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Trip to The Belfry, UK

TheDoctor

TheDoctor

One of the UK Hackers
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It is not definite yet, but a friend of mine who lives at the other end of the country suggested a trip to play at The Belfry this year as in his relatively short period of playing golf he has been well and truly hooked and is improving all the time from what I have seen

We were able to get together for a range session when he was in my area for a wedding and he brought it up that he had never been there but would like to play, if possible, the Brabazon course. I have been lucky enough to play the course a couple years ago for our little UK get together but I said it would be great to go back for another round there

So the plan is for myself, my usual partner in crime on the golf course PrestonPreston, Luke (my friend from down south) and a friend of his to get a 4-ball together for at least a round on the Brabazon course, but also hopefully at least one other round on the PGA course as well

Assuming this all comes together, we are hoping for some time in April and obviously there will be posts and pictures from the course(s) while we are there
 
Sounds like fun.
 
Sounds like an awesome time.
 
Brabazon is awesome. PGA is a nice course, but it's a lot of bunkers and uneven ground. The Derby's also a nice little knock. They normally do a decent stay and play offer - play one on Sunday, stay overnight and play again on Monday.

I'm doing the Brabazon again next Sunday....love the 10th and the 18th!
 
Sounds great, hope you have great weather!
 
Minty said:
Brabazon is awesome. PGA is a nice course, but it's a lot of bunkers and uneven ground. The Derby's also a nice little knock. They normally do a decent stay and play offer - play one on Sunday, stay overnight and play again on Monday.

I'm doing the Brabazon again next Sunday....love the 10th and the 18th!
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I haven't played the Derby course, only the other two. For our UK event we were originally booked to play the Derby (Sunday) and PGA (Monday) but El Bandito used his smooth charm and wit to blag us an upgrade to play the Brabazon on the Sunday instead of the Derby. I didn't play it too well and only scored something like 22 points, but still enjoyed the experience so it would be good to play it again

I made up for the poor score on the Brabazon by scoring 40 points (4 shots under my handicap) on the PGA course on the Monday though :D

We had some fun on the 10th hole whereby it was decided that we would all play a ball and have a go at the green and if we hit the water you were allowed to play a second ball the way you would have originally planned to play it without any penalty. If I remember right, we actually had someone in the group drive the green and 2 putt for a birdie!

Have fun when you go and let us know how the course is playing
 
I know those courses! Only from watching Rick Shiels on YouTube though. Regardless, it sounds like a couple very nice rounds are in your future! Perhaps a course review for us THPers?
 
TheHeez said:
I know those courses! Only from watching Rick Shiels on YouTube though. Regardless, it sounds like a couple very nice rounds are in your future! Perhaps a course review for us THPers?
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I think that could possibly be arranged - There will be some pictures of the courses in our UK event thread from 2013 somewhere hiding on here, but I will certainly do my best to grab more pictures and try out my writing skills :D
 
TheDoctor said:
It is not definite yet, but a friend of mine who lives at the other end of the country suggested a trip to play at The Belfry this year as in his relatively short period of playing golf he has been well and truly hooked and is improving all the time from what I have seen

We were able to get together for a range session when he was in my area for a wedding and he brought it up that he had never been there but would like to play, if possible, the Brabazon course. I have been lucky enough to play the course a couple years ago for our little UK get together but I said it would be great to go back for another round there

So the plan is for myself, my usual partner in crime on the golf course PrestonPreston, Luke (my friend from down south) and a friend of his to get a 4-ball together for at least a round on the Brabazon course, but also hopefully at least one other round on the PGA course as well

Assuming this all comes together, we are hoping for some time in April and obviously there will be posts and pictures from the course(s) while we are there
Click to expand...

hope you have a great time. Very hard not to be very envious..
 
Thedoswells said:
hope you have a great time. Very hard not to be very envious..
Click to expand...

It isn't cheap but I think it is nice to be able to play a course that has hosted an event like it has and walk the same fairways as the greats

I think it also helps give you an appreciation of how good the professionals actually are when you play the same course and can't reach some of the greens and the pros have teed off from further back and have a short iron into the green lol
 
TheDoctor said:
It isn't cheap but I think it is nice to be able to play a course that has hosted an event like it has and walk the same fairways as the greats

I think it also helps give you an appreciation of how good the professionals actually are when you play the same course and can't reach some of the greens and the pros have teed off from further back and have a short iron into the green lol
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Had that experience when I played Carnoustie years ago. I'm a short hitter so the difference is even more exaggerated! I can't imagine what it would be like playing a course 7600 yards. Time consuming I guess...
 
Little update as there has been a change in the people going but the event is booked

14/15th April playing the PGA course on day 1 and the Brabazon on day 2
 
7 weeks today and we will be at The Belfry, and already the banter has started with a North v South competition being arranged. Simple stableford scoring but the agreement is everyone will finish the hole rather than picking up even if they can't score points so that we can all see how many strokes we took as well

Pictures of the par 3 holes from the course guides have been shared to look at a nearest-the-pin competition as well

I think the southerners are practicing quite a bit for this, and one of them was also at Celtic Manor recently.....
 
My one and only trip to the Belfry ended in disaster. My ex bought me a round on the Brabazon for my birthday. Stayed in a great little guesthouse down the road the night before. However, when I arrived at the course in the morning, they had closed the Brabazon due to weather. I was gutted. I was offered a round on either the PGA or the National, but I declined.
 
I have seen the Belfry on video only. Looks great. Chris Ryan Golf (he is a pro there) has great content on his Youtube channel. Got to see odds and ends of the course through his videos. Have a great time.
 
Mark_UK said:
My one and only trip to the Belfry ended in disaster. My ex bought me a round on the Brabazon for my birthday. Stayed in a great little guesthouse down the road the night before. However, when I arrived at the course in the morning, they had closed the Brabazon due to weather. I was gutted. I was offered a round on either the PGA or the National, but I declined.
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Ouch, that was bad luck - I hope that doesn't happen to us

The PGA is not a bad course but obviously doesn't have the same history as the Brabazon
 
3 weeks today and I will be back home from The Belfry round about this time in the evening

Preparation up to now has consisted of a couple of 9 hole rounds on our practice course, a couple of lessons and range time to work on the things from the lessons

I was very encouraged to hear the comments from the pro during my lesson today about how much improvement there has been since the first lesson - bring on the golf trip
 
I am looking forward to following your round. Now the group you're playing with this time can be photographed, correct? The usual lot (El B, Mudler etc) all seem to have those little black lines across their eyes. :alien:
 
DufferToo said:
I am looking forward to following your round. Now the group you're playing with this time can be photographed, correct? The usual lot (El B, Mudler etc) all seem to have those little black lines across their eyes. :alien:
Click to expand...

Well I do have one of the usual lot going (PrestonPreston) but I am sure I can sneak some pictures during the course of the 2 days :D
 
Well it is the eve of the trip and I spent last night cleaning my clubs and sorting out my bag ready for tomorrow

Unfortunately, the weather forecast is for heavy rain both days, but it has changed every day this week, so we are keeping our fingers crossed it isn't as bad as it is forecast to be

If the weather does turn out to be as bad, I don't know what pictures will be taken but I will do my best to grab some
 
I hope the weather holds for you and you play some good golf
 
Hopefully, the UK weathermen are as poor with their forecasting as ours are. Looking forward to the recap and pics (if possible). Go low!
 
Did you survive Doc? Snow? Sleet? Hail?
 
Just brief as we are out

Managed to survive it....just....it was a good job I had a few changes of clothes as it rained the entire time we were there so I didn't get any pictures unfortunately

I started slow which was probably due to the early start and 3+ hour drive but the back 9 of the PGA was an absolute surprise when I shot a 36 (par 35) to finish the round after a front 9 where I shot a 47

Playing the Brabazon on Friday was made even tougher as due to the rain there were no trolleys allowed on the course so I had to carry my bag which made for hard work in the soggy conditions and my back problems I have had

Somehow I managed to score 29 points for that round to go with the 37 points on the PGA to give me an overall total of 66 points for the 36 holes which I was very happy with
 
Doc. I thought we agreed?

No more playing from the ladies tees.




That's decent shooting in tough conditions mate - well played.
 
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