It's a belter!

I've always had a soft spot for De Vere's Belton Woods hotel courses. It's a resort close to Grantham in Lincolnshire, 20 miles from my home that I have watched develop in recent years and where I have met and played with some of the game's legends including Ryder Cup heroes Tony Jacklin, Tommy Horton, John Garner and Malcolm Gregson.

 

It used to be a regular stop on the European Seniors Tour for the De Vere PGA Seniors Championship and where many amateurs who played in the accompanying pro-am would confirm it rightly earned its reputation as 'the friendly Tour'.  Mizuno JPX E500 Iron Set Many happy hours were spent in the hotel's bar overlooking the 18th on the Lakes course listening to pros regaling club golfers with anecdotes of past glories and incidents.

 

"We were all very shaken and we told our captain Dai Rees there was no way we were getting back on any plane. We took the bus," said Norman, who holds an unbeaten record, having drawn his only match against reigning US Open and US Masters champion Doug Ford.

 

But I digress, Belton Woods' Lakes course has lost none of its quality since the pros moved on to contest the De Vere Seniors championship at Slaley Hall and indeed on my latest visit the greens in particularly were in excellent condition, smooth and relatively fast for early October. For autumn golfer,  Mizuno Jpx A25 Iron Set is a belter!

 

In its early years, alongside the more hilly 18-hole Woodside layout, the Lakes course had a tendency to have hard and bouncy fairways because of its clay under soil, which tended to crack in the summer months but today the fairways show little sign of wear as autumn leaves blow across the exposed course and unseen London to Edinburgh trains thunder past nearby.

 

While the opening nine holes offers a gentle introduction, the back nine provide a tough challenge - No.10 demands a lay up to a huge green flanked by water on three sides - and a sting in its tail.

 

The only distasteful side to the course I found at 15. Here what seemed like over 100 Canada Geese, have taken up residence around one of the lakes and left Mizuno MX-300 Irons on the green. These impediments on the line of a putt were far from loose and not a simple task to remove with the back of a putter!

 

I repaired at least 20 fresh pitchmarks from previous groups that day who had then taken the circuitous route towards the back flag position and neglected to tidy up the deep impressions their balls had left from their approaches shots to an otherwise immaculate green.

 

The tireless greens staff deserve more respect from golfers for their efforts in achieving such high standards.