased to be associated with this incredible project!

[CaptJohn]

Just back in after playing in a society day at "Portal Championship" course near Tarporley in Cheshire. Lovely hotel with a large Spa and pool complex plus a decent restaurant. Tough course but beautiful location and undoubtedly recommended.

[Big Vinny K]

North Wales would be a reasonably cheap way of doing 3 or 4 good courses without breaking the bank for green fees and accommodation / travel etc. Rhuddlan is a good course as are Prestatyn and Conwy (the latter generally regarded as the best course in the area).

Up another level on this is a trip up to Scotland. North Berwick is an incredible area for golf courses - around 20 fantastic courses within a short distance of each other. Some are very expensive indeed but others are affordable (eg Gullane at around £90). North Berwick itself is a stunning place to stay.

Up another level again in terms of overall costs (though difficult to better Scotland for courses) is the likes of Portugal and Spain….with lots of good recommendations already on this thread. I’ve done Portugal a few times and some lovely courses in the Algarve (Pine Cliffs, Salgados etc). Also done Spain a few times - most recently around Murcia. Again loads of very nice courses and very reasonable to get to in terms of flight costs and accommodation. Also if you want to spend a bit more on course fees La Manga is only 45 minutes away (though personally I wouldn’t bother)

[FCBurnley]

Isle of Man has decent courses and is easy to access on the ferry. I used to play at Castletown when I lived there and it was great. Anybody wanting to play in Florida I can give good advice and tips ( unless you are a Leeds fan pretending to support the Clarets )

[Hedontplayforyou]

I’m looking for more budget end at the moment due to my standard of play, as I think I’d be fuming with myself if I spent a fortune on a round and then dug the place up.

There’s a lot of great choices on here. I’m thinking I might try somewhere in wales or Scotland whenever I get the time.

Looking forward to getting out for my next round wherever it may be .

[WazzaClaret]

We went to Morocco (Marrakech) last year for a stag (I know not exactly the kind of place you'd expect a stag ) anyway we had a couple of rounds while there and it was really good.
You can see they're investing heavily in building up tourism/golf complexes.
We've decided to go again for a golf holiday this October because we enjoyed it that much.
Relatively cheap too!

[Andreshotboots]

I too can recommend Northumberland.
Four of us went last October and played Seahouses, Alnwick Castle and Dunstanburgh Castle.
Alnwick was slightly disappointing, but the other two were excellent.
Green fees are quite cheap as well.

If you're in that area you simply have to play Goswick. Absolutely fabulous links in superb condition all year round.

[Andreshotboots]

North Wales is interesting for a short break. Try Nefyn GC, a wonderful, picturesque location and plan to play the "Point course" in addition to the 18 holes of the main course. (Talk to the pro shop to arrange as they have rules as to when you can play due to the number of walkers in the area) Stay at the Nanhoran hotel in Nefyn itself. Nice hotel with a decent restaurant and just five minutes from course. You can then play Royal St Davids at Harlech the following day. Tough course but you are treated to glorious views of the castle. There are a couple of hotels nearby or you could head back up the coast and play Conway. Again a lovely course but the greens are a bit iffy at the moment. Lots of hotels nearby in Llandudno. I wouldn't bother with Maesdu or North Wales as they have really suffered these past two years with the wet weather.

A rather boring fact of the day for you re Royal St. David's but did you know the sea once came all the way up to the bottom of the hill that the castle sits on? A few thousand years ago the course as it is today would have been underwater..

[JohnMac]

Packed up playing about 12 years ago due to medical issues and still miss it.

Only been to Spain once and it was to play Golf, we did San Roque, Marbella, another but the name escapes me and a beast of a course called Monte Mayor.

[expoultryboy]

DA - Roda , Las Colinas and Lo Romero were in fantastic condition (wind against on the island hole - drive , 9 iron , 56° , 2 putt - dry ball at last ) . Played 10 holes on Mar Menor and then horrendous rain /thunder and lightening. Claxton sounded and it was like wacky races watching all the buggies heading for the club house - course was in decent condition . Drove past Las Ramblas - looked tight . I believe Las colinas is upto about €180 with buggies !!

[CaptJohn]

If you're on a budget and fancy North Wales why not plan a weekend in Chester and play Chester GC and Wrexham GC. Both are in good nick at the moment (I'm a member of both) and reasonably priced plus you get a good choice of accommodation, to suit all budgets.

[Devils_Advocate]

DA - Roda , Las Colinas and Lo Romero were in fantastic condition (wind against on the island hole - drive , 9 iron , 56° , 2 putt - dry ball at last ) . Played 10 holes on Mar Menor and then horrendous rain /thunder and lightening. Claxton sounded and it was like wacky races watching all the buggies heading for the club house - course was in decent condition . Drove past Las Ramblas - looked tight . I believe Las colinas is upto about €180 with buggies !!

Good stuff sounds like you had a great time. Shame about Mar Menor especially as the holes from 13-16 are the best cos you go round a large lake with some interesting holes. We're not playing Colinas this year as that and La Finca are the two premium expensive courses so we alternate and this year its La Finca. Will be playing Romero though so good to hear that is in good condition with its glass like greens

Ramblas is my favourite course but it can be a bit marmite as its very tight and quirky. You feel like you are in a jungle on the front 9 and there are ravines and canyons on nearly every hole. Its short in length so if you are hitting it straight you can score heavy but if you are having a bad day you can lose plenty of golf balls!! If you're back in that area and get chance I'd definitely recommend giving Ramblas a go

[expoultryboy]

Capt : Often play Wrexham on the way to Llandudno ( live in Shrewsbury) . Decent course , the first always suits me as a left- hander with its left to right slope haha.

[Hedontplayforyou]

Played Knott End on sea today. Lovely place. Difficult with the gusts of wind coming off the coast. I can imagine it’s a real beast on a day with high winds