Howley Hall Golf Club

A friend and I played Howley Hall Golf Course at the end of March, using a GreenFree 2-4-1 voucher, with the discount given for winter tees on some holes, this worked at £10 each. Howley Hall Golf Course presented a good challenge, maybe not in length, but definitely in accuracy. As stated by many others, the fairways are well lined by trees, which is to be expected as the course celebrated its centenary in 2000, however, there is little undergrowth to prevent a "Seve" style recovery shot. The greens at Howley Hall Golf Course are lightning fast, with over-cooked downhill putts being heavily punished. The one thing we felt that was missing were marker-posts on the blind holes, e.g. the Par 5 6th hole. After a straightforward drive into the forgiving fairway running along the valley floor, the green is left obscured by the elevated access road that crosses the fairway some 90 yards from the pin. Having played Howley Hall Golf Course once and gained a little local knowledge there are a number of the shorter par 4, dog-leg holes which we would be tempted to either drive directly or at least take most of the corner off, leaving the most gentle of chips to green. Given the need for accuracy, the new breed of so called ?Golf Punks? who are power-mad, distance obsessed and tend to blast it all over the place, will probably play well over handicap, it is without wishing to insult and in the nicest sense, an ?old man?s course? because an experienced veteran will play a medium length shot to middle of the narrow fairway, and will not risk over shooting the turn on the dog-leg holes. Overall, Howley Hall Golf Course is a good course and one I have revisited, although at the regular price of £30 per round, unless you use a 2-4-1 voucher, it seems expensive.