Traditions Golf Club, Surrey

Anyone played it?

I'm playing there in about 10 days time as part of a society-type thing, and although it's not too far from me, it's not a club I know anything about.

I took a look at the website and there are some nice photos but we all know that can be deceptive.

So is this a day to look forward to?

Never played it Davie, from the website looks like a decent course, and is this a day to look forward to, indeed every away day should be one to look forward. Good Luck and play well

Of course Mav - you are correct. I always look forward to away days!

I haven't played much society golf in recent years since joining my current club. The costs of monthly society days on top of the club membership was just getting too much, but this day out is an annual event organized by a friend of mine as a memorial to his late father - and as my name is on the trophy after winning it 3 years ago I feel I should always return!

Same here Davie, I don't belong to a society anymore as the time I spend playing in other comps and then away with work is probably to much already but have an understanding Mrs. But I do always play in a yearly event for testicular cancer as a friend who had the dreaded disease and survived runs it. I might even win that one day

Davie, i hate to say this but Traditions is my least favourite golf course in the whole world. It's awful!
I've only played it once and have never been back. There were pylons on fairways?! I walked off home after the 13th.

That said i played it back when i was 18ish so a good 13 years or so ago and it was not long opened. It has since then changed ownership, probably more than once. I know for sure it's currently owned by the owners of Pyrford golf club (they even share greenkeeping equipment and staff) and Pyrford is a really nice course so hopefully Traditions has improved.

If memory serves the first has railway sleepers half way down the fairway, the ground behind it is some 10 feet higher than the fairway before so you have to hit blind over it and then climb up it. I hope it's changed!!

I'd be interested to know so please keep us updated

Will do, MPB. I knew you were in the area so hoped you'd reply.

I should temper my opinion of it with letting you know i did not play well that day

Two bits of saving grace -

a) the last 5 holes could be like Augusta for all i know!!
b) there is a really nice pub just a 5 min drive away called the Anchor which is on the canal side (if you walk off after 13 and need to get a drink )

I played it a couple of times a few years ago. There were a few nice holes but generally pretty flat. I remember a fair bit of water and the course could get wet. The sleepers were interesting too. A course planner helps there. I managed to just not clear them and as they are angled at about 45 degrees my ball bounced back and up and about 50 yards backwards in to the water.

I seem to remember the first few holes being dog legs and knowing where you are going made a big difference. Also while there is a fair bit of water it doesn't make the course too hard. I think that the 18th green is well protected by water so a nice hole to finish on if the game is tight.

This was quite a few years ago and I am a much better player so not sure that what I considered a nice track then would be the same now.

In summary - not a bad course but not one that I would rush back to, or avoid for that matter.

looks not bad from the website, but what a stinking name for the club

Would have to agree with MPB, not the greatest of courses especially when you consider the amount of options in the area but it has to better than being at work!

Mav is right as well, any away day in the company of mates is there to be enjoyed. Good luck winning your trophy back!

Well I had to dig back a page or two to find this thread, but today was the day.

In all honesty, MPB summed it up.

Don't get me wrong, we had a cracking day today with good company, reasonable weather, and any "away day" as Mav says is to be cherished.

On the other hand, I will certainly not be rushing back to play there again.

The greens were pretty awful (needed a damn good cut and roll) - a bit like putting on a piece of bath sponge. The tees and fairways were badly chewed up and the bunkers had no sand (in fact half of them didn't even have rakes in them)

Far too many badly designed holes with little choice of shot for the mid to high handicappers or short hitters. The railway sleepers were on 9 and 18 (both holes back to towards the clubhouse) - both into the wind, and both requiring a carry of 190-200 yards. From the tee both holes looked like they didn't really offer a bail out area either to the side or short of the gully that was shored up with the sleepers. In fact, once you got down there, the area short of the gulley was what passed for "fairway" there - but from the tee it looked, at best, semi rough.

There WERE a few nice holes. The 8th which had a decent pond/stream just in front of the green to make me (as a shorter hitter) think about taking it on or laying up. A couple of nice par 3s too (10th and 14th or 15th - one a longer par3, another a nice little short par3)

I actually played "ok" (18 points after 8 holes but the stupid 9th meant I didn't add to that). The back nine was arguably easier but with too many tricked up holes for my liking and I didn't play as well as the front nine meant I came back for a total of 30.

Winner shot 40 points (a 28 handicap "beginner" - yeah right). A friend of mine played with him and said he was "a bit wild" but could hit a PW 120 yds into the wind and told me afterwards he was hitting a 7 iron 170 yards.

I don't really care how wild he was, to me, that is not a 28 handicapper (it wasn't a "real" handicap but a society one)

Great day and good company but not a course I will be hurrying back to

Davie, I'm glad to hear it wasn't a complete disaster but its a shame the course didn't add much to the day. I'd really hoped they'd improved it for your bunch from all those years ago when I played it.

Thanks for the update though, I now know not to rush back!

I trust the ham egg and chips after was reasonable??

Didn't partake in the food after (coffee and bacon rolls before was all we got).

One thing I forgot to say in my review was that it didn't help that the course was really quite DANGEROUS when you get a load of choppers out there. Too many holes far too close together. I got hit by a ball on the 2nd tee - first (and hopefully only) time I've ever been hit and was inches away from being a very nasty accident.

The 2nd tee was to the right of the first green (and not visible from where people were hitting to the first)

Some idiot behind us (in the same society but not someone I know) hit a big slice at the green - he thought he'd put it deep into the trees, not knowing the 2nd tee was behind those trees. No shout - I'd just hit my tee shot on 2 and was walking back to my bag when it felt like I'd been shot in the leg!

Very lucky indeed - the ball (apparently, though I didn't see it) pitched about 6 inches from my foot and hit me just below the knee on the first bounce. A full on hit would have floored me, as would first bounce if it was about an inch higher or half an inch to the right (knee or shin).

As it was, first bounce and it caught me on the fleshy part of the leg just to the left of my shin bone.

Still hurt like feck but no lasting damage (I've got a slight lump and minimal brusing though that may change tomorrow)

I witnessed quite a few other near misses during the 18 holes too - not a place I'd want to go back to in a hurry

A full on hit might just have fractured your shin Davie, and a thigh length higher would surely have been worst case scenario!!

The shame of this place is, back in 95 or whenever it was, they basically had a big stretch of open land to build the best golf course they could design. And that's what they came up with...... Waste!

I seem to recall that the stroke index 1 hole was pretty ridiculous off the whites. A 200 yard forced carry off the tee to an extremely narrow landing area, with out of bounds on the right and trees all the way down the left hand side.

In stark contrast to some of the later holes where you can miss by 100 yards both ways and still have a shot.

There were a couple of par threes that were fun.

ThreeOffTheTee wrote:I seem to recall that the stroke index 1 hole was pretty ridiculous off the whites. A 200 yard forced carry off the tee to an extremely narrow landing area, with out of bounds on the right and trees all the way down the left hand side.

Yeah that would be (I think) the 4th

As you say, very narrow with trouble both sides and what they called an "environmentally protected" area to carry (read "swamp")

Off the yellows I hit a pretty decent (for me) 3-wood and only just made the carry so I'd guess it was about 170 from the yellows.

Strange thing about that holes was the "Local rule" that forebade "3 off the tee". Anything OB to the right or not making the carry had to be played from the drop zone at the start of the fairway.

Despite the stupid nature of the tee shot that effectively meant that any tee shot not in play was "rewarded" with a 3rd shot from 170 yards down the hole instead of 3 (5, 7, 9) off the tee

I hadn't noticed that rule (always playing my second from under the trees on the left!)

So do we take the rule to be an acknowledgement that the hole doesn't work?

It certainly didn't work for me (though I got a comfortable 5 on it)