Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Terrible. Just terrible. I played heer over Christmas (I am a member at Perranporth and a friend persuaded me to play) and it's the worst golf course I've ever seen, both in terms of design and conditioning. And it's expensive, too! £20 with a member in that condition! You can play Yelverton for less than that with no need for member's guest discount at all AND you get coffee beforehand and a bacon roll afterwards included and it's a much, MUCH better course. In every single respect, but especially for conditioning. Why do people pay so much to play Boringdon Park? It's not even worth a quarter of what they charge. I'm never going back.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

This is a response to both Nick Clark & Mike Davey.

I was a founder member back when it opened and I have been playing golf for 25 years and play off a 6 handicap, so I believe I know what I'm talking about. I was foolish enough to believe all the marketing hype surrounding the course when it opened - I was genuinely excited to be part of something new with a lot of potential. However, that potential has not been realised, in my opinion. There does not seem to have been any real time, effort, money or expertise spent on the course - it has not progressed at all since it opened - it has just accumulated damage from having too much play on it which has not been repaired. I have played the course virtually every week since it opened, so I have seen how it has been out on the course. The vast majority of the fellow players seem to have not played golf before, or certainly never been members of a club before. I have lost count of the number of players I have seen hacking divots out of the course and not repairing them. Play is painfully slow - between 4.5 & hours for a 3-ball is accepted as the norm, when this is at least an hour too long. The last time I played, one group spent 20 minutes in the first fairway looking for balls. As if this wasn't bad enough, someone else then stood on the tee shouting & swearing at them at the top of his voice. I was later informed that this was the new captain of the club. This does not reflect well on the club, it's members or it's appointed officials. It's very poor - I would not expect this kind of behaviour at Central Park, never mind a supposed "proper" golf course.

You say the sand in the bunkers is "sports sand" Mr Davey. I'm sure you bought some, just to keep the receipt, but how do you explain the fact that I went in 2 bunkers on my last round and I removed at least 5-6 pieces of broken brick from each bunker before playing? That is construction sand in those bunkers, whatever you claim you bought, and it's crap. The bunkers do flood and are hard to rake every time it rains - this is why so many of them have to marked GUR.

There does not seem to be mostly compliments about either the course or the greens on here - in fact it seems to be exactly the opposite of that.

That water hazard between 16 & 17 has been there for 3 years now. When is it ever going to be filled with water? Never, I believe. Also, chucking a bunch of rolls of astro-turf down in it is not lining it properly - nowhere near. This will not keep the water in, provide proper drainage or look like it is proporly lined.

The facts are that the following holes run paralled to each other:-4,5,6/8,9/10,11/12,13/14/16. 18 also runs exactly parallel to 1 but it is at least a reasonable finishing hole, although you have ruined it by killing the green off and sticking that stupid temporary green in the fairway by the pond, which AMAZINGLY has got completely churned up with all the foot traffic and is now unplayable. Do you actually know what "parallel" means?

Where are the areas left to grow for wildlife & conservation? There is never more than 10 yards between each hole and this is just mostly stones, mud & weeds.

I do think you cold have built a reasonable 18 hole course on this plot of land but I think that by trying to jam too many holes in on it, you have ruined it. Also, you do not seem to know how to maintain a proper golf course, as evidenced by the fact that you have killed 9 greens which are now all played on temporaries (which are not proper temporary greens, just flags stuck in the rough with all the grass scraped off or in the middle of a massively churned up area of "fairway") and the 2nd fairway being completely out of play so whatever is hit down there all has to be dropped and played from the same yard square drop zone on the side of the hill.

Nick Clark - why would you comment on a course you freely admit you have not even played yet? Wait until you return and play it in it's current state and then see how good you think it is.

Henry - Ha ha!

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Just awful. Ugh. The least I have ever enjoyed myself on a golf course.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

I became a lifetime member when the course first opened and as i am currently working out of the country am looking forwrad to getting back to the club later in 2012. The negative comments have no evidence or reason behind them and i for one believe this is a fantastic course and will mature with time and look forward to the opening of the new 9 holes. It provides good value for money and will be one of the top courses in the south west in a few years time when matured. Well done Mike Davey on a job well done.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

First of all I would like to put a response to the review by Phil Brooks, point by point.
To say the course has not improved is incorrect as we have so many players and members say they cannot believe how much it has improved.
The sand used in the bunkers is sports sand, to someone who has no knowledge of sand could easily mistake the two as they are the same colour. The difference between sports sand and building sand is the amount of mica in the sand. Mica is the fines or dust in the sand. If we were to use builders’ sand in our bunkers they would become compact which in turn would make them flood and hard to rake, our bunkers are neither.
If Phil would like to see the receipts for the sports sand I am quite happy to give him a copy.
The greens will be firm in the infant years as there is no thatch build up. As they mature they will become softer, also the pitch marks are harder to repair in the infant years so again this will improve with age, as for the putting surface we are receiving mostly complements.
The water hazards are not full of water yet so you will see the liner and the one between the 16th and 17th has not had the liner installed yet because we only put the liner in the beginning of the winter so that it fills with water, if we did this in the summer the deer on the course would puncture it before it filled. We will be installing the liner November and December time.
As for holes going up and back parallel to each other, the 9th and 10th are the only two holes out of the 18 that do this, one of which is playing up to a water hazzard. The land of which the course is laid out on consists of 72 acres overlooking the estuary and out to sea.
70 acres looking over the moors and Plymbridge Woods, this was part of an old deer park and has stonewall boundary, 20 acres where you have views of both aspects and 60 acres looking over Plympton. In total the course is set out on 7 parcels of land.
Course Construction and Maintenance:
The top soil was removed before the construction of each phase and then reinstated the approximate depth would be 8 – 10 inches, 200 – 250mm, again if Phil Brooks wants I would give him a soil sample. We cut two laps around the fairways at semi height set at 53mm, this is a width of 22ft. Then there is an area of rough set at 65mm, this will vary in width depending on the difficulty of the hole, and as all courses there are some areas left to grow for wild life and conservation, these areas are well out of play for the average golfer.
To close I would believe that perhaps Jason is an ex employee or a competitor or maybe someone holding a grudge as we have 500 male members, ladies, junior and corporate equal at additional 150 giving us 650 in total. We had 10,000 score cards delivered on the 30th June and we used them in less than 4 months. I would say in general we are bucking the trend in golf as most clubs numbers of members are reducing, not increasing year on year.



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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Course is very tough, but fair. The main disappointment is the clove is every where, very hard to find your ball even if you have missed the fairway by a few feet. The course has a great layout, but I think they need more green staff as it did look very scruffy in places.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Nick Clark & Mike Davey, sitting in a tree.
K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Do you love Mike Davey, Nick Clark? Is he your boyfriend? Do you want to give him kisses & cuddles and want to marry him? I bet you do. Send him a Valentine's card and put your phone number in it.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

This is a new course with plenty of open fairways.
To be fair the course I played was not the intended layout there are two courses one 18 and one 9 and due to the course not being completed the 18 I played was a mixture of the two. Some of the water holes were not complete. This as the makings of an excellent course and will suit both high and low handicappers

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Boring Krap, more like. Fails by comparison to every other golf course in the South West. Even the municipals I have been dragged onto are better than this. For example, you get much better value for money at Sparkwell, just down the road - at least there, you get holes going in all different directions, to all 4 points of the compass rather than just straight up and then straight back down again all day long. What's the point of that?

And what is the point of Boringdon Park? None.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Appalling condition. Like spending 5 hours (5 HOURS!) trudging through ankle deep mud. And wear a helmet - all of the fairways are right next to each other and no-one seems to be able to hit balls straight or shout a warning. I don't know what Michael Davey is going on about - he must own the place to defend it and deny the obvious that much.

Never going back. Stay away if you like good courses or want to avoid injury.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

The course is, quite frankly, dreadful. I have played it regularly, unfortunately, since it opened and it seems to have gotten considerably worse rather than improved at all. The fairways alternate between clover, weeds and mud with rocks poking through. The bunkers are "filled" with construction standard silver sand (the cheapest possible) rather than quality sand. The greens are too firm, very patchy and pockmarked by pitchmarks all over. They neither chip nor putt well. The "water hazards" are an embarassment ... I have never seen hazards so poorly finished, with linings poking out all over the place and the large ditch between the 16th & 17th has nothing it it at all - it is just used as a rubbish dump. In addition, the course is very boringly designed - every hole goes straight up & down in the same/opposite direction over 2 large fields - like the middle 6 at Staddon Heights but for 18 holes! Finally, the course has not been built or maintained properly - there is virtually no topsoil over all the building rubble that was used to artificially construct the course, which has led to the fairways & rough being covered in clover, weeds and thistles etc., while the rough is never cut, just left to grow wild and any ball running off the slopy, bare fairways is virtually impossible to find.

There are so many better golf courses in and around Plymouth & Devon - do yourself a favour, play anything else, even if it costs you a couple of pounds more ... it will be well worth it.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

The course is only 2 years old and has just finished the 27 holes completely. In a few years this will be a top course

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Enjoyable course

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Club member already

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

First time to play this course but really enjoyed it.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

What a great new course this is!

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Course has come on well, clover has been sprayed, but wayward balls are still hard to find. overall a good course which is a challenge.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Lovely veiws over Plymouth. Unfortunately the front 9 is suffering with clover & it's a job to find your ball !! in time this will be a great course but it may take a few years ! the greens were good & the club house & food are fantastic. I'll look forward to playing it again next year to see how it's come on.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

New cards printed all is fine, just wish my golf was as good as the course and club house

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

The Course is now starting from the 4th which seems to flow alot better, but makes recording your score tricky if your not concentrating as the cards have not been altered as yet.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

a brand new course in plymouth. whilst still bedding in this course has the potential to be one of the best in the south west. the holes challenge the golfer at all levels. the high handicapper has the challange of having to hit straight, the low handicapper will have to think their way around the course. the hazards are will thought out and fair. the views are stunning. the greens are true, though play very fast, even after the rain we have had. The 9 hole course is still being built and when completed will integrate with the exisitng course to provide a great golf club

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

Things just keep improving,when finished this will be one of the best course's in a 15 mile radius of Plymouth.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

The course is still being developed, the fairways are good and acceptable, the greens are fast. Friendly staff and the 19th is good value for money.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

OK, so I wasn't going to write this, as I thought it might just be me, but then I saw others had had similar experiences about Boringdon Park, so I thought I'd add mine.

When I pulled into the car park, there was broken glass all over the place from, I was told, a function the day before. Whether this was the case or not, there should not be broken glass left strewn around for several days. There was also a knife discarded by one of the centrla barriers. Classy! There was no staff at the bar to get any of our group a cup of coffee before going out and the one guy at the "golf shop" (which has virtually no stock and only seems to sell clothes, sweets & drinks) didn't care at all.

Only after paying and going out did we discover that the greens staff had poured the wrong chemicals over 9 of the greens which had killed all the grass off and were not in play - all of those holes just had flags stuck in holes in the rough. Honestly, my back garden is better kept than that course. We were told when we got back in that the greens would not be in play again until summer 2012 at the earliest, but they had tractors driving all over them, so I don't think they will ever be any good. The rest of the course was very bad - very muddy, the tees were absolute crap (the grass is longer there than in the rough and none of them are flat so you are teeing up with the ball either above or below your feet) and the holes do seem quite boring. Regardless of what has been said before, they do go up and down right next to and paralled to each other and there is no variety or challenge to them; the only way to play them is from the middle of the fairway, which is the muddiest bit where everyone walks down. There is also agriculatural machinery just left abandoned round the course and bits of machines have fallen off and are just left on the sides of the "fairways", in addition to open ditches going right down the middle of some fairways which they have not bothered to fill in or do anything with. Honestly, there was a bunch of other stuff but I'm just annoying myself by thinking about it, so I don't want to waste any more of my time on Boringdon Park. I will just close by saying that I have been luck enough to play pretty much every other course in the South West and this is by far the worst, both on & off the course, both in terms of conditioning, tactical challenge and presentation. It doesn't seem like anyone involved with it has a clue what they are doing or actually even cares.

Play anywhere but Boringdon Park ... seriously.

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Golf course review of Boringdon Park Golf Course

(Round played: 28-Oct-2011 - Score: 92 Handicap: )


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