Stay & Play
Roderick Easdale takes a trip to the home of Hampshire cricket
Boundary Lakes
The Golf Par 69, 5,154 yards
The Boundary Lakes course has hidden subtleties and the odd blind shot. I was fortunate to play with a most welcoming member, Brian Chambers. This was last June and the course was running so fast that I soon learned to accept his advice to go for two clubs less than I would normally. This is not a long course generally, and it has seven par 3s and three par 5s.
Views get better once the course moves away from hotel, car park and M27 surrounds and gets up among the rolling hillside. The 16th tee, for example, has lovely distant views. The best holes are towards the middle of the course. The par-3 9th is beautifully naturallooking with a fiendish staircase green. Water only really imposes itself on four holes, although it features on seven of them.
n Also play... The Willie ParkStoneham
designed (stonehamgolfclub.org.uk), which is undergoing a process of upgrading, is five miles away.
Accommodation
The 171-room Hilton at the Ageas Bowl forms part of the perimeter of the Ageas Bowl international cricket ground. Those rooms facing the ground have balconies where you can watch the cricket. But the golf clubhouse is also part of this complex – up 39 steep steps, as some elderly members grumble – and there is a terrace outside the clubhouse which is inside the cricket ground. For Hampshire’s County Championship and 50-over games, golfers can watch the cricket for free while enjoying a post-round pint.
The main restaurant is Beefy’s, named after cricket legend Sir Ian Botham, which serves British cuisine. There is also the Lakeside Sports Bar, which hosts afternoon tea, and the golf clubhouse, Boundary Bar, also serves food. Other facilities at the hotel include a gym and a spa.
WHAT else
Nuffield Southampton Theatres has two stages, one on the university campus and the other in the city, with a reputation for innovative new works.
Best deal
Bed and breakfast and two rounds for two people from £180.
Where
Just over a mile from junction 7 of the M27. Hedge End station is two miles away.
checklist
Buggy hire: £30
Trolley hire: £7.50
Power trolley hire: £15 Driving range: No (but there is a 20-yard-deep multi-lane net!)
Club hire: No
Putting green: Yes
Short-game area: No
Pro shop: Yes
Changing rooms: Yes
Sky TV: Yes
Price of a pint: £4.70