#Golfbytwitter
Jeremy Ellwood embarks on a Twitter odyssey, travelling across the country and organising games of golf via the popular social network
Rob Turner @Robcuffy44 • Sep 17 Replying to @Jezzellwoodgolf and Golfmonthly
Try @chipgolfclub a mile off of J17. Get in contact with @Nickhorrocks Friendliest club I’ve ever played. #Nobias
I was off and running, and found myself on the 10th tee at Chippenham GC in Wiltshire on Wednesday September 18 with head pro Nick Horrocks and teaching pro Nigel Blenkarne…
CHIPPENHAM
It was interesting to find out how things had changed at Chippenham in recent years. The club had sold off some land for retirement homes where the clubhouse, 1st and 18th holes had once been and built an excellent new clubhouse and six new holes, including the stretch from 12 to 16.
Nigel had worked as manager at Bigbury in Devon for nine years, while Nick had been at Chippenham for three years. He also happens to be 6ft 7ins, with that extra reach coming in handy when we posed for a group selfie!
The 10th is an awkward hole for faders as it doglegs against the slope, while the new 12th plays up to a green at the highest point. The 14th is a par 5 around a lake, or over it in the case of Nick, who drove it 290 yards on the fly, leaving a mere half wedge in.
Nick talked about the chipping yips he had suffered from, telling me he had once taken 18 to get out of a bunker!
Nigel told me of the success the club had had with a ladies’ academy he looked after, with 12 new lady members coming via that in recent years.
I asked about Rob Turner, who had directed me Chippenham’s way. “He typifies the members,” Nick said. “They’re very passionate about their club.” With good reason, too, for Chippenham has invested wisely in its new clubhouse, which could be a blueprint for golf’s future with its large, spacious and airy bar plus a number of meeting rooms.
After the added bonus of an eagle on 18, I came away with a smile of my face as I tried to set up #Golfbytwitter phase two the following afternoon en route from Monmouthshire to Uttoxeter, with @detroitgolfer1 successfully pointing me towards my next stop-off…
detroitgolfer @detroitgolfer1 • Sep 17 Replying to @Jezzellwoodgolf You could try the 9 hole Churchill & Blakedown. There are a few very interesting holes.
CHURCHILL AND BLAKEDOWN
I arrived around 3pm on another glorious afternoon at this quite delightful and, at times, intriguing nine-holer close to Kidderminster. I was warmly welcomed but they had not been able to find anyone for me to play with, so when I spotted a chap just about to tee off, I asked if he would mind some company. “That’s fine, but I’m still a beginner,” he replied.
Dave Smith, it transpired, was in his 70s but had only been playing for a year. His wife, Beverley, who has been secretary at the club for 12 years, had also taken up the game at the same time. “What I love about this club is that everyone is so friendly,” Dave told me. “What I don’t like is teeing off in front of my peers!”
The course has nine holes, ten greens and 18 tees, with two greens side by side on the 2nd/11th. It really is a
game of two halves, with the first four holes perhaps a little quirky before you climb up to a slightly more conventional final five. The 3rd plays back towards an awkward shelf green by the clubhouse, at which point I asked Dave how his wife was still working while he was semiretired. “She’s 18 years younger than me,” he replied grinning. “I always like to phone her at this point just to rub it in – that’s her office window just there!”
After the climb to the 5th, the course finally grants you room to open your shoulders, and then finishes with a very good short par 5, where getting the drive straight and over the crest will bring the green in range.
For the next leg of my Twitter odyssey, I was looking for an afternoon nine holes in the far north of England after a morning round at Matfen Hall in Northumberland. I put this tweet out…
Jezz Ellwood @Jezzellwoodgolf • Sep 19 My @golfmonthly #Golfbytwitter venture resumes late Sat pm. Playing @matfenhall mid morning then looking for somewhere else in the area to play 9 holes with someone late afternoon that day. Don’t know where I’m staying Sat night yet, but we’ll cross that bridge in due course :)
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BELLINGHAM
The first reply recommending Bellingham Golf Club came from Edward Craig, who had been instruction editor at Golf Monthly when I started, and who I remembered had some sort of fondness for Bellingham not a million miles from Matfen. Before long, someone from the club was in contact…
Bellingham Golf Club @bellinghamgolfc • Sep 20 Replying to @Jezzellwoodgolf and Jamesmidd78
If you don’t manage to find anybody to go round with, it’s a lovely course to explore on your own great views especially in what looks a beautiful forecast
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There were few cars in the car park when I arrived at 3.30pm. I went in and Alec behind the bar confirmed that it was his tweet. They couldn’t find anyone for me to play with, but I was welcome to play either nine. He recommended the back nine.
With a two-ball on the 9th tee, I felt there was just enough of a gap and hoped they might not carry on so I could enjoy a pit stop at a suitable opportunity. There was, as it happens, no shortage of benches and I opted for the one on the 12th tee at the highest point, sipping coffee from my mini-flask cup and savouring the incredible views on another glorious day.
That 12th plays down to a green protected by a wide beck, and I particularly enjoyed the par 3s at 14 and 17 – one a downhill beauty, the other playing across a shallow dip – plus the intriguing 18th that plays steeply down before turning right and asking you to hit across two gullies or ravines.
This had been a simply glorious place to play, and before I headed west to my hotel in Lockerbie via the incredibly beautiful Kielder Water, I put out another tweet, but with energy levels low and the forecast not great, a lie-in seemed a better idea at this stage. The first reply I got made me change my mind…
Jezz Ellwood @Jezzellwoodgolf • Sep 21 Okay folks, long shot this, but 4th and final leg of @ golfmonthly #Golfbytwitter coming up tomorrow morning. Staying in Lockerbie tonight and have to be in Edinburgh by 12.30 tomorrow. Anyone fancy 9 holes somewhere along that route tomorrow morning??
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Wullie Ruffle @Wullieruffle • Sep 21 We are the other side of the city otherwise you could have had 9 here. Maybe next time Jezz.
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DALMENY ESTATE
‘Here’ turned out to be a private nine-hole course created by Willie Park Jnr in 1905 in the grounds of Dalmeny Estate on the shores of the Firth of Forth, so I cancelled my proposed lie-in and liaised further with Wullie Ruffle to sort out a time. Eventually, it was agreed…
Wullie Ruffle @Wullieruffle • Sep 21 Replying to @ Jezzellwoodgolf and @Golfmonthly
If you can make it for 9.30/10.00 or earlier you have a game, Jezz.
At 9.20am the following morning, I found myself on the 1st tee at Dalmeny Estate with secretary Wullie Ruffle and handicap secretary Ian Bell. Wullie has worked on the Earl of Roseberry’s estate for 36 years, while Ian is a part-time teacher at a school for the blind. It would prove a fascinating couple of hours as I listened to Wullie’s stories about the club and the people and players he had met over the years.
There are 150 members, and membership is open to employees of the estate, tenants, local dignitaries and anyone else Lord and Lady Roseberry wish to invite. The course has small greens and boasts many a tree planted by royalty, prime ministers, heads of state and other dignitaries who have visited Dalmeny over the years.
The 5th and 6th play right along the Firth, with half a dozen trees to negotiate on the left of the 5th if you’re to open up the green. The 7th is then a long par 3 where you must successfully bypass two tall lime trees planted by Gladstone. There are imposing views of Dalmeny House from the 6th green until the end, with the final green right beside it.
As we shook hands on the 9th, my Twitter adventure was over. I’d met some interesting people and played four very different courses. Wullie’s parting words were still ringing in my ears as I headed back up the long entrance drive: “It’s always great to be able to show people round – golf is a great way of meeting people.” It is indeed!