Frilford Heath Golf Club

Played here midweek ,July 08 (£40 for the day using a county card ).
Played the Red & Green .
I was hoping that Frilford was going to be in the top bracket ,but upon leaving , my overall feeling was that it was a bit overated.Although these are highly regarded ,more than decent courses in a pleasant setting there was something lacking here.
Part of it ,i think, was the fact that although the holes were primarily treelined heathland , sections were parkland in nature , which were out of character to the rest of it .For example ,holes 2,3,& 4 on the Red are fairly standard ,contemporary parkland (highlighted by the poor,open, 200 yard par 3 4th )& then you move back into the heathland style again.
For me, this detracted from the overall feel .Also ,the final 2 parkland holes on the Green were disappointing & felt a bit disjointed(you go back around the clubhouse ,near the car park ,& go out & come back again.).17 ,a very long,uninspiring par 3 & 18 a very short par 4.
These sporadic, parkland style hole changes spoilt the overall character, which is a shame, as the rest of heathland holes are very pleasant.My favourite stretches were the back 9 of the Red & the holes over the road on the Green (5 - 15 ) .
I also found the courses a bit hard going as there was a fair bit of walking between the tees & would have preferred a couple more par 3's too.The red only has 3 ,the last of which is the 11th . Also ,the gorse ,long grass ,tightish tree lined nature of the holes means that there's lots of ball searching if you stray off line.
The club operate a 2 ball only policy on one of the 3 courses,which is a good idea,but on the day it was the parkland Blue course which we didn't want to play.As a 2 ball , we took a chance & played the other 2 courses & were lucky how we slotted in as both courses were busy with 3 & 4 balls (despite there being nothing on).Timed wrongly it could have been a frustrating day,so i'd probably advocate playing here as a 3 or 4 ball.
Course maintenance & conditioning was very good ,as you'd expect from this type of set up.
For me, Frilford was one of those courses that was worth playing (however ,the standard £65 green fee is completely over the top)but i'm not sure if i'd rush back .
Kevin B.