I started my visit to Renishaw Park Golf Club in a negative financial situation. My golf bag decided that it had come to the end of its life, so I had to buy a new one. Fortunately Michael Ramsden PGA Professional had the answer and, for a very good price, furnished me with a new Taylor Made golf bag complete with a chiller compartment (well, who likes drinking cold beer!) This bag has more pockets than a space suit.
M
ichael has enjoyed considerable success on the playing front and is the 2017 winner of the Leeds Cup (the worlds oldest golf trophy). In the 2017 season Michael became the PGA North Region number 1 winner of the order of merit and in 2018 he later represented England PGA in Greece. It was an absolute delight to play a course that is so well cared for and in immaculate condition. I take my hat off to all the staff for the fantastic job they do here. It is definitely a course of two halves. I preferred the front nine and Brian the back nine. I’m a hill person so the course suited all our needs. However I have to say I was tiring by hole 11 and realised the back nine were the perfect antidote. Michael equipped us with scorecards and off we went across the busy main road to the first tee. Standing on the tee I suddenly remembered that I played here about 15 years ago in my early golf days (I was a late starter!). John, my playing partner then, said “aim left for the trees” so I did. He then said “I didn’t mean go in them”. Lost ball there then. After a couple of practice shots we were off. This time I am a lot more accurate off the tee sometimes, and decided to aim for the trees knowing I will go a bit right, hoping that my ball didn’t go too far down the slope and it worked. What a start. The one thing about the front nine is that it can be pretty tight between the trees and going into the wispy rough is not advisable. We both lost a few balls on our round due to lack of course knowledge(that’s my excuse!). I love trees and at one point found myself next to a Sequoia tree. From that you know I was in
the rough but my ball was clear to see and the tree was stunning. I could have been in Canada looking up into the giant sequoias. It's quite a relief that there aren’t any bunkers on the first three holes. The greens at Renishaw are absolutely superb, the best I’ve played on this year. Maybe it's my imagination but to me the front nine greens were faster than the back, but regardless of that they were so true. I enjoyed reading the rise and fall and managed to have my best putting round too. The whole course is a testament to the attention to detail of the staff. We take a lot for granted in golf and are apt to complain if things aren’t quite right but as we progressed on, ground work was taking place everywhere keeping the course to the high standard they have set for themselves. When you come to think of it, being a member at Renishaw is only £799.00 per year which equates to only £15.36 per week to have a quality round of golf. I think that’s cracking value for money. With easy access off junction 30 of the M1 it makes it an accessible place to play too. Back to the golf….. Hole 3, a tricky Par 4 at 461 yards and stroke index 3, really is a test of accuracy with a steep slope, then make sure you don’t find yourself with a tree blocking your shot. The green was pretty quick and I slid past the hole even though I had read the slope well. I ended with a 6 here, not good but I felt that I had played it well but wasted a couple of shots getting to the green having had to take a drop out of the rough. Two putts saved me. I missed the green on the Par 3 5th. Brian was just on the edge and I was way off having scuffed a tee shot and then had to chip on. www.countygolfer.co.uk 7