Liphook Golf Club Review: A Heathland With The Best Greens We’ve Ever Played

Nish 0:35

Every good story is about the journey, and this is the story of our journey trying to play the top 100 courses in the UK and Ireland in just ten years. This is the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast. Episode 81, the Liphook Golf Club Review. Now there is just something about playing a Heathland in that Surrey Hampshire sand belt, isn’t there? If you’ve never done it, I urge you to give it a go. And in this episode, we’ll be reviewing maybe a Heathland course in that sand belt you haven’t heard of, but if you play there, you are in for a treat. It was wonderful. Prior to telling you all about that day and how it all came about, I’m gonna ask you for a favour. Please can you give us a like, a subscribe, a share, anything you can do just to spread the word about this great podcast. And I call it a great podcast because it is consistently ranked in the top 20 UK golf podcasts, which is amazing, really. So please keep doing what you’re doing, please keep discovering it, uh, and yeah, just spread the word. That’d be so good for us, personally. Now back to this episode. So we’ve got our regular segments of how we do these reviews, Chris, and I think we will we will go there and and do that. However, we’ll start at the beginning of this round and talk about the gentleman who made it all possible. He’s a gentleman called Andrew. He is our friend from Hindhead. He is, yeah. Absolute legend. Yeah, he’s a top guy. Top top of the world. What a top, top guy.

Chris 2:13

Yeah. However, I’ve got a little bone to pick with him. Actually, no, he’s got he’s got a rather big bone to pick with me. Because both times we played with Andrew, the first day we’ve played together, we’ve been paired together. Yeah. And I’d say that’s two of my probably my worst rounds that we’ve played on any of these top 100 courses by quite some margin. Long may it continue, Christopher. So you had a shocker. A bit of an apology from me to Andrew, but also, Andrew, you’ve you’re ruining my golf game, mate. You’re welcome to play with golf with us casually anytime you like, Andrew. Um you had a shocker. Every time we go to Surrey the first day, I have an absolute shocker. Yeah. Every time so far. And the second day, I play great. Play really well. Really weird. So what I think what you need to do is play the day before up here. Just do like a little well, no need to go to Surrey, I think, and to get that out of my system. You need to do like a warm-up round tomorrow. To be done in Surrey. Just go and do like a nine holes at like a some sort of municipal in Surrey and then start at top 100 the next day. What have we become?

Playing Liphook in the rain

Nish 3:10

What have we become? Um well look, I think we’ll start where we always start with our reviews and let’s talk about the weather. What a shocker it was. It was pretty wet, wasn’t it?

Chris 3:20

Even by my Cumbrian standards, that was pretty wet. Yeah.

Nish 3:24

Did it stop at any point? It stopped towards the end, didn’t it? I think. But I think it was. I think it was so wet by that point that means, wasn’t it? It was just. Now, the thing about that rain was did you feel it dampened your spirits and experience for that golf course?

Chris 3:42

Um I don’t think so. I think I think you probably didn’t take it in as much as I normally would because you you’re kind of looking down a little bit and you’re kind of thinking practically and you’re thinking, oh, I need to get my Broly up or I need to get my waterproofs out or whatever, I need to get a new glove, and you kind of you you your mind’s kind of taken up a little bit by those kind of practicalities rather than necessarily just sitting and chatting about the course. So I think I probably didn’t take it in as much as I normally would. Yeah. Um which is a shame because I mean it was it was pretty like I mean it was great, it was pretty cool, wasn’t it? And the greens, considering it had been chucking it down the entire time we were playing, were by far and away the best greens we’ve played anyway. There was no exaggeration in that, but not even carpets, not even any competition. I’ve never seen greens like that in my entire life. I mean, I think um they were saying that it’s the club championship that weekend, so they’d kind of cut them right down, but they were they were incredibly difficult to put on, don’t get me wrong. They were so fast and so yeah, just so slick, so smooth.

Nish 4:45

I feel like good putters would have appreciated those greens even more. But they were they were they were amazing, those greens. I think the thing for me with the weather was, and and we’ve not really encountered this before, with it wasn’t even as bad as it could have been, but you know, it was the expectation you’re going down to surrey, it’s like it’s gonna be nice, hot, sunny, it’s gonna be great, whatever, ideal golfing conditions, and we didn’t get that. Um I think the thing that struck me was because of the moisture, how green it was, like the green just popped. Yeah, it really did. More so than I think it would have done otherwise. Yeah, yeah. And it was just like so lush. And I’ve watched some videos back of stuff that we filmed, and it was just like this is it was so lush green. Yeah, it really was. Like all the little checkered patterns they’re done into the greens, they just look I mean, playing it before club championships is almost a perfect time to play golf course. It’s so well manicured and presented at that time to be peaked.

Chris 5:44

I just don’t think you get that kind of conditioning anywhere apart from those surrey courses, like they’re they’re at head and shoulders of the city. You know what they’re doing with the conditioning, aren’t they, of everywhere anywhere else we played. Like the links courses are beautiful, but you just don’t get that level of just pristineness to you. You just don’t get that.

Nish 6:02

Now, one of the things I’m gonna bring up with the rain was while we’ve just been praising him immensely, um there was one thing that happened that was notable in our play, and that was when Andrew dug out absolute abomination of of rain gloves to play golf in. And we had those if there are cricketers out there, you’ll know the the inner gloves that you put you wear when you when you’re wicket keeper, or actually, I mean if you’re a batter, but generally if you’re a wicket keeper, he was wearing those just the cotton undergloves. It’s like who did he say and told it? Was it like some of the things? In the rain, like in the toe grip. And actually, I mean, he’s right, all it is is about his grip. Yeah, right. It’s just that they were so backy, and I was expecting to break into a moonwalk at some point the way he looked. But I mean, look, whatever works, works, right? Absolutely, and actually, we were so struggling to keep gloves dry and stuff like that. It was an absolute nightmare, wasn’t it? So fair play, Andrew. Learn something new there. I don’t think I’m gonna pop it, but you know, um well look, we we we we uh we drove down, that was the first one of the story trip that we’d played Liphook. Um we had Swinley the next day, so obviously everything was kind of geared towards playing Swinley Forest, but we were so excited just to be Andrew again and play with him. But what was your overall first impression when you arrived at at Liphook? We played with a lovely chap called Oscar as well. We did, yeah, our host for the day.

Meet our host: Oscar, 15-year member

Chris 7:29

Yeah, member Yeah, he’s been a junior member there, been a member there for quite some time. Lovely, lovely, lovely guy. I mean, great guy, yeah, great company. Um, yeah, he was he would just been setting up his own little kind of golf business as well, so it was really interesting to chat chat to him about that. Yeah, great golfer as well, really good golfer. Just kind of casually, very, very good at golf. So annoying.

Nish 7:50

He’d just be like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m gonna just let me just hit this ball, and he’d just like ping it right to the middle of the green, like, yeah. Oh man, it’s that easy, is it? Yeah, but yeah, lovely, lovely round of golf, I think, with him.

Chris 8:00

I really enjoyed really good. Yeah, it was it was he was yeah, he was he was a top guy.

Nish 8:03

And talking of Oscar, here is Oscar joining us uh on the episode. Hello Oscar, how are you?

Speaker 8:10

Hi, Nish. Um, very well, thanks. How are you guys doing?

Nish 8:13

Very good, thank you. Um, and thank you for hosting us. It was uh it was wonderful having a a knowledgeable guide helping us around and the complexities of that golf course.

Speaker 8:24

Absolutely, absolutely no worries. Um, well, it was really great to have you guys have you guys on there. Sharing about the um the weather on the day, it was a bit a bit wet and a bit miserable, but I hope you guys hope you guys enjoyed it anyway.

Nish 8:36

We we did, and you know what we really enjoyed about the the wet weather, um which is a bizarre intro to a little comment I’m gonna make. But um do you remember Andrew’s white gloves?

Speaker 8:48

Yeah. Like uh like Marcel Marceau. He was yeah, I know.

Nish 8:55

It was amazing. I was like, and he then he got that tip from a chap in Australia. He was like, Yeah, somebody in Australia told me if it was wet, just wear these cotton white gloves.

Speaker 9:03

I was like, oh, was it you or Chris who pointed out that they are basically the inners of cricket keeping gloves?

Nish 9:10

That’s exactly what it was. Yeah, that’s it. I mean, brilliant. You you pick up all sorts of weird and wonderful things, don’t you? And that is not what I was expecting to pick up from my round at Liphook. But um, right, t tell us a little bit about how long you have been a member at Liphook.

Speaker 9:25

So, yeah, I’ve been a member since I was a junior, so just about 15 years, I would say now. Um, and it’s been a great 15 years. Well, I kind of I have more recently got involved in the club um as I’ve sort of grown up and decided to get involved in the in the uh competitions and whatnot more, and um it’s proven that the course is very, very difficult when they put on the club champs um and other competitions, but especially the club champs. I managed to avoid it this year because I thought I’d let somebody else start turn over through the first footholes and give that to somebody else. But I think someone was saying they’re running 12.6 on the stint meter recently. So um the course, I mean, that kind of goes without saying the greens are can be lightning quick and always in very, very good condition. I think they were when we played as well.

Nish 10:16

They were incredible when we played. We we um have said um on this episode that they’re probably in the top three, if not the best greens we’ve played on. They were amazing. Yeah, they were like carpets.

Speaker 10:32

What what which other clubs rival them?

Nish 10:35

Uh I mean funnily enough, on some occasions we’ve hit greens and they’ve just been a bit yeah, you know, because they’ve had this, you know, you get lucky you get lucky and unlucky, can’t you, if there’s a bit of maintenance going on or or whatever. Um I remember thinking the greens at Formby were incredible. Um they were fantastic. Um we just recently played uh the Walton Heath courses and and they were they were in pretty decent, bearing in mind how hot and dry it’s been. Um but I think it was pretty head and shoulders kind of thing with with the Greens at Liphook. Um yeah, they were they were really good. They were also because they obviously clearly prepped for the club championships, aren’t they? So they were very well mowed and all that kind of thing. The patterns are all in there, and it was it was a joy, even though it was raining, it was a joy to see that.

Speaker 11:24

Yeah, no, it’s it’s definitely one of the perks of being a member there. The um, you know, kind of like in January, February time, even after a few days after a storm, they’ll be running like carpet. It’s actually amazing. Um, so big shout out to uh the team there.

Nish 11:38

Absolutely, yeah. It was immaculately presented golf course. Which to be honest, we expected that anyway. We whenever we had kind of uh dance after, all that kind of thing. We always get the uh um the extra manicuredness that comes with it. It’s great. Yeah, exactly. Beautiful to see. Um what what what do you remember from the day? Any anything good, anything bad?

Speaker 11:59

Uh well, obviously, apart from uh Andrew’s white glove, there was um there it was a lot of rain and um quite a funny signature hole to watch, actually.

Nish 12:10

Um I mean incredible, eh?

Speaker 12:12

Incredible Chris, yeah. Um I think on the so the shortest part three on the course is about 140 odds. Um I think together you shot was it 11? Was it eleven you had 11 shots between them?

Nish 12:24

Yeah, yeah, I know on par three, brilliant.

Speaker 12:28

But very easy to do because it’s protected sort of both sides. Um so if you miss it, you can quite easily go from one bunker to the other. Um which I think one of you might have done a kind of time.

Speaker 3 12:37

I think Chris did, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Chris might have done, yeah.

Nish 12:40

Yeah, I didn’t go anywhere near a bunker, it was great until the 18th. That was the first time I hit a bunker, and then I got trapped in the sand trap, and then I never came out of it. So there you go.

Speaker 12:50

I was I was told that you’ve done that a few times before that. It’s it’s happened before.

Nish 12:54

Yeah, I’ve I’ve I basically I’ve I’ve decided my new tactic is just to not go in them in the first place. Yeah, and it does tend to work until I hit that kind of 17/18, and I the thoughts slips into my head, oh, you’ve not hit a bunker today, you’re alright, you’ve done well, and then straight in kind of thing. That’s happened three times in a row, I think.

Speaker 13:13

Now, you know what? It’s very difficult on that 18th hole because I think it’s quite cleverly designed because it all slopes off to the right towards those three or four bunkers. Um, and if you’re trying to lay up or you don’t quite get the layup distance right, you can very easily end up on one of those. And then you’re facing you know about a 90-yard bunker shot up shot uphill. So yeah, isn’t it?

Nish 13:35

Yeah, I mean it’s a beautiful backdrop, isn’t it? I mean that that hole gets um a very special mention uh as far as finishing holes go. Stunning, stunning hole of golf, that you know, and it that that setting is just lovely. But we we we’re gonna discuss it later in the episode, but it’d be interesting to get a member’s perspective. Uh, we always could do a segment, we call it the top three holes of each golf course that we play to give everyone a little bit of a flavour. So, as a member, and you’ve obviously been a junior member as well, Oscar. So you’ve played it in all different times and conditions, because as junior members do, they tend to kind of crawl out whenever other people aren’t playing golf. Um, what are your top three holes of Litput Golf Club?

A member’s top three holes

Speaker 14:18

Um, it’s a really good question. I think that well, first and foremost, the it’s worth mentioning that there was the course redesign and sort of rejig of the holes about five years ago. They brought it forward by a couple of years to do it during COVID. Um, and I would say that that has actually brought about two of my um top three. So first is the um the seventh hole. Um it’s a par five, and it’s a clever little hole because in the summer you can sort of hit you can hit a driver or a three would niff you even if you hit a good drive that’s straight, it’ll push you outright and you’ll end up in the heather, and it’ll look like from the Tee-box, it’ll look like a good shot. Um before you know it, you’re sort of in the heather blocked out, and trying to figure out whether you go for the shot towards the green or over the river, or lay it up short. So there’s still there’s still an element of danger, even with that shot. So I think, and and there’s kind of like that reverse camber. I don’t know if you remember it on the fairway as well. So you’ve got to properly sling it round. Um, and they’ve kind of left that oak tree there, which makes it even harder. So if you’re a slice of the ball, you’ve kind of got no chance to get to the green two.

Nish 15:27

Um not naming any names, Andrew, but you know, if you do slice the ball, then you’ve added.

Speaker 15:32

Exactly. Um, and then there’s just a like an awesome backdrop to that hole when you’re hitting your second shot. Um, I think it’s kind of one of the most picturesque second shots into a par five that you can have sort of over that sort of gully and then to the big pine trees at the back.

Nish 15:47

Um stunning, stunning approach shot. Yeah.

Speaker 15:50

Yeah. Um but truthfully, when it’s you know, when the when the course is running quite fast and it’s summer, you can sort of cut that corner and have roll down that hill and have an eight, seven iron into the green. So you can get quite quite lucky with that hole. Um, and then the next one would be the next hole, the eighth hole. Um, so this is the first out of the the two new holes. Um they kind of used to have a bit of dead land um in and amongst the course there where there was just a bit of a forest, and they’ve cleared it out and left the tall pine trees there. So when you play it in the summer, which we did, but it wasn’t very sunny.

Nish 16:26

We were intending on playing it when it was sunny, yeah.

Speaker 16:29

Exactly. Um I often joke to people that it’s kind of it feels like being um at Augusta, even though I’ve never been there, but um those kind of long shadows that you get cast over the tree. Um and it’s very, very sort of pretty and picturesque hole. Um and also it’s quite interesting because it it’s very it’s quite a flat hole, um, but there’s that wind that sort of swirls up above the trees, and you can’t see it coming off from where that par five was. So um often it catches people out and it ends up shortening those bunkers down the right. Um but yeah, that’s uh that’s a great little hole. And I I’d probably go as far to say the signature hole on the course. I know it hasn’t been updated to that.

Nish 17:09

Yeah, yeah. It’s that it’s it’s fascinating that little corner or or you uh enclave of golf holes, I suppose you’d call it, but you know, that the new and they’ve been redesigned kind of thing, and then they you know they’ve given you as a member you know two of the best three holes of that golf course. Yeah, it was it was a beautiful place to be, you know, even I I think that that the thing about that par three that I found was the eighth was that um you’re not stood on that Tee and you’re in you’re not intimidated by it, you know, but you you just it’s just this beauty of it because it’s it’s a relatively simple shot, I suppose, because you can see it all in front of you, there’s no hidden danger, yeah. But it’s just framed so so so well. Like that is a picture perfect par three for me.

Speaker 17:55

Yeah, absolutely. And I I think whenever you have a lot of well, whenever you have a lot of guests coming on and saying, wow, this whole when they sort of stand on the Tee-box, I think that that sort of showcases its its beauty and tells you something about the hole. So um maybe there’s part of it that’s been swayed from other people, but yeah, I’d I’d definitely go that as the second one. And then the third one would be the tenth. So in the in the redesign of the course, a um they joined whatever it was back in that day, I think it was the ninth and the tenth together. Um is that right? I think that’s right. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, but it was they joined that par four and par three together. And basically before the course redesign, there were two or three quite weak par fours. Um they were kind of just a mid-range iron and then sort of pitch and wedge into the green. Um but this has sort of massively changed the course as whole because it’s a proper scorecard wrecker record uh wrecker. You can get on there and you know be playing well, and all of a sudden you’re faced with this t-shot where you’ve got to make a decision either to sort of hit a driver and try to thread the eye of the needle between the bunk and the water, or if you’ve got a sort of strong downwind, you might be able to carry the water. And if you do and you hit it straight, you actually end up about literally 30-40 yards away from the green, so it’s a flick a flick of a wedge. Um then you’re laughing, but often the winds into you, obviously in England being cold, you’re hitting a four-line off the Tee short of that water, and then another four iron in. And because of the nature of joining the four uh the par four and the par three together, you then have this par three green awaiting you, which is defended very heavily on the front end, so it’s an absolute nightmare. You don’t want to be short of it. Um, it’s it’s quite unfair, I think. Um, maybe there could have been a bit of redesign with the green just to make it a bit more generous for a par four. But I think you know, as much as I’ve walked away effing and blinding on that hole before, I think it’s definitely got to be in there. It’s it’s such a good hole, makes you think so much.

Nish 19:54

Yeah, amazing. I love that. I mean, look, there has to be some challenge element as well. You know, you’re a very, very good golfer as well, Oscar. So it was it, you know, you’ve got to have something where you’re going, oh actually, I I need to stay sharp on this, on this particular hole. I love it. It was great. It was uh I mean, honestly, we we um which you will hear on the episode, but we we absolutely loved our time there. We we think it’s seriously underranked, uh Liphook. Um and you know, our our whole sort of thing was that it it’s out of all of those Sand Belt Heathland courses, you know, you probably haven’t heard of Liphook, but you really need to look it up. And and the value is incredible. It’s like £135 for a visitor to pay your Twilight round in the summer, which is unreal value um for the quality of golf course that you’re getting. So, yeah, we we honestly we had an absolutely fabulous time there. Now, while we were going round, Oscar, we were having a very interesting chat about a new project that you’ve got. It’s all very um uh well, it’s brand new, isn’t it? It’s in it’s it’s kind of in its um not quite infancy, because you’ve you’ve you’ve got some actually very good contacts and contracts potentially coming in from that anyway. But tell me a little bit about what this was because I was like, sorry, you’re doing you’re doing what? Like, this is amazing. What a great bit of technology.

Digital twins: the future of course guides

Speaker 21:16

Um, yeah, so it’s been about a year now um of sort of learning, coding, and um working alongside um a very a very useful business partner that he’s turned in to be. Um so we basically have been building, I think the buzzword is digital twins um for golf courses. And I I say that sort of um with a bit of hesitancy because it’s it’s basically a replication of the golf course um in 3D um on your computer or iPhone. So um we’ve turned all of these golf courses or are turning these golf courses into 3D models and interactive 3D models. So if you’re to look on the golf course website, um then you’d be able to explore the golf course in 3D as well as getting 360 photos before you go and play. Um and the point of that is to bring the golf course to life and to start giving golf courses and that sort of digital asset because you know I sort of looked at how golf courses were being marketed, and they’ve kind of gone on this journey where they’ve gone from sort of static photos then to drone videography and photography. Um, and we really believe that this is the next iteration, um, and also it’s kind of the the avenues that it then opens up from there. So um yeah, it’s been really exciting there’s been some sort of tricky uh parts of tech to learn and get our heads around but uh as you say uh we’re starting to get a bit a bit of traction now um and yeah it’s it’s looking really exciting yeah yeah I mean some of the some of the names are already uh signed up and and then in the pipeline are are pretty big hitters so it’s uh look I wish you all the very best with that it’s amazing.

Nish 22:56

I mean from a personal point of view we we obviously research every course that we go to to the nth degree and it’s all always website based or there’ll be a another site where they’ve they’ve you know used all the Google Maps for it and mapped out all the holes and things like that and and obviously my job I suppose you’d call it is to go to these golf courses and have a half a mind to getting the right pictures of the right Tee shots and whatever from a selfish point of view this would be incredibly useful for me because I can kind of virtually walk the course and get an idea of what is yeah gonna be good um and plan things like the signature hole challenge which Chris got destroyed in again by the way but anyway um did I say that out loud yeah I did say that out loud yes just in case you forgot yeah he honestly yeah I I I was I was like with I was mortified with my five and I was just like and I think Chris had two putts to win it and then both short range ones he still missed them both brilliant oh god he had an he had a mare that day didn’t he um but it’s incredibly useful for someone like me to do that and then also I think you know if you’ve got visitors coming from abroad and and that that sort of tourism is getting bigger and bigger isn’t it and it’s great that they can experience that course before they’ve even set foot on it because then they’re probably going to get more out of it because you kind of know what’s awaiting you rather than a voyager discovery and then you know that’s like seven lost balls and another 30% that cost you around.

Speaker 24:28

Exactly and I think there’s a lot more to a golf course and people sort of realising I mean I guess you guys will fully understand this having been around all these different golf courses probably wishing wishing you could get around um more than two or three times because as you know I like I said I’ve been a member of Liphook for about 15 years and there are still bits that I’m learning about the golf course and strategy um and where to and and on this and that sounds a bit ridiculous after 15 years. But it’s it’s amazing and and like you said being able to walk the course beforehand and with the tools that we’ve got on there we’re really sort of trying to push that pre-round um pre-round planning element of it because you know I remember being at a competition a couple of years ago and sort of it was a team competition and I bought one of the course guides and we were having breakfast before we went out and um I sort of had my I had a pen out and I was sort of like circling because it was forces and I said to my mate I was like let’s not go here because of the danger and everything. Yeah yeah and and they were all taking the piss out of me laughing and going you you nerd and everything and I was just sort of going okay what great whatever and then come the next day we got through the first round and I whipped out of the course guide again. They were literally fighting over it all of them so I was like it speeds volumes doesn’t it yeah it’s like no you’re gonna have to pay me double now yeah exactly exactly and I think the course guides are quite a sort of underutilised um thing and uh yeah I sort of always try to pick one up when I go to golf courses before I play them just because it’s quite interesting and I’ve got an awful memory and I can’t remember these golf roles.

Nish 26:02

Maybe that’s why I’m doing this yeah probably that’s it’s a good way of doing it everyone needs their own reasons for doing things don’t they yeah yeah it’s it really it’s really interesting there there are there are a few courses that we I mean I say a few there’ll be many and there are many that we finish and we go oh do you know it’d be wonderful to play that again um and you then you know you rerun it through your mind all that kind of thing and it’s it’s it’ll be great to kind of almost have your first round before you play actually go and play it and then you can then remember things and maybe even look at it again to to do it. So I certainly will be a subscriber as soon as that comes online Oscar so um please please set me up for some kind of beta access that’d be great. Of course of course yeah um now obviously we’re on the top 100 i 10 golf podcast you have enabled us and so we’re very grateful to you Oscar for for enabling us to tick off another golf course um and while that sounds like it’s sort of box ticking or whatever we don’t mean it like that you know we do we do genuinely appreciate the the course it was magnificent um now you’ve played because I know where you went to university you’ve played some amazing golf courses in your in your earlier years um maybe give us a couple of your absolute

Royal County Down & North Berwick

Nish 27:15

favourite golf courses that you played um it’s a really good question up in up in Scotland it could be anywhere it could be anywhere yeah yeah um well keep it to the UK though ask her keep it to the UK I think I think um when we when we had our post round curry I think that we all agreed that it’s quite hard to look past Royal County Down I think that obviously the golf course is magnificent the setting is magnificent um it kind of feels like the Jurassic version of any links golf course that you’ll ever play you get there and everything’s about two or three times bigger um and you’re trying to tell yourself that it’s fine when you’re standing on the T-box the fairway is still the same size but you can’t see the bloody thing so it’s yeah it’s very scary.

Speaker 28:01

That and the takeaway Guinness pints that they give you amazing is awesome yeah um and the kind of probably the icing on the cake is the Guinness cup holder on the range next to the next to the triangle of board I mean it doesn’t get much better than that. Winner yeah absolutely but in terms of um Scotland I was very fond of North Berwick um absolutely love that place. I think that was the first introduction that had to golf up in Scotland um through a friend who’s a member there and we were playing there um as guests of a member for five pounds in the first year and we were it’s incredible.

Nish 28:35

Yeah I know we were like this is 42nd or whatever was ranked in the world yeah in the world yeah yeah in the world um that’s a very special course I think Western Gailes I don’t know if you guys have got across there that’s definitely definitely underrated that’s up sort of near True and isn’t it I think Western Gailes yeah exactly um presswooks awesome that’s a very cool one um I I quite like the quirkier ones um yeah and like as you can probably tell a lot of love for the Scottish golf I I really like how they they make you feel at those golf courses um sort of very welcomed and yeah it’s the a while the wider point you raised there I think is absolutely spot on we’ve we found the welcome at the Scottish golf courses as being the best um that isn’t to say that it hasn’t been good anywhere else um it’s been wonderful you know we’ve always been made to feel very very welcome however there’s something there’s something in the air up there and and we kind of get this whole feeling that it’s you know they that golf is there to be played you know we’re not here to gate keep you away from it there are certain clubs obviously that do still do that and that’s yeah because it’s an exclusive club and that’s what the members pay for right but um generally speaking you know come along come and enjoy your time play golf have fun all that kind of thing wonderful what a wonderful place place to play golf yeah absolutely we’re very fortunate that we’re not too not too far away from it um well look Oscar thank you so much for joining me today and your wonderful insight into the course it was we had a walking talking course planner with us so we didn’t really need it on the day um and you said those magic words that every member says to you when you’ve hit something off the T and you’re a bit like oh where’s that gone it will be alright down there. Yeah magic magic words so even if it isn’t just say them exactly well um thank you very much for having me on the podcast absolutely are a pleasure asking pleasure to have you guys down at Liphook like I said welcome anytime I’ve been really surprised by those Surrey clubs and we can’t I think we might have touched on it last time I think didn’t we it’s just not at all what I was expecting we’ve no we’ve had a little bit of that at maybe um where do we have a little bit of it at but but no but generally speaking they’re just really great like actual golf clubs and feel like a really kind of communal space and I’ve got um we’ve just played Walton Heath uh last weekend and I got I did my reel and we had a great time there we were the pairs event so you you got a bit more access whatever but you know we spoke to some staff there some members I’ve interacted with and all that kind of thing and it had it left with nothing but a positive impression of the place um and I felt like Walton did it slightly differently to other places even like the Walton way all that kind of thing. I think it’s a thing. Yeah um I’ve had people message me um and they’ve said oh my experience was the complete opposite I really am like it was snooty members were this members were that it was rude whatever right okay look hand on heart that hasn’t happened to us no it hasn’t anywhere no enough I suppose we feel quite lucky that that hasn’t happened because I mean that would totally taint your yeah experience of it all but but I mean we’ve touched upon it just in the previous episode yeah I’m not inconspicuous when I go to these places because I have got my phone out I just like going around going oh my god this is amazing I can just chatting to anybody right you will pretty quickly realise I’m at your golf course in your club I have not picked up on a hint at all of anybody like who is this guy given the time of day like um it has never been a thing and I and I’m I’m not I I can’t even say it’s because I’m I’m usually ignorant to it I’m not I’m quite sensitive to stuff like that like I pick up on things good good good female intuition but um it hasn’t hasn’t happened and long may that continue. And I’m sure it I’m sure it does happen like you say I’m sure people will have those experiences but yeah I I think we’ve had the polar opposite experience in those surrey golf clubs than I thought we probably would have had it we got we got a great welcome first impressions were fantastic it was very homely club that kind of thing the usual fineries of a Surrey sand belt um top 100 Heathland you know were there yeah um the horse looked magnificent and we were driving pardon me we’re driving up and obviously you you’re going through the the plethora of uh expensive mansions and whatever that you drive through we always say the same thing don’t we when we’re rocking up we’re like different world down here and it is it’s a different world down here but um I think that sets you almost it but I suppose maybe it depends on your personality that can intimidate you of course it can you’re like I don’t belong here can I get imposter syndrome yeah yeah we’re very fortunate both of us neither of us suffer from that no not we’re just almost like loud and proud like hello yeah yeah yeah we’re from Stockport of a chin out that kind of thing um but it was yeah it was great um did we I can’t remember did we hit the range no we didn’t have time to hit the range did we no we were because we were kind of straight took us a bit extra time it took us an extra hour I think to get down and it so we were kind of down there straight out basically down there straight out um yeah so we didn’t really get a warm-up no we didn’t get the the I mean we didn’t get to experience it because the weather was shocking but the terrace looked like a great place to have a pre and post round drink for sure um overlooking and it seems to be a thing about these Surrey Heathland courses as well where you’ve got like it overlooks the first Tee and the 18th green yeah yeah right again we’re not bothered but you could be intimidated by that couldn’t you with all the members getting a bit leery outside but I mean amazing like just such a nice gentle quiet place to play your golf maybe not that quiet because you can hear the the road and the motorway and stuff like that.

Chris 34:27

But it was just it was lush it was beautiful beautifully manicured all the feels you get from that kind of golf course you were getting from I mean yeah like the first the first holds it’s a it’s a kind of mid-length path where you kind of downhill or straight away you just sit there like bang yeah kind of kept trees surrounding it in the back and like you said that beautiful kind of green pops out at you know you know you’re playing some heat fun golf at that point don’t you straight into it so some highlights and things like that now um Liphook you won’t have heard of it I’d never heard of it you know you’d heard of your Sunningdale and things like that but never heard of Liphook.

First impressions & ranked #79

Nish 35:05

But it’s ranked 79 and I ranked Kings um we have touched upon its condition which was unreal club championships all that kind of thing but just so well looked after that golf course like really really well looked after pride in it I think um I’m gonna one more thing I’m gonna sort of tell you which I think is a you almost had to pinch yourself about this in the summer you can do a twilight round of golf at Liphook Golf Club giving you all of those top 100 Surrey Heathland feels that’s probably Hampshire isn’t it but for £135 as a visitor. Yeah that’s pretty good going that is unreal value yeah yeah unreal value so that is that’s a tick tick yeah for sure for me you know um and if you’re gonna go somewhere and go I don’t want to have the maybe the I don’t want to feel the intimidation fact of going trying to Sunningdale or swinging for whatever this is a great place to go and do it. And if you bump into someone like Oscar you are winning winning in life um so we will talk about uh the top three holes from Liphook now I’m gonna sell him up the river here these are my top three holes Chris can’t remember it so we came on before we went everyone before we came on I went oh uh we’ll just pretend that there are then we agreed on them but I thought no he played Loch Lomand on his own so let’s let’s let’s give it out but I

Our top three holes

Nish 36:40

I I I get it because it did it stretched my memory bank as well because it’s gone back a few weeks now since we played it and obviously we played Swinley since then as well and Walton Heath so yeah we’ve probably almost had a bit of Heathland overload. However we’ll was the first hole does deserve a mention actually it’s a hard opening hole but yeah it’s a dead opening hole. And you know you’ve got to give it a good clip haven’t you there as well um but it’s you know pretty generous green and and things like that.

Chris 37:06

I think you know you but tough green like all those greens were real the huge undulations and when it’s that quick I really struggled for my putting that day.

Nish 37:16

They were difficult greens I I have to say I I had a good putting day yeah so um I felt like I got the measure of the pace quite well yeah on that.

Chris 37:27

I think Oscar took Pity on us a little bit didn’t he was giving us gimme’s from like 10 feet the game crazy yeah I mean I’ve heard like being quick on pace of play but for us but that thank you Oscar yeah thank you well look the the um I mean that’s where that first brings up the par threes in general yeah I thought they were a particular strength of Liphook they were really nice yeah they weren’t um and I think it’s a general Heathland thing I think the par threes always just look stunning.

Nish 37:59

Yeah they do I don’t know whether it’s the type of bunkering or because they always got trees behind them or something like that but they always look amazing. Yeah you’re right they do. And they were stunning those par threes um that does sort of bring me to one thing which is there was a par three I think it was something like oh it was the eighth it’s actually one of my top three holes here my top three holes um it’s the par three eighth and it’s just a beautiful setting it’s not a particularly challenging tee-shot there’s a good run out onto the green whatever but Andrew nearly nailed a hole in one didn’t he did remember I mean it was the most accidental little hole in one ever because it went way out left and then suddenly just caught something and ran rolling towards it but listen you nobody sees that on the scorecard do they so um but it was that was a a beautiful hole I thought and it was all the kind of green fell away from you so you had to you know it was like I can’t overrun it here. Yeah it was massive but it was like there was something there like challenging with it and then before that the whole the seventh hole um which is called two counties so that’s the one that straddles Surrey in Hampshire that’s right yeah and that hole was again beautiful on the eye so you got a you it’s not really necessarily an elevated Tee but you you you Tee off and then all the fairway falls away into this kind of almost this ditch at the end and then it’s a very sharp rise up to the green so you know you get your you get your well I think we all got our drives away quite well and then it’s but it’s quite an intimidating second shot that because you know you usually put a little bit of a downhill lie and it’s like if I don’t catch this right it’s in that ditch and it’s kind of gone. Yeah but it was again it was a great just visually great hole it’s fringed with the right amount of tree but they weren’t impinging on the hole as such.

Chris 39:49

Yeah and that sick that seven eight stretch one after the other was yeah stunning it felt like it had really good undulations didn’t it I think it was quite a lot of that sort of just enough for it to feel like it’s kind of imposing but not so much that you feel like you’re kind of up and down up and down wasn’t constantly hiring was it with the elevation change but it just felt really natural I mean bear in mind this Simpson geezer who’s designed a geezer who’s designed this place it’s his first go like he’s done alright and he you know pretty decent um so that that was the the the the sort of second one and then the the 16th which is a par four now this one I’ll try and describe it to you Chris so you can you can remember it but you get teed off and there was a hole like this at Swinley Forest as well where it’s like kind of the the fairway rose up a little bit over the crest of a hill and you just had to basically you well Oscar told us to stick a line for pick a line going for yeah which is always fraught with a bit of like oh they’re gonna be alright you know and it it the way it dog legs as well they were like well driver’s gonna be too big all this kind of stuff.

Nish 40:55

So okay fine and then I remember filming it and this is why I remember it as you start walking up that hill and then your head goes above the crest of the hill yeah and then it fall it dog legs and falls away into this beautiful big green again it’s just this it’s the reveal yeah there is magnificent. I thought that was great and even though it had a road behind it that was a road leading into the club yeah what is it about Surrey and golf courses and roads we had to cross some hairy A roads didn’t we have some like seriously dangerous roads at Walter and I was like we go down there you’ve got like some major A road to cross over I didn’t realise I had to redo my will every time I go down to fleet golf in Surrey but um that was it was a beautiful hole that I remembered like taking pictures of it videoing it as I’m walking up and it just looked amazing. Yeah and the green was so vivid.

Chris 41:51

And then we must give a notable mention to that 18 that’s a great finishing hole finishing hole that is yeah yeah it’s an opportunity to opportunity to score well but also it’s an opportunity potentially to ruin your card like it’s part five so you kind of got shall we go there?

Nish 42:05

Sure why not that was a side bet that 18 part oh it was a side between that it was it was getting onto the green in the least number of shots right so you I think you made it in your two did you I think I got there in two did I get there in two I think I got close in two there yeah I didn’t actually make the green make the green at all oh you got stuck in the bunker you got stuck in the bunker again which is a cabin on the 18th it’s happened twice now hasn’t it I mean it happens every bunker you go in yeah yeah yeah there is that yeah I don’t even know why I’m referencing the 18th particularly but I didn’t make it onto the 18th green for the I have never seen anyone have as many like just fundamental blow ups in bunkers as you it’s just like you know you think that person that like have like a bad shot and then another bad shot and then you get out on numerous occasions this top 100 you’ve just you’ve just stopped you’ve taken like seven or eight shots you just keep going and like I’m just I’m just I’m done. Yeah yeah yeah just whatever everyone carry on it just goes everyone carry on yeah it’s uh yeah it was an interesting Walton Heath was interesting wasn’t it because I’ve got out of one really well that was a green side bunker and that was quite rare and then yeah hit 18 stonked to drive right down the middle let’s left the pitch short into the bunker and then that was it like wasn’t getting out of that it’s like the easiest shot in golf maybe we should go for some feel like I do need to I should need to I don’t know it doesn’t make it don’t make good content though does it Chris no it doesn’t know yeah I’ll keep um yeah so I mean that those are like the notable holes I thought I think the second as well as I mentioned the second was yeah great hole or that that that um fair with the just cambers all the way down yeah it kind of cambers all the way down so it’s kind of it’s it’s quite an intimidating drive but it’s quite a nice one as well because you kind of elevate it up yeah and then it kind of yeah it was very easy on the on the eye that golf course it was very easy on the eye it was um how was your holding one watch can’t remember niche yeah yeah I mean you had a bit of a routine didn’t you generally just played terribly all day I I think part of the reason that I that I don’t have many memories it was A rain like rain doesn’t help the rain doesn’t help but B I played so badly that I I was almost playing a different course to be honest.

Chris 44:26

I mean

Chris’s 104 & the signature hole challenge

Chris 44:26

your your round was over a hundred over a hundred was it yeah one oh four was it oh my god yeah for for context um

Nish 44:35

Um I think I shot like a 91 or something for context. I I played well. Yikes. Yeah, it wasn’t one of your best songs. So bad on it. You were like, it was what are you like? There was nothing was working off the Tee, irons weren’t working. It’s almost like the things that you normally rely on, which is the recovery on the out with an iron, wasn’t happening. You couldn’t chip it, everything was just short, and you couldn’t get on the you couldn’t read the greens properly or get the pace of the green. So it was like, what bit is gonna work here? Like there was nothing really.

Chris 45:05

Genuinely, it was again, it was just that first day in Surrey is always like hindhead at the shanks all day, couldn’t hit the ball.

Speaker 3 45:12

Oh yeah, couldn’t hit the ball, didn’t you? Yeah.

Nish 45:15

So it’s not Andrew, it’s just you. You in Surrey. Um no what one one hole that we haven’t mentioned yet is then our signature hole. Now the thing about that signature hole is quite a significant signature hole challenge because jumping backwards and forwards or whatever. So this we’d done we’d got to All Square at Castletown.

Chris 45:35

Yeah.

Nish 45:36

We had then since played Form by, which we haven’t reviewed yet. Okay, yeah. Um, but spoiler alert, I won that signature hole. Yeah. Uh and then I won this one, so I’m now two up through what is this? This will be course number twenty five. Liphook course number twenty-five, and I’m two up.

unknown 45:56

Shit.

Nish 45:57

Well, I was like six up at one point, wasn’t it? You were you were nailing it and I was like, yeah, I thought I’d the four from Grace I already signed off the win at that point. Yeah, the four from Grace has been catastrophic. It really is, wasn’t it? Yeah, you’re basically broken your legs and you can’t do anything. Um yeah, yeah, you didn’t yeah, you didn’t cover yourself with glory, I’m afraid, Chris. It wasn’t uh wasn’t a great, great day for you. Uh we’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll consign it to the dustbin of bad rounds, I think. Yeah, of the first day in Surrey Bad Rounds. But you recovered yourself very well. You quitted yourself incredibly well at uh Swinley Forest.

Chris 46:31

Yeah, I mean it’s like it was like a different person playing at Swinley Forest, right?

Nish 46:34

It was, yeah. So much so that it was picked up on by our yes, but she was accused of some uh handicap fraud forgery. Um well look that was our round at Liphook. Uh probably not as amazing on the detail on this one, and there is a reason for that, actually. It was quite wet, so it was difficult to really take it all in.

Chris 46:58

Yeah, it’s also taken us a while to actually get this in the diary and get get the um episode recorded as well. Correct, yeah.

Nish 47:04

And and I actually couldn’t film as much stuff. I normally that that is my way to remember stuff. Oh yeah, like what happened here and and whatever. And there’s some good stuff on the website, you can you know you can get it from that um quite well. But but I said at the outset that you know if you’ve not played in that sand belt, you’ve got to make the effort to go and do it. Oh, absolutely. If you’re local to us and you’re in the north, you can’t do much worse than going and playing at Delamere. That would give you a flavour for it. However, nothing prepares you for actually getting down there. Yeah, it’s different, different gravy down there, in it. Yeah, everything about it is just that tiny bit different. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but it’s just different. Yeah. Um, and this one is a particularly good one, I think to go to has been Yeah. Well, I mean, what would I say? What have we played? We played Hindhead, we played Hankley Common, Liphook, Swinley Forest, the Walton Heath. Have we played any others? I think that’s it, isn’t it? Yeah and out of those Hindhead for obvious reasons has a wee bit of my heart and soul that belongs to it. Hankley Common was just something else to me. Um Swinley Forest was unreal. Um but you know, Liphook would would give them a run for their money. Yeah, for sure. It’s in that conversation, yeah. It is, yeah. You know, so now bearing that in mind, did would you say Liphook got into your top five?

Chris 48:32

I don’t think so. No, not so it’s top five, is it? Yeah, not for me. Not for me. I mean part of that’s maybe conditions, but I yeah, I think yeah, probably it’s not top five. It’s behind a few of those other courses down

Three reasons to play Liphook

Chris 48:44

there.

Nish 48:44

And it’s not a top five course for me, but it’s a good solid at 79 personally. I think 79’s low for what the quality of that golf course is maybe about right. Yeah, feels that feels about about sort of right. Yeah, but um well look, we’re we’re gonna give you three reasons that you should put Liphook if you’ve not already picked up on what they are, but three reasons why you should go and definitely put Liphook on your on your list to play. Number one, it’s so easy on the eye, and you get all of those Heathland feels. Until I’d started playing these top 100 courses, I am the foggiest, you know. It was last night, oh there’s golf courses and there’s links golf courses. Suddenly you’ve got like Parkland, you’ve got Heathland, you’ve got Duneland, all this sort of stuff. The more I’m playing them, those Heathlands are just magnificent. Yeah, they’re so good. What I what I like about them is for somebody like me, I’m a 16 handicap. Um, I have my issues with bunkers and whatever, but and I I get stuck in the bunkers in Heathlands as much as I do anywhere else. But if you you’re in a bunker and you’re not me, um you’re not gonna be in the bunker just going, Oh my god, I literally can’t get out of this. Like they’re they’re fair, they’re not like stupidly deep. Some of them are, of course. They that’s that’s every golf course, but yeah, um, they’re not they’re not stupid, they’re not, I don’t think they’re designed to be like that. The design is like, you know, there’s some heather there and it’ll catch you off if you’re errant with your approach shot. Um, but then you’ve got a shot after that. So yeah, yeah. Um they’re just so beautiful to look at these golf courses. Like you will walk around with a massive smile on your face, and actually you will not be able to take it off pictures, I think that’s the thing. And you’ll get back and you’ll go that looked like a good that look amazing to the naked eye, and that the camera does not do it. So there’s that. Um I’m gonna chuck in that summer twilight round for 135 quid. On there is an absolute bargain. I had to reread it. I thought that they’ve got this is a winter rate or something like that. Yeah, yeah, no. It’s because it’s in in on a on a Sunday to on a weekend visitor rate and the summer, it’s still only 210 quid. Is it it’s a bargain? No, it is about the quality of golf course that is unreal. And I’m terrified, you’re gonna have a great time on that afterwards. Uh and then no exaggeration in any way, shape, or form, but they were some of the best greens we have played on.

Chris 51:03

They are the best greens we played on, not some of 28 golf courses, the best golf course, best greens by yeah, head and shoulders above it. Country mile played. Yeah, country mile for sure. They were so tough to play on really, really tough to put on. Yeah, I think you probably need to go and play four or five, six rounds before you kind of get the feel for those greens, but yeah, I mean they were so pristine and so interesting to put on. Like, you know, you never you never were like, Oh, I’ve just got a boring, boring putty, as you got tiny bit left to right. You’re always sitting there going, Oh Jesus, like this is this is challenging.

Nish 51:36

He said that the these some of these greens they can make you look very stupid.

Chris 51:41

Oh, absolutely, yeah. And they did.

Nish 51:42

They they made me look, you know, we were like idiot. Oh, that’s just as straight as that. No, it’s not straight, it’s like quite a big break left to right, and I can’t see that in any way, shape, or form. So you do the classic thing, don’t you? Why should I listen to the member who’s played here or whatever? I’m gonna do it my own way, and you go, Oh no, it was a massive breaker left to right kind of thing. Um they were yeah, they were great. Um if you’re if you’re uh you know a golf course and you wanna you want to get some tips on how to run your greens, then I think the green the green keeping staff there yeah, doing a good job. Yeah, they deserve to be hit up for that. Um so yeah, there are three reasons to visit Liphook. Um, and if you like, I hope you bump into Oscar because he was such a good guy and Andrew, legend, absolute legend of the game. Um, thank you for hosting us. That was so so nice. We got those those famous words from them all the time, whenever we hit a stray ball, it’ll be alright down there, yeah. And that’s all you need to know. So um, yeah, great golf course. I think it’s well worth adding on to your list. Um, because I certainly had no idea about this golf course. Yeah, and if it wasn’t on our thing, I’d it wouldn’t enter my awareness to play, really. Yeah, yeah. Um, so yeah, is there anything else you’d like to add about Liphook Chris? I don’t think so now. Do you remember it now? Not really when you do, um obviously I’ll share you the.

Chris 53:02

I’ll come back and we’ll redo this this episode.

Nish 53:04

I think you’ll I think you’ll we we’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll do a little uh uh addendum to a episode or something like that. But I think you’ll just go, oh do you know what? I do remember now. And yeah, it was yeah, there was some amazing the the the good thing about this for the rainfall that we’d had was that the greens are really receptive as well, weren’t they? So you fire it. I saw something backspin. I don’t know. I couldn’t I couldn’t hit the dish. I saw something backspin, mate. It was just a it was a shock to the system, and it was mine, it wasn’t somebody else’s. Um yeah, wonderful. What a got what a got what a place, what a welcome. Um, and top hosts. Yep. Next time on the top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast, we’ll be reviewing the 2026 Nish Invitational, in which we raised over £750 for the British Liver Trust.