Golf in the Lake District

First Published September 30th 2013

I’ve joined Windermere Golf Club 🙂

Which might seem odd, given that my local golf club is 5 minutes away, and Windermere is a 30 minute drive.

Here’s why …

A few months ago on the way back to Ulverston, after playing Beckside, we decided to call in at Windermere, just to see what sort of reception we got.

Given that we were dressed for a municipal course …

Simon the pro was very welcoming

And we discussed their excellent introductory offer of golf for £1 a day

Finally, today we played the course

We, being myself and my golfing/tennis/drinking buddy Gez

Or as Simon inadvertantly referred to him in an initial email – Gaz

Now I have nothing against people called Garry, but Gaz to me has a certain ring to it, that I’m sure some time ago would have had golf club members looking down their nose.

For the record, “Gaz” is Dr. Gerald Foster – a geomorphologist, currently working for the Environment Agency in Lincoln.

I digress, but the point is not lost on us, as to how accommodating golf clubs have become in recent years.

So to the round

If I could sum up the course, given my very limited experience, I’d say, narrow corridors off the tee, leading to open fairways, with natural hazards for trouble all around and tricky greens to finish.

It demands straight hitting above all and either decent carry or sensible lay up

I hacked my way up the first

And after watching Gez hit a decent Iron off the tee at the second, managed to slice 2 balls right, and hook one left before departing the tee in embarrassment, watched by three lady golfers.

But after that it got much better and I managed to drive most holes, pretty well without getting in trouble.

My 6 iron shots have deserted me though which is annoying, after getting in great position with a drive.

I carded 127 – yes, I’m still rubbish

But it’s only my 8th ever round and it’s 18 better than I usually score on a course I’ve never played before.

Afterwards we went for a pint in the club house and enquired about food, only to find out that they had stopped serving some time ago.

However 15 minutes later, we were invited to help ourselves to the buffet being enjoyed by the members, post competition

And it was truly delicious

Everyone was very friendly and we chatted to a lot of members before we left

I like the place

With one caveat …

The 17th is a great hole that finishes just in front of the clubhouse, like an 18th hole should?