Right side of the fairway sir....

I managed to grab a bit of R &R this week, with a couple of rounds of golf round at two of the 'name' clubs in England, The Belfry and Wentworth.

The Belfry is renowned as the course which was the home of the Ryder Cup and swung the fortunes of the GB and Ireland team in the early nineties. The course has always been on my list of those to play, as the 10th hole and the 18th hole are in my book of 1001 golf holes to play before you die.

Many people have described The Belfry as an average course with three or four good holes, and sadly the experience of this week has backed that up. The condition of the course was poor even for the early time in the year, and frankly it was no better than municipal standard. The 10th hole was being dug up and reshaped, so we did not get to play that. The 18th was a long par 4 with two carries over water. we both made the first but found watery lies for our approach shots which was a shame. So tricked off the list but no urge to need to play it again.

One of the captains of the Ryder Cup team during its resurgence, was Bernard Gallagher, father of Kirsty, and long term Wentworth member and professional. As we approached the club on Wednesday his statue is the first thing you notice, as it sits on the first tee.

The Wentworth event was a BMW promotional day, with team and individual prizes. it was competed on the greens of the West course, or Burma Road as it is called, and is the track used for the BMW Masters in May and the Matchplay Championship in October. Consequently it is on the TV all the time, so one feels like you know it as you do the Belfry.

There is, however, no comparison. Wentworth is a natural true Brit course laid down bu Harry Colt using the contours of nature. The Belfry is a man made American style course which modern architects need to use little imagination to develop.

We did not win any prizes, but were fortunate to be afforded the facilities for the day as after the BMW in May, all the greens will be remodelled and much of the course will be given a Spring clean in readiness for the 2010 season. The greens are suffering from 70 years of wear and tear and now is the right time to do the regeneration.

It is likely to cost the Wentworth club £3-4million in expense and lost revenue, although with the East course and the Edinburgh course, the members will still have somewhere to play.......good game, good game, as one of them would say!