Review's of Stockley Park Golf Club
Clubhouse/Hospitality
Quality of Course
Practice Facilities
Value for Money
STOCKLEY PINES, disappointing, quite sad really.....
Visited Stockley Pines (sounds posh, but it aint)
formerly known as Stockley Park Golf which used to be a challenging & interesting golf course, Robert Trent Jones Jr designed, BUT new ownership/management and it is downhill all the way. What a shame.
Just as well we had a cheap late afternoon deal, otherwise I would have asked for my money back!!!!!
1. The layout/configuration has changed the character of the course which was enjoyabe to play & challenging as said earlier.
2. A newly created hole (the 10th), Par 4, dog leg right, is more like a desert, an open field with a mount on the right and a wilderness on top, suitable for grazing sheep. Say goodbye to any balls venturing North.
3. The greens were in a terrible, terrible state (more pitch marks than grass) apart from a few holes on the part of the course that was left unchanged, ie. after crossing the bridge over the dual carriageway, holes 11, 12, 13 & 14. Those holes were still interesting to play and in a respectable condtion.
4. The fairways were in a poor condition, lots of divots.
5. Not many signs for way finding, these are needed since the reconfiguration.
6. Much longer walks between holes, one seems to walk more than play golf at Stockley Pines, By the way the "Pines" are few and can be counted on the fingers of one hand. There were quite a few blackberries to be picked, next time I shall bring a basket for fruit picking but there wont be a next time for me.
7. The finishing hole used to be truly superb,long and downhill, some bLind shots before reaching a lake/fountain/vegetation (it was spectcular) before the 18th green, adjacent to the 9th, in front of the big Clubhouse, with a large attractive wooden balcony.
Now it is a small lake, a shorter hole, as a green practise green is there.
Clubhouse/Proshop friendly enough, but if you finished your golf after 8.00pm be prepared to find everything shut up, even the changing rooms & toilets....So be warned.
Car Park: adequate, but very tight parking bays, awkward with golf stuff etc...
Practice facilities are present: driving range (a new addition), chipping/practice putting greens.
NOT IMPESSED nor were the other 2 TSGers....
Played there on 15th August 2012.
THE END.... of a sad review (my personal view).