Review's of Cherry Lodge Golf Club
Clubhouse/Hospitality
Quality of Course
Practice Facilities
Value for Money
Very enjoyable "Cherry" with a wonderful host.....
I had the great pleasure to be invited by Michael H. to his home Club. A traditional golf club, where golf etiquette is important and tradition very alive. An enjoyable experience from the moment we arrived and departed, without forgetting a long visit to the well furnished Proshop (part the Royal Mid Surrey, Wyke/green's Nigel Pagett's shops... Expensive & quality brand. Very friendly Pro who let me look through all the big cardboard boxes full of clothing ready for the next day'sale for the Captain's charity day......
We were greeted by Michael and offered coffee before setting off to the 1st tee which is great looking hole with a raised tee box and slightly sloping fairway. It was useful to have our local guide as the layout is not always as straight forward as one thinks and there was no course guide available as the holes have been redesigned over the last 2 or 3 years (tons of earth have been brought in), but it was worth the wait. (I believe that some previous reviews did not account for the re-modelling of the course with the ongoing work that was impeded by the wet weather, so may be those players should return to appreciate what has been achieved!!!!). It does create a a bit of an inland links type course.
The tee boxes, fairways, bunkers were in superb condition, the greens were truly magnificent and so so so fast, lots of "Oh No" on my part as I miss quite a few putts BUT did manage quite a few 1 putt which evened out my score at the end. The 1st cut is well defined, the rough is tall and practically unplayable, but favours a lot of wildlife. The course although tight in places feel quite open, wide with lots of different trees around. Cherry Lodge used to be a farm and started as a golf course nearly 50 years ago (1969 ???). One can see a few fields from certain holes.
My favourite holes were the 8th, shortish Par 3, sloping left to a pond guarding the fast green with a severe rough on the right, one has a chance to pop into the Clubhouse to use the facilities before carrying on to the 9th... The other favourite is the 18th, lovely finishing hole, short Par 4 , sloping to the right, water on the left guarding the green. This hole plays longer than one thinks.
An excellent variety of holes, quite a long walk but we were unhurried and we all enjoyed our experience, on & off the course.
We had a friendly drink/ chat afterwards with some food. I recommend the Club Burger, it was delicious.. I think Colin C. enjoyed the chips so did Micheal, Sean O'R. seemed to enjoyed his Club sandwich too.
Thank Michael for giving us the chance to try your home course, one can see that you truly love Cherry Lodge GC and I understand why.
A very active membership, with lots of differents comps., home & away.
Big Car Park, traditional clubhouse & club., good Ladies changing room.
A gated entry/exit makes it very select, no "riffraff" here, only white socks and tailored shorts......
Cherry Lodge have reciprocal arrangements with quite a few other clubs, one of them is Wyke Green, 4 miles from my home and is very similar type of club ambiance and quality of course.
If you get a chance to play Cherry Lodge, do take it and see for yourself the challenges that the course offers & appreciate the new design, but make sure your putter is hot....otherwise it will be a lot of "Oh No".
THE END........
Clubhouse/Hospitality
Quality of Course
Practice Facilities
Value for Money
Excellent Challenge of Golf
Cherry Lodge GC is a parkland style course near Biggin Hill Airport, in the London Borough of Bromley!
It is a par 72! (It was originally a par 75 but 3 par 5s (4th, 5th and 14th) were reduced to par 4s!
There are 4 par 3s, 10 par 4s and 4 par 5s!
I am a member of Cherry Lodge GC and have been since April 2013.
I joined at a very low membership rate at the commencement of the course refurbishment project and continue now that the major work has been completed in April 2017!
*****
This is an excellent golf course, 6,382 yards from the yellow tees; generally small firm/fast greens, fairways in good condition, the course plays longer than the course yardages when the course is affected by the wind; especially for the older player.
*****
Very good scores are possible, especially the more you know the course but so can the card be ruined if you are not on your game.
Most of the holes have OOB to avoid either in part or the full length, ie the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th!
That said, the OOB external boundaries on many of the holes shouldn't be a problem for golfers who know how to find the fairways most of the time!
*****
The course is located on land formerly known as Cherry Lodge Farm! It was a fruit growing business, especially strawberries!
In 1967/68, the farm owners Messrs Blundell and Hicks, commenced construction of the course, assisted by John Day, which opened in 1969! (Two of the club's honour board trophies, ie the Blundell Bowl and the Hicks Trophy, are named in honour of the two original owners!)
*****
Gary Player
After he won the World Matchplay championship in 1971, a club member invited Gary Player to play at Cherry Lodge! The match was held on 11th October 1971! The son of one of the co-founders caddied for Mr Player!
He scored a -5 under par 69 against the par 75!
He held a sort of on course clinic for the gathering members as word of his presence gained momentum!
He did 10 press-ups with someone on his back! No change in the ego then!
*****
The owners Blundell and Hicks sold the course in 1985 to a subsidiary of a national builders, ie Wates!
*****
The club members bought out ownership of the club from Wates in 1985!
*****
When the financial viability of the club was threatened in the late 2000s,the club decided that the solution was to take tonnes and tonnes of earth bound for costly landfill, in lieu of a profit share arrangement with a developer and a neighbour landowner enabling temporary access for dumper trucks!
*****
A proposal by the board to rename the club as Biggin Hill GC when the landscape work was completed was overwhelmingly rejected by the members!
The club's 50th anniversary is in 2019!
*****
Course Remodelled
The course has been remodelled by landfill deposits onto the course! This work didn't affect the fairways and greens but many conifer trees were removed and the rough areas between parallel holes were replaced by high banking, and either wispy or thick rough areas in the summer months!
*****
Hundreds of replacement sapling trees have been planted on the newly banked areas which in time will mature into wonderful woodland areas around the course!
*****
Extensive disruption to the course layout was experienced during the main works period, especially when 14 of the 18 tee-boxes were being rebuilt and were bedding in prior to being brought into use!
There wasn't a significant detriment to the course playability/challenge, though the course was considerably shorter than the card at times because of tee-box remodelling. Also the new banking between fairways was GUR until the grassing had grown and the new earth had settled!
*****
The Par 3s
The 4 par 3s are a mix of yardages and challenges! All are now played from raised tee-boxes! They were greatly affected by the remodelling!
#The 6th (index 15) is a moderate length tee shot from the yellow tee but plays much longer and more difficult from the white tee! This also now plays off a significantly raised tee-box complex! A few trees along the right side of the hole were thinned out! There is a moderately sized tree short left of the green which can be difficult from the back tee! (The scene of my 2nd ever hole in 1!)
#The 8th (index 17) used to be a long hole but was changed to a shorter hole but with the addition of a small multi-level pond front left! This is regarded as our signature hole! However it has been thought by many, me included, that a new back tee should be created and I understand that plans are being drawn up to put in a new back tee-box in the 2020 programme of course improvement works!
#The 12th (index 18) is a 1nn yards tee shot from a new raised/repositioned tee! A number of tall conifers were removed to allow improved access from the new tee! This is a severely sloping green from front up to the back and there is a deep bunker front right and a parallel bunker left side! This often plays into a headwind! (The scene of my 1st ever hole in 1, in a KGVL league match!)
#The 16th (index 14) is the longest par 3 at nnn yards! There is OOB all along the right hand side of the hole! It is classified as a single green but is in fact comprised of a larger upper green with a smaller lower green a few feet below! The layout of this green 'complex' is ridiculous and it is the one green that needs serious remodelling if resources could be found! However some fellow members are not of the same opinion and consider it a frightening hole in a close matchplay scenario, especially for visitor players!
The Marmite taste issue comes to mind here!
*****
In wet winter conditions, to protect the condition of the 'new' tees, artificial tee mats are used on the 4 par 3s and the par 5 13th!
*****
The Par 4s
*****
The Par 5s
*****
The Greens
The greens are not large, in fact several are small and accurate approach play is required to hold them especially in the summer season!
The Head Greenkeeper has been making moderate enlargements of some of the greens to partially address! Hopefully the changes will mature sufficiently through the coming winter/spring period!
The greens are usually fairly fast and tricky to read especially when putting down the hill!
*****
Assessment
The course is in a wonderful condition under summer months. It is visually improving month by month, year by year!
Our Head Greenkeeper and his maintenance team are embarking on an ongoing maintenance and course improvement programme to further upgrade the course as resources will allow!
Teething troubles were encountered with drainage on some of the the new tee-boxes when there was very heavy rainfall but some remedial works in the past 18 months has improved things but there is a good deal more that needs doing!
*****
Critical comments made by fellow TSGers over the recent past are no longer valid!
This has now developed into a course that is very popular with societies! Only periods of sustained rainfall seriously undermines the playability of the course!
*****
The historical downside legacy is that the course was not designed by a professional golf course architect but by farmers using their own labour, thus many of the greens are low lying and were not properly constructed for good quick drainage, and similar deficiencies apply to the construction of the bunkers!
*****
Updated September 2019.
