New Forest Golf Club

We *almost* got turned away from New Forest when we arrived last night. It’s a golf resort (in a bit of financial trouble by the sound of things) and the bar staff weren’t too sure what to do with our request for parking overnight. We hung around while one of the ladies made a couple of phone calls and eventually said that we’d be OK to stay. They weren’t particularly chatty bar staff so we quickly drank a pint of Guinness each before heading back to the van for the night.

New Forest is a fairly new 18 hole parkland course near Tyrrellspass, Co. Westmeath. There are some very picturesque holes here, but on the whole it looks less nice than the course map on the card might suggest or the lovely looking pictures (of just a couple of holes) on their web site. Granted, it was a bit of wet and windy day when played, but I get the feeling even the sunshine couldn’t hide some of its flaws. The outward holes have a lot more going for them the some of the back nine holes which are exposed and field-like. The course is nicely designed and seemed well enough looked after but away from the the fairways and greens things just looked a bit unkempt and scratchy.

Thomas says:
I played such pants golf today it almost made me give up! I started out liking the course - fairways were OK, nice looking greens and a seemed fairly mature for a newish course. But the more I played the more I didn’t really enjoy the course (aside from my dreadful play). There are few nice holes here and there - the 13th is a lovely par 4 with the big house on your right, a huge tree to negotiate over a hill with a pond in front of the massive green. Or the 5th, a nice slightly dog-leg par 5 with a pond on the right. Then there’s the par 3 in the walled garden. But the back nine holes were mainly too open and uninteresting and detract from the feel of the course.

Clive says:
I’m not keen on these new fancy courses - there doesn’t seem much about golf talked about, it’s all about the so-called ‘impressive’ surroundings.

The day started out rather wet. The chap said there was someone booked to join us at 8am, but he didn’t turn up. And 35 euros was definitely over the top. He told me we would enjoy the course - he considered it the best course in the Midlands. Well we’ve played the vast majority of the Midlands courses and it certainly did not meet up with his recommendations. However on the plus side, the greens and bunkers are top class although the fairways and edges are poor. A few of the early holes are not bad. The 9th hole inside the old walled garden was just fair - you can’t do much with four walls! There was a lovely par three, the 11th at 207 yards where I hit a beauty of a drive but only managed a 4. The next hole was very difficult and augured well for the rest of the course. But after the 13th you go onto fields and total exposure to the elements. It will take a lot of tree planting to improve these holes. The 18th is good with the impressive manor house overlooking the finish.

In truth I would only give New Forest a 5 out of 10. And they would need to be a bit more friendly too - after all that’s what golf’s about - the craic in the clubhouse.

See our photos of New Forest.

Visit the New Forest web site.

Google Map:

View Larger Map