Isle of Purbeck Golf Club - Purbeck Course

I was really looking forward to playing Isle of Purbeck and, from a golfing point of view, it certainly has a lot going for it. The setting is fantastic, the course is challenging and the greens were immaculate. The fairways were very yellow, but given the recent weather that's completely understandable and certainly isn't something I'd criticise the club for. I also only managed to find one bunker all day 😆, but that had exactly the right amount of sand in it!

Unfortunately, for a round costing around £100, the overall experience was disappointing.

It didn't start particularly well in the pro shop. The young lad serving us seemed completely uninterested and wasn't especially helpful. We'd never played the course before and weren't even directed towards the 1st tee, which isn't immediately obvious if you don't know where you're going. Perhaps we caught him on a bad day, but a slightly warmer welcome would have made a big difference.

We also hired a buggy for £30, which I thought was actually very reasonably priced. Unfortunately, it was filthy. There was an old phone case left in the front compartment and so much grit and dirt in the storage areas that I ended up keeping my phone and food in my golf bag instead.

The biggest issue, though, was the pace of play.

From the 1st tee we were behind a four-ball, with a three-ball ahead of them. We did tee off on time, but from there the delays gradually became longer and longer until we were waiting around on virtually every tee box.

At around the 3rd or 4th, a couple of balls from members behind us actually came over our heads. In fairness to them, they couldn't see us from the tee and weren't aware of the backlog ahead. They had simply caught us up and were very apologetic once they realised what had happened. If anything, it demonstrated how quickly the whole course was backing up.

The lack of a halfway hut or somewhere to pick up refreshments also became a real issue. I'd run out of drinks on the front nine and, when you're spending so much time standing around in the beating sun, somewhere to grab a cold drink would have been very welcome.

Perhaps we were simply unlucky and caught the course on a particularly bad day, but the spacing between tee times may need looking at. For roughly £100 a round, plus a buggy, you really don't expect a round of golf to take over five hours, with significant waits on almost every tee.

And there's nothing quite like waiting ages for the four-ball ahead to tee off on a par 3, then waiting for them all to hole out... only to finally step up with another group now watching from behind and promptly shank your own tee shot! 😆😠

To top it off, after such a long round we discovered that the bar closes surprisingly early. After spending 5+ hours on the course, a cold pint afterwards would have gone down extremely well.

It's a shame because Isle of Purbeck itself is a spectacular place to play golf and the greens were superb. I would genuinely like to play it again, hopefully on a quieter day, because I suspect the course deserves a much better impression than the experience we had.

At this price point, though, I expected considerably better in terms of the welcome, buggy preparation, pace of play and overall customer experience.

I have to say I’ve played some nice links courses with views but I think this tops it. Greens were brilliant, tees were good and the layout of the course is really good and fun to play. Yes some fairways grass coverage was bad but if you hit ball before ground you’ve got no problem.

Staff in the clubhouse and pro shop were also very polite and the food/drink was good prices and very good indeed!

Will be returning!

Arrived early and had a coffee in the clubhouse with an amazing view over the course and the sea in the distance.

Played the 9 hole course over the road for £10 as a warm up.

Tee off at 14:40 as a two ball twilight round and finished in just over 4 hrs.

It was a great golfing experience.

Played here 2 years ago and it was lovely. Decided to play again on Monday and it was the polar opposite. The views are still lovely. Everyone at the club super friendly. The gent in the Pro Shop was fantastic.

The course though, in my opinion, is not worth £65 pp.The fairways, especially the back 9, are in very poor condition with some having very little grass at all and every bounce a lottery. . The greens were the poorest of the 3 courses we played by far. This course will struggle in the summer conditions.

In 5 plus years of using Golf Now, I have unfortunately written 2 negative reviews for the first time on the same day for 2 courses in Dorset, this being 1 of them. I played this course 2 years ago, also in April, and absolutely loved it. Stunning scenery, very challenging layout with good greens and fairways. The staff were and still are super lovely and the lunch we had post round was great.

We decided to play it again on our annual golf trip and it wasn’t quite the same unfortunately. At £65 per person I think anyone would expect the course to be in really top shape.

The super friendly gent in the pro shop did say the fairways were a bit scratchy but I think they were far worse than that, especially on the back 9. Two of the fairways were the worst I have ever seen on a golf course. Devoid of grass and I seriously can’t imagine what they might look like in the summer!

The greens were average at best and you struggled to get a true roll.

We played later in the afternoon at Ashley Wood Golf Club and the course was an absolute delight. Stunning greens and very good fairways.

I’m reluctant to admit that I don’t think I would play here again which is disappointing as the club is lovely and very welcoming but seriously let down by the condition of the course.

Great golf course, fabulous scenery, very friendly members and staff, very good value, challenging layout, don't go in the rough!

it was our first experience in England to play and a very nice one. We made many pictures between the holes. The views are spectacular. The course was very dry and we had a force wind as our component so it was difficult playing but a lot of fun.

What a great course some challenging holes but well worth visit, it is uphill & down dale and as I struggle with hills we had buggies and it was perfect, the weather and views were brilliant,

the food in the clubhouse was lovely, we will be visiting again, well done to all the staff

Fantastic conditions, views and staff. I will be back.

This course was in good condition for time of year and due to the amount of rain that had fallen , greens still quick and true,

Have wanted to play this course for ages and it didn’t disappoint. A great layout and some spectacular views! A very friendly welcome from everyone there too. Definitely will play again.

A fantastic course. We are a 60+ couple, returning to golf after a 20 year lay off. We had played 4 rounds over the last few weeks, and then played Isle of Purbeck. What a fabulous course, in an incredible setting, we lost a lot of balls, and found it a real challenge. We wouldn't want it any other way, and can't wait to return when we have sharpened our skills. Thank you, Howard and Satomi

Absolutely stunning

Well worth the drive to play this amazing course. The haze cleared and we got to enjoy some incredible panoramic views of Poole Harbour and the Purbecks.

Challenging yet intuitively designed, it was a great course to play and would highly recommend

I love this course, and I really like the staff very friendly and welcoming

Played for the second time - first was last August. Greens quick and challenging, fairways were good and tees were top class. A brilliant enjoyable and great value experience! Views to the coast were the most spectacular I have seen anywhere on my golfing travels.