a warm welcome Foreword by EWEN MURRAY, Sky Sports commentator and Former European Tour Professional
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ne of the main attractions of golf, in my book at least, is the enormous variety of golf courses on which we are allowed to challenge ourselves – that and taking some money off my friends and colleagues! From parkland to heathland, links to cliff-top layouts – we are literally spoilt for choice, all over the British Isles where you can be playing almost every type of course within a few miles of each other. During my travels on following the world’s best tournaments with Sky Sports I am often faced with monstrous 7,500-yard venues that place too much emphasis on smashing a driver, so when I come back home to West Sussex it is refreshing to play more manageable courses, where you have a good chance of making birdie, providing you find the fairway with your tee shot. Bigger doesn’t have to mean better, so don’t overlook courses where the par is 69 or the yardage barely gets above 6,000 PAGE 5 | THE ULTIMATE GOLF GUIDE
yards – they are often the hardest to score well on. We are also fortunate in golf that we have a handicapping system that allows the best to play with the rest. That means that society and corporate days can accommodate any standard of golfer, from the inexperienced hacker to the touring professional, and all levels in between. That’s why golf, in my eyes, remains the ultimate leveller. The job of organising a society or corporate golf day can sometimes seem like a tough one, given the vast array of courses to choose from and the huge number of considerations, such as catering, prizes, invitations, and all the other essential items that appear on the golf day checklist, but it can also be a thrill, especially if you get to try out some of the courses in advance to see if they meet your demands. This handy guide aims to turn that job into a more pleasurable experience by listing a wide selection of venues to suit all skills levels and budgets. Clubs offering the most simple of 9-hole parkland
layouts to the most challenging 36-hole championship resorts – and a lot more in between – are all within easy reach of your fingertips and a phone call or, in these times, a click of a mouse. Organising such days can be simplified by hiring a company to do it all for you, but with the help of this guide, you can save the expense and spend more on your clients instead. All the clubs featured are here to help make your golf day a success. With detailed course descriptions, package prices, details of facilities, contacts and those allimportant directions, they’ve listed everything you need to know to get your day off to a flyer. So let your fingers do the walking – and hopefully your clubs do the talking – at one of the many and varied venues that follow. Please remember to mention this guide when booking. The only thing that can’t be arranged is the weather! All the very best, Ewen