"WENTWORTH WEST COURSE I had the fortune to be able to play at Wentworth on the West Course The BMW PGA Matchplay course with my two sons and a close friend. From the moment we turned into Wentworth Drive, we knew that we were somewhere very special. The entrance and car parking is clearly marked and we had no problem parking the car, locating The Golf Academy or all of the other facilities. We wandered over to the Club House and Pro Shop and everyone that we saw, both staff and members or visitors were courteous, polite and we exchanged the good old British Greeting of Good Morning. Upon arriving at the Clubhouse Entrance, concierge staff spoke to us to direct us to where we needed to go. The Pro Shop is as good as you will get anywhere and again the staff went out of their way to take us to reception to book us in. There was none of this ’ Just through there mate and find the reception desk on the left’. Everything is 100 percent professional. Back outside we were stood on the entrance when Tom Godwin The Golf Academy Manager and Club PGA Professional arrived with no other than Anton du Beke Dancer and 6 handicapper) in a buggy having just completed their golf round. I have to say that four country lads were immediately star struck but in fairness Anton spoke to us in passing. I met Tom when I had my TaylorMade Performance Lab MAT T fitting in the TaylorMade Performance Lab the month earlier and we struck up a friendship and we had a brief chat. We then went over to the Range, The Short Practice Area and Putting Green before our T off time. At every part of this, a member of staff spoke to us and directed us to the various facilities. Now it was time to T off and we met with the Starter with a South African accent apologies I did not notice his name who made us feel very welcome, gave us our Scorecards, Pin Position cards for that day and invited us to take Pencils, Tees, Ball Markers and a Engraved Pitch Repair Lifter. All very nice mementos. He then gave us advice on where to play our first shot and how the ball should run out if we took his advice. There was light hearted banter between us all and this really helped to settle the nerves as with all First Tees at Major Golf Courses there is always an audience. We all teed off, our ball going into the distance more or less in the correct direction and our Wentworth Experience had began. The course is magnificent, and memories of certain holes that you have seen on the Tele come flooding back. The bunkers are enormous, relative to the general sized course bunkers on home courses, and with their very petal shape design stand large and proud to capture your errant shot. When you are in them they look bigger again, as you are stood so low down, however the ball generally will settle at the bottom and this gives you a chance to play a recovery shot. There are also little ditches to catch you out and these are unplayable as they are to narrow and deep to play a shot, so you have no choice but to take a drop shot under penalty. If you played the course regularly of course you would know where these were and adjust your shot accordingly. On many of the holes I said to my playing partners ‘Just look back’ as you sometimes don’t really see the contours of the land that you have walked and the sights were amazing. The ground contours were much larger than you would have expected. At the halfway house, after 8, the reception from the staff was warm, friendly and again with some light banter. The greens have considerable swathes and although they were good, true and quite fast they were not too lighting fast for us mere mortals. Luckily for us, our home course always has fast greens around 11 12 Stimp readings so this was not a problem… only the green contours were!!! For me there was 2 Signature holes, 8 and 18 and I was pleased to Par 8 and Bogey 18. Hole 16 is stroke index 1, which I hit the flagstick with my chipped third shot only to then go 4 feet past!! All good memories. Any Complaints… About the course… None. However the Course Marshall came to us as we were leaving hole 5 to ask us to speed up because there was a two ball on a Buggy approaching us from behind, But we were a four ball walking and carrying.. They should catch us up!!! …. And if they did, we would let them through. However, they never did catch us and we stayed in front of them and never once did they get to their balls before we moved off. He could have been a bit more tactful with his words. Personally ….Only that you can not take it all in and savour the moment in one round. You really need to play it twice. Time taken 5hours exactly, but it is 6716 yards off the yellows and the course is not easy to play and score to your handicap. You do need to give each shot due consideration. Course card gives a guide of 4hours 20. Would I Play the West Course again??? Given the opportunity Definitely. It is not cheap for the average golfer but like other major venues it is a experience to play and remember. Now to the 19th The Clubhouse Changing Rooms, Showers etc were perfect with towels provided. We then had lunch on the terrace outside The Burma Bar. Beer London prices but the meals were very well priced. 2 Fish and Chips and 2 Chicken burgers with Portabello Mushrooms, Gorganzola cheese and fries 4 pints for 60. Superb quality, presentation and Value for Money. Then came our final bit of Star Gazing. As we were eating, a drinks party was going on at the adjoining terrace. My youngest spotted Sir Nick Faldo with his wife strolling past and when we left the clubhouse, the assembled party of about 60 guests included Tom Watson, Berhard Langer, Fred Couples, Gary Player, Mark O’ Meara, to name just a few. It was a who’s who of golfing greats and legions. We did not play as well as we could of on the day and that was partly down to the strength and quality of the course. That did not detract from the fact that we had A Wonderful Day and a Wonderful Experience. None of us had any complaints whatsoever. Finally, at the beginning of this review I mentioned the PGA Club Pro Tom Godwin, who fitted me with a set of TaylorMade RSi1 clubs the previous month. I can not recommend Tom Godwin highly enough plus The TaylorMade Performance Lab with MAT T technology. If you are thinking of changing your clubs or need a Golf Professional to give you lessons then give Tom Godwin a ring on 01344 846306. This is a true review and not a sales promotion. Brian Capp Hereford July 2015"
