Brailsford Golf Course

When booking Golf Now states that £15 books you 18 holes. Upon arrival we were told that our £15 was only for 12 holes and if we wanted to do 18 then it was an extra £9 each. The extra 6 holes are 4 from the front 9 and then the 11th and 12 holes so in effect you actually play these holes twice. This information needs to be made more clear to prevent any confusion upon arrival. Nice course but pricing is anyhow

My review is aimed at Golf Now rather than the course. I paid £13 per person for 18 holes, as advertised on the site. When I went in the club to register, I was told all Golf Now bookings were for 12 holes only. Nowhere on the site could I find this information, so I was rather disappointed on the day.

The course itself was fine, although a little complicated in the layout and scorecard. It wasn't until half way round we discovered we were using the wrong stroke index, as there is a big difference between the white tees and the yellow tees. Greens were a bit patchy, but it was a dry spell at the beginning of the season.. ( by the way, it was another £10 each to play the last 6 holes if you wanted to play the full 18 holes)

Golf shoes must be worn which given the mud we played through was not best. The course itself had some challenges and nice features. Good 12 holes, 18 holes a little over priced perhaps, but would recommend and will go again in future, but maybe in summer.

Really enjoyed this course although it was very busy and had to wait at shared tees with it only being 12 holes. If it was 18 holes this course would be up there. Very welcoming staff and a cosy little clubhouse with good beer. Will go again on a quieter day.

Thank you to everyone who made our day as pleasurable as they could during Covid 19. A very well organised little course hidden away off the A52. Great value for money. Cheers, Pete.

Found this little course by chance and was not disappointed.

Loved the holes over water and the pretty par three in the woods, quite a challenging course for my standard of golf.

The staff really made our day. The ladies in the Clubhouse provided laughs, smiles and a bloomin great Latte. Thank you, we'll be back!

What a find! Lovely 12 hole course with some serious golf holes!

Highly recommend, lovely welcoming clubhouse, friendly staff and a decent pint.

Played the 12 hole after work, great course, really enjoyable, however, let down by the attitude of a certain member of staff who I suspect features in a couple of previous negative reviews.

I’d recommend if you’re not worried about that and just want to enjoy a nice course

Excellent condition with some tricky holes, but the information on the layout could of been clearer, new visitors should be informed. As a result I missed 4-5 holes.

Today I attempted to play this course as a group of 5. The group consisted of 4 green fee paying golfers and 1 friend who joined us for the walk. The friend/walker is also the girlfriend of one of the players (ie. a very relatable situation for many golfing/non-golfing couples).

After teeing off on the first hole, a Lady who worked at the golf course came racing over on a buggy and was unbelievably rude. In her angry tone she said it was against PGA rules to have a group of 5 and that the person walking needed to leave. We responded stating that we have frequently played golf as a four-ball plus a walker and it’s incorrect to state it’s against PGA rules. The lady angrily responded stating “Some people take golf seriously...” implying that we were not.

Unbeknown to this lady, my father is a PGA golf professional and we have historically owned a golf course. Owning a golf club is a challenging business as clubs struggle to grow membership levels particularly in relation to younger generations (who are vital to ensuring the clubs future). How this lady treated us completely highlighted why new members are unlikely to join. The lady was insulting, unwelcoming and a disgrace to the clubs owners.

When I made the lady aware of my fathers golfing profession she threatened to throw us off the course. We asked for a refund and she refused. The conversation ended by our group being split into two groups.

In sum, this lady ruined the game for us all by:

1)splitting the group, taking away from the social enjoyment.

2)Accusing a golfing group of not taking it seriously. I took huge offence to this given my families dedication to the game.

3)Aggressively trying to remove a member of the group citing a non-factual PGA rule.

4)Proving exactly why membership levels are declining around the country.

The course is a decent beginners course but this member of staff shattered our experience.

Please read & avoid at all costs! In our collective years playing golf across the globe, we have never experienced such rude treatment from a staff member, nor experienced such a poorly kept golf course.

We arrived on site 20 minutes ahead of tee time, and proceeded to the driving range. We were shocked to see smashed beer bottles on the ground and litter, which in hindsight this was a precursor for the scenes which were about to face us on course.

We had pre-booked and paid online for our group of 4 players. At this point I should mention that everyone within the group plays regularly to a good standard and we are all members of other clubs outside of the area. Within our party we had one additional guest, who is the other half of one of the players and does not play herself. We explained to check-in desk that as the clubhouse was not open (where she would usually wait) she would be walking with the group, and not playing. This is something which during lockdown we have done at many more prestigious clubs, without any issue.

At this stage we were informed by the check-in desk that as she was not playing this would not be an issue considering she was simply walking with the group - and not playing. I should mention that we had been informed that no one else had booked to tee off behind us given the thundery weather forecast.

We proceeded to tee off from the first, when suddenly a buggy came racing towards us. We were greeted with aggressive shouting from an irate lady who claimed to be management. She asked what on earth we thought we were doing, having an additional person walking with us. When we explained the situation and what we had been informed in the clubhouse, she stated “some people on this course actually take golf seriously”. This was incredibly insulting and her aggressive nature was shocking and plain rude.She proceeded to claim that PGA gold rules state that only 4 people are allowed on the course and that it is strictly forbidden for anybody to walk alongside and we would all have to leave. Simply not true!

At this stage a member of our group interjected to inform her that her family actually own a golf course and her father is a pro - and this has never been a PGA rule. To this she threatened to throw us off the course. Upset and disgusted with this treatment and her attitude, we asked for a refund, as we could not leave one member of the party stranded and would prefer to play at a more welcoming club. We were again refused and greeting with aggression.

Reading similar below reviews this seems to be a recurring issue with this staff member - I only wish we had read the review beforehand!

To make matters worse I attach here photographs of how poorly the course is kept, and the sheer amount of litter and beer cans which greeted us throughout.

Unfortunately her attitude is the reason that on a Saturday afternoon the club had no bookings! There are plenty of much more welcoming and beautifully kept golf courses in the area to choose from.

A very good 12 hole course, course is short in distance however very tight in places. Would be 5 star in all however due to rain the course was muddy in places.

I went to the course but as it was closed went to the club house to get some change for the driving range. Asked the lady present if she could help and she said no and ordered me to leave the premises. I asked her name and she refused and shouted at me to get out which is not the way to speak to anyone let alone a potential customer - thoroughly disappointed - please avoid this course if you possibly can.