The Bristol Golf Club
The Bristol Golf Club, Bristol, South West, England, BS10 7TP
01454620000 | E-mail golf course | Golf course website
10 reviews of The Bristol Golf Club
Returning to golf after a 3 and a half layoff due to health reasons, I washed up at the Bristol on way home from Kent via Chichester! Decent price through TeeOffTimes, and very friendly reception despite some older members accusing the staff of treating them like criminals (slow play!)! I played quite well, but made no putts - the greens were slow and scarified (great excuse). Some of the holes were good and interesting but a few bland - the course has the obvious curse of being new (although on mature parkland) and looking a bit like wasteland just off fairways. These are very generous, by the way. Greens are different shapes and crafted well, except for a couple of silly positions like the ninth. Par 3s OK - did not play but saw the 16th which looked a killer! Water not overdone, and pace of play was fine - teeoff at 2.00pm. The walk after the 17th (no warning for heart patients like myself!) is Everest-like when hauling a trolley, but I did it in stages and with help from my Sherpa (the wife!) I hit a perfect drive on the last! Nice round.
I played this course in a howling gale and through various spells of light rain. The pro shop is well stocked, the atmosphere is friendly. Of course bar and food, changing areas all good. Now...the golf course. There are some really special holes mixed in with some average holes. I would say the par 3s are all excellent because 4 out of 5 involve a carry over water. The best hole is probably the 15th because you can hit the green in two but it involves a blind shot and a tiger line to get a way with it.The stand out par 3 is 16th- a 151yd (yellows) shot with a kidney shaped green which looks really narrow from the tee. The length off the yellows is fine.If you can drive it 220-270, hit your irons straight and average distance (7 iron 140-150 etc) then this course will be challenging in places but generally manageable. My main complaint was the speed of play (but that's nearly always my complaint!)Plus I was annoyed with the pitchmarks left and I was surprised that the greens were not faster. I kept leaving putts shirt even though it had been pretty hot in that previous days, and the greens had been cut. If they can make the greens faster, then they will have an above average golf course. A buggy isn't needed unless you are decrepit. There is one proper hill to climb and that is the 17th to 18th (it's annoying as hell at the end of the round but...what can you do?)Summary: a few short holes but guarded by blind shots of ditches/water behind greens and some lovely par threes. Faster greens needed.
I think this course likes to think big but in reality it is a members course with pay-as-you-play. It is owned by the crown golf empire and is in pretty good condition for this time of the year even considering some of the recent rain we have had. It is a pleasant enough course with a few tricky holes and a few blind ones but the one observation common to a lot of courses is that the general public don't have any idea how to repair pitch marks on the green. I get sick and tired of repairing fresh pitch marks...no matter what course I play on. At least at my local course there is always a bucket on the first tee full of plastic mark repairers donated by a concerned member....it has cut down this bad habit 10 fold....why doesn't every course try this. However I played after 16.30 so got the twilight rate of 15...but the bugbear...25 for a buggy...really when all the other courses around here only charge 12 or even less. All in all a challenge and I shall go back even at 25 for the buggy because....you need one, especially, as earlier people have said...that final walk from the 17th green to the 18th tee...you need 10 minutes to recover before you can even think about hitting your tee shot !!!!!
I agree with the latest comments, having played the bristol a few times it is unrecognisable from some of the comments dating back a couple of years. There's no sign of any work going on anymore and the greens are at least covered with grass! They're not the best I've played on but are pretty good now. The course is fairly short but is challenging with fairly heavy rough if you stray off target... there are some interesting holes and water comes into play on a number of them. All in all, it's pretty good now and apart from comments on the layout some of the earlier issues about the condition are now no longer relevant.
Played the Bristol in early October, 2005. We were blessed with good weather which made the round all the more enjoyable. After reading some of the comments left by people who played the course a couple of years ago, it appears the work that was put in has come to fruition. All the greens ran fairly fast and were very true and the general condition could only be described as very good for the time of the year. In my opinion, the Bristol isn't the best course in the area but represents fairly good value for money, great accessibility from the M4 and M5 and is a good challenge to all but the very low handicaper.
I played this course with a great friend of mine in May 2003. The course was in excellent condition, the views are breathtaking and the holes demanding. The course was that good we stayed overnight and played it again in the morning. We are re-visiting The Bristol in July for a two-day, three round competition. I would recommend anyone to play this course and enjoy every minute of it.
Played The Bristol yesterday (7/5/03) and I agree with the vast majority of the previous criticisms of the course. The greens really are awful. Bumpy and incredibly slow, despite the reasonably dry weather we've had recently. Didn't find the fairways too bad, but there is still a considerable amount of work which seems to have been in progress since the course first opened... so there are plenty of ugly worksites dotted about the course. I also agree that this is a course of two halves... the start is rubbish, but the back nine is much, much better. Probably worth a visit IF they ever bother to work on the problem greens, but I've got my doubts about whether they ever will. Are they more interested in creaming off some corporate cash? Divots on par 5 tees suggest this might be the owner's masterplan!
I played this course in the 2nd week of April during the excellent spell of weather so was expecting maybe a little bareness on the fairways and greens.....I was wrong.What I experienced can only be described as akin to playing on concrete but without the smoothness.The greens are the worst I have EVER seen and that is a honest opinion and not an exaggeration.They are essentially bare mud with a little sprinkling of grass and a more generous sprinkling of some form of weed disease.The fairways were in a similar state but I would have overlooked this if the greens were at all receptive.The first hole is a short par 5 with OOB all down the left where the entrance road to the club runs alongside the course.The 2nd hole is a par 3 over a lake where they were laying new turf on the tee.(Incidentally there was plenty of work going on on the course so they are trying to tackle their problems).The 3rd hole is played from a raised tee where you hit your shot into the valley below.The majority of the course is then played in the valley with only the last two holes played back on the top level.I was totally uninspired by the front 9 which seemed to play in 1 direction then back the other way continuously.However the back 9 was a great improvement and despite playing off several temporary tees and greens you could see that it was a much more interesting layout.A couple of attractive par 3s and some hilly winding holes put me in mind of Wentwood Hills at Celtic Manor. In conclusion I would say that if you wait a couple of years before booking a round here you may find a very good course awaiting you if the work they have planned proceeds smoothly.But if you want to visit some local courses in the Bristol area this summer,cross this one off the list,they must have the most patient members in the county!!!
Played this course back in February and really enjoyed it, especially the 3rd. has an excellent tee off, dog legs to the right from top of valley - enjoyed it so much, have recently joined and have to say its been a great choice! staff are very freindly in the shop and also other members in the club have been very welcoming. Well worth a round, its challenging and if you hit the rough - happy hunting!!
Although just two years old, The Bristol GC is developing nicely. The first two holes,the 18th, and the clubhouse enjoy views over both Severn Bridges and to Wales, but the rest of the course is on the much lower, and wetter, land. Although most of the holes are very open, ditches come into play on many holes, and missing the fairway brings you into quite tangly rough, so although seemingly a hit anywhere course, care really must be taken with accuracy. Highlighted holes are the par 4 2nd, a lovely dropping dog leg right, the very diffuicult uphill par 4 444 yard 12th (Par 5 off white), the 16th, a par 3 over water and the 17th, an exacting drive with a second to a very raised green. In time, will be a very good course
Course information
Tee information
Tees | Yards | Par | SSS |
---|---|---|---|
Competition | |||
Men's | 6124 | 70 | 69 |
Ladies' | 5288 | 71 | 71 |
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