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Appley Park Pitch and Putt (Ryde)
by adambrown400
Let me tell you now that the picture that has been supplied for this place is not that of Appley Pitch and Putt! JJJJ, Jbsabbath and tomflint have all been partial for a game of mini golf here in the past, usually its JJJJ himself who usually ends up winning - what a git!
Appley Pitch and Putt is situated in the beautiful ... seafront town of Ryde. It is just further on down from the canoe lake and halfway between Ryde and Seaview and is well within walking distance of the seafront.
If you can't walk to Appley Pitch and Putt, then there is a free car park right next to the entrance, so there are ways and means of getting there. If you plan on going in the Spring and Summer months then you might be hard pressed for a space because it can get quite busy.
The small hutch where you buy your ticket is very close the car park. It costs around £4.70 for a game, but if you have a onecard, then depending on the scheme you are one you might get it for free.
The hut also sells ice creams and drinks, which is quite handy. After selecting your putter and wedge, then its off to play 9 holes of pitch and putt. The course is well kept, but because of its open planning, then there may be a wayward dog on the course to put you off your tee. There also is quite a high probability of losing a ball in the rough on this course, so it might be worth taking a few spare balls along.
Appley Pitch and Putt is a great course to play either if you are a hardened professional or a novice. If you are on holiday on the Island, then its well worth a visit.
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Stockley Park
by Beanie8844
I played Stockley Park for the first time about three months ago with some colleagues from work. They had played their numerous times before and really liked the course because it is kept immaculately and the green fees aren't ridiculously expensive. The location of the course is another great plus point. It is situated just 3 miles from ... junction 15 of the M25, or 1.5 miles from junction 4 of the M4 depending upon which route you would take; so it's very accessible. When you enter the complex you are greeted by a huge car park, which is always nice, this is because Stockley Park Golf Centre is adjacent to the business park and so there is a lot of ground. From the car park it is a short walk to the clubhouse where they have a club shop offering a large selection of golf equipment, clubs, balls, clothing, tees etc. There is also a café which serves a variety of hot and cold snacks and drinks. We had a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea before playing our round and it was very reasonably priced.
We had pre-booked out tee time as we were a four balls and the course gets very busy. They are quite strict with the tee times and people queue for the first tee which makes you first drive a little nervy! The course itself is and eighteen hole, par 72, 6754 yarder of championship standard and I was not disappointed. In total there are 4 par three's, 12 par four's and 2 par fives and all holes are quite challenging encompassing a mixture of trees, bunkers, blind pins and water! The ninth and eighteenth are in front of the clubhouse and accurate chips to the greens are required to avoid the water hazards. It's a nice course and the standard of the tees are greens are excellent, although when we played their was some construction work occurring which meant that one of the holes had an artificial teeing surface and some of the areas either side of the fairways were giant slopes of mud/dirt, but this didn't make too much difference. I believe they were making a driving range, this is probably completed now.
Stockley Park is definitely a course I will return too as it is very easy to get too, there is loads of parking, it doesn't cost the earth for a round and the course is nice to play. Overall it is a fantastic course. Well recommended.
Green fees for visiting golfers:
Weekday £25.00, £20.00
Weekend £35.00, £25.00
Twilight Weekday £15.00 (twilight starts 4 hours before sunset)
Twilight Weekend £20.00 (twilight starts 4 hours before sunset)
9 hole Weekday £15.00
Address: The Clubhouse, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB11 1AQ
T - 0208 561 6339 or 0208 813 5700
Thanks for reading, feel free to comment.
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Central London Golf Centre
by Beanie8844
I have just returned from playing a round of golf with a friend at the Central London Golf Centre. I had never played their before, but my friend recommended it as he had and I was quite impressed by the place.
The golf club is only a few minutes drive from Earlsfield High Street and due to its location they have had to ... squeeze a lot into a relitavely small space; but there are still plenty of car spaces in the car park. The course in 9 holes, but you can obviously by a card enabling you to go round twice and play 18; although I'm glad we didn't do this today as we would have ended up completely sunburnt, it was a scorcher! There is also a driving range within the grounds, but unlike the conventional style it is completely enclosed and you cannot hit a ball as far as you would like as the far fencing is merely about forty meters from the tees. I don't think it's a range you would use purely as a range, rather a few practice balls to get your eye in before hitting the course.
Like most courses you have to pay before you play and this is done at the club shop. I was a little disspointed upon arrival as there was nobody manning the shop, so we had to wait about five minutes which was rather frustrating. The round cost £11.00 which wasn't too bad I thought, especially as the nine hole course isn't a par three and actually contains many par fours and a couple of holes which should be par fives!
So, what was the course like?
I was very impressed by it to be honest. Firstly at every hole you have the option to tee off using either the astroturf tee or on the grass by the tee markers; naturally we used the grass tees as you always hit the ball better from here.
The greens were in relitavely good condition considering we haven't had proper rain for a while now and the temperature for the past week or so has been through the roof. However, I think the club have put most of their energy into making sure the greens are in good nick because the fairways looked rather brown and dry, meaning they were quite hard, but this wasn't the end of the world.
There weren't that many other golfers using the course either which is always a good thing; nothing worse than slow players or feeling like you're being rushed by a group behind you. This enabled us to play at our own pace, enjoy the course and enjoy the sunshine.
As I mentioned earlier, there are some quite long and challenging holes. There are also a number of bunkers on most holes so don't forget your sand wedge. The sixth and ninth holes involve shots over water, which is a nice touch, although it does make things quite difficult. My playing partner lost two balls on the ninth!
Once we finished the round we thought it would be rude if we didn't have a nice pint in the sunshine! The club has a nice bar facility and tables and chairs with sun umbrellas outside so you can enjoy your drink whilst watching other people slog their way around the course. I believe the bar also serves hot and cold food, but I didn't manage to look at a menu.
The only negative thing I could say about the club is that because they have to be as efficient as possible with their space, many of the holes are very close together and many are parallel; a couple of times when misshitting drives I landed them on the hole nextdoors fairway. This wasn't a problem because of the small amount of people on the course, but wouldn't be as good on a busier day. This wasn't too much of a problem and on the whole it is a course that I would recommend to golfers.
Thanks for reading, feel free to comment.
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