News: Thorpeness and Aldeburgh Sports Relief Mile

February 22nd
Thorpeness Hotel and Golf Club invite you to do your Sainsbury's Sport Relief Mile. We want to raise as much money as possible so get your family and friends together and sign up now!

Date: 25th March 2012
Event opens: 09:00am to 2pm

Starting and finishing at Thorpeness Country Club where refreshments will be available during the morning.

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Blog: Don't let the snow put you off

February 13th
For the first time in several years we have had to close the golf course for over a week. The four inches of snow is not clearing as it has been so cold and regrettably the Valentine Break including golf has had to be cancelled. Most of the guests have re booked for later in the month, or have chosen to change their booking to our popular Winter Kir Royale and cream tea at Snape Maltings offer.

Getting to Thorpeness is not a problem the roads are clear, and even in the chilly weather our guests are enjoying their stay, many coming from London only a two hour drive away.

The chefs are pulling out the stops with delicious dinner menus and Bar Manager Andy is serving a Pimms Winter Warmer, a welcome drink after a wonder along the sea front at Aldeburgh or Thorpeness, to watch the fisherman on the beach. Aldeburgh Monopoly, Bridge and Scrabble have suddenly become very popular, a nice way to spend the evening in from of a log fire.

News: Rain did not stop play

January 26th 2012
We have just said farewell to sixty four guests who stayed with us this week on the second Mixed Couples Golf Break of 2012.
The winners on this occasion were-
Tuesday Greensomes Stableford, 1st Mrs and Mrs Lawson, 2nd Mr and Mrs McKenzie and 3rd Mr and Mrs Collins. The Wednesday Fourball Better Ball Stableford was won by Mr Todd and Ms Henn, 2nd Mr and Mrs James and 3rd place went to Mrs and Mrs Freshwater. The weather was very wet and not the best conditions for golf but everyone completed the 18 holes.
Our thanks to Mr Todd who made a point of complimenting our staff, the food and condition of the golf course. A special mention to Neville Griffin who organised the competitions.
We hope to see all the guests later in the year at other Thorpeness events.

News: 50 Years as a Professional

Head Professional at Thorpeness Frank Hill has just celebrated fifty years as a member of the PGA, marked by a special event along with other professionals at The Belfry.
Frank started his career at Sherwood Forest going on to Selsdon Park, Lark Valley,Great Yarmouth and Caister, Eaton Norwich and Caldecott Hall golf clubs before taking up his place at Thorpeness.
He has played on the PGA European Seniors Tour for several years.
Our best wishes to Frank

News: Didn't they do well?

January 9th 2012
The first Mixed Couples Golf Break of the year got off to a perfect start with warm sunny weather on all three days. Most of the couples had visited Thorpeness before so it nice to catch up with friends and welcome any newcomers.
Tuesday’s competition was a 4 ball betterball stableford and on Wednesday it was greensomes.
Two couples did exceptionally well. Mrs and Mrs Christie took first place on both days and Mr and Mrs Aylmer took second place on both days. Over the many years that we have held special event this is the first time that this has happened. Third place on Tuesday went to Mr and Mrs Foster and on Wednesday to Mr and Mrs Kyle.

We are hoping for the same brilliant weather for 23rd January when we hold the second three night Mixed Couples event for 2012.

News: Golf Club Members Christmas Dinner Dance

Club Captain Chris Scott and his committee have arranged this years' party at Thorpeness Country Club on Saturday 14th January.
The evening starts at 6.30pm with a three course dinner plus coffee and mints served at 7pm. After dinner enjoy dancing to the Kevin Barry Band.

Tickets are limited to 100 guests. All bookings with payment must be made by 4th January.

It promises to be a fun evening Tel 01728 452176 to book and don't forget to select the dishes of your choice from the menu.
Email us

Blog: Americans, flora and fauna

Apart from my very busy schedule, October gave me the opportunity of getting to know a few new friends. At the beginning of the month I received a telephone call from a firm called Bernhard they manufacture grinding machines for mowers and had a small problem and wondered whether I could help. They had asked nine customers from America over on a visit. I was asked if the men could come and visit a typical British golf club and I was only too happy to help. I arranged for coffee and sat down with them and gave a brief history of the course and Thorpeness village followed by a course walk. They were very impressed with the course and its surroundings and wished that they had brought their golf clubs with them. We left the best of friends and promises of visits with their families in the near future.

The end of October brought the Woodwose Festival. The golf club had liaised with Suffolk Coastal to give a course walk followed by a cream tea. My old mate Doctor Ray Hardinge was seconded onto the team. To say that he knows a lot about the flora and fauna would defiantly be an understatement. He has in his possession personal journals that document the wildlife on and around the golf course for nearly thirty years. It is rumoured that he knows all the animals and insects by their Christian names as he has caught the in various devices set on the course during the said thirty years. Hotel guests have mentioned about seeing strange blue lights in the middle of the night and sighting a strange figure walking the course, but do not worry dear reader we are not being invaded by aliens from another world, it is Ray with his moth traps out doing another count. Ray volunteered to take the walk and fourteen intrepid individuals dressed in Kangol and suitable walking attire and disappeared down one of the many footpaths that cross the course. After much searching on my behalf they surfaced at the far end of the course just about to turn back to the hotel. Everyone had enjoyed the walk and Ray’s commentary but none of the indigenous fauna had been seen. (Probably knew that Ray was about and did not want to be caught again)

News: Congratulations Trish

During October we have been encouraging our golf guests to receive our newsletter by email; we like to keep in touch. Collecting email addresses is not always easy as some people worry about their information being given to a third party. That is not our policy we keep things to ourselves.

On 28th October we held a draw from all the email addresses collected over the month with the winner receiving a £40 gift voucher to use at Thorpeness. This month’s winner is Trish Hopkins from Essex so well done Trish your voucher is on its way.

We will continue the monthly draw so if you are planning to visit us don’t forget to pop into reception and give us your details. Alternatively you can sign up here on the website.

Come and see us soon!

Blog: It is all about the team work!

I am very honoured and fortunate to be working with one of the best teams of greenkeepers that I have ever known. It has been said that I treat my team as though they were my family, which in a way they are.

Each member have their own considerable attributes and when required gel together to make a very efficient unit. Treat your team with respect and they will reciprocate. Do not make yourself look foolish by sitting in the bar telling everyone what a wonderful person you are and that the sun shines out of your posterior or stand at the greenkeepers complex in the morning watching your watch so you can issue verbal warnings for the slightest misdemeanour.

I have heard many remarks made by golfers about how lucky the greenkeepers are working out in the fresh air, in reply I just nod my head, smile and make my way back to the golf course thinking of skin cancer in the summer months and standing by the 10th green on a January morning with a wind chill factor of minus 14 degrees centigrade hoping that some of my extremities do not freeze and drop off.

My job is to show leadership, give direction, create a happy working environment and ensure that all the materials, logistics and personal protective equipment are in place to allow the team to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. The team I lead is only a small part of the Hotel, the heads of departments that I work with are another great group of individuals all I regard as my friends, and they lead very dedicated teams of their own. We all work closely together to provide the unique experience that is 'Thorpeness'.

In closing you may be the best greenkeeper in the world but unless you have the support of your team you might as well be one of the worst. Also there is no I in a team.

Ian, Head Greenkeeper

News: Tweet and share when you are playing golf!

We are pleased to announce that we have finally launched our tweet spot!

The tweet spot is there to remind you to tweet and share those amazing golf pictures with your family and friends.

Follow our Twitter and Facebook page to be up-to-date with the exclusive news and offers. Also, share your experience with us - fantastic prizes await you if you post your pictures onto our Facebook page.

See you online folks!

Blog: Don’t blame the course...

It is my job as Head Greenkeeper to provide the golfers that play Thorpeness a fair but demanding golf course. How many times have you heard comments from other players that the greens are too slow or too fast or there is no sand in the bunkers or too much sand in the bunkers? Recently I was asked at a committee meeting why we had put sand to a depth of eight inches in the left hand green side bunker on the tenth. The next day Christopher one of our professionals accompanied me to the said bunker with a ruler to measure the sand depth, as we arrived a player was about to play from the bunker. Christopher took one look at the guy’s set up and stated that” he will never get out of the bunker playing a shot like that” and surprise…surprise that is exactly what happened. The player’s golf ball landed on the edge of the bunker and rolled back into the sand. The golfer who had not noticed our arrival smashed his club down on the turf and exclaimed “b***** typical no sand in the bunkers” at this point Christopher walked up behind him and told him what he had said to me when we arrived on the scene, a very sheepish golfer walked off and joined his fellow players. Christopher and I then measured the sand, we found that up the face of the bunker there was ¾ of an inch and at the back the sand depth was 2 inches mainly due to all the golfers raking the sand back when they tidy up after playing out. We spent a few minutes pushing the sand forward to give a uniform depth of 1 ½ inches and left. On our way back we checked several others and came to the conclusion that the average depth of sand in our bunkers was 1 ½ to 2 inches, which is more than enough to make good shot. The morale of this tale is that you as a golfer must match your golfing skills to the course that is provided on that day, if the conditions are fair or foul, the greens are fast or slow or the sand is dry or wet as long as the greens are true, it is up to you to make the best score you can. If you can’t, please do me a favour and have a lesson with the professional.

Ian, Head Greenkeeper

Blog: Get to know our golf course...

For the 59 years I have existed on this planet, 52 of those years I have been involved in one way or another with the golfing industry. My greenkeeping career started in 1974 and I have worked on many great courses in the southeast of England. The one thing that has bugged me throughout my working life is the stigma aimed at golf courses by the environmental lobby. The course I manage at the moment is smack bang in the middle of a heavily farmed area both arable and livestock. I maintain that instead of being labled destroyers of the environment the golf course should be looked on as an oasis of wild life, they offer various habitats from heathland to heavy clay and from dry to very wet, all with their own special flora and forna. I can boast that Thorpeness has won several awards over the last few years and it makes me laugh when I hear on radio 4 a wildlife programme with the presenter explaining to the listeners how difficult it was to spot a Chinese barking deer and had spent most of the programme traipsing around the countryside looking for said animal, well if he wants to find one come with me one morning and he will probably view at least half a dozen in twenty minutes. Ray our course environmentalist has listed many species of animals, birds, insects, plants and fungi that can be found within the boundary of the course, some of which are very rare. We do not as supposed throw huge amount of nitrogen about to make the grass grow or spray thousands of litres of noxious chemical to kill off anything that may or may not cause damage to the course. On the contrary I manage the golf course with the help of Mother Nature and not against her. So before you condemn me as a environmental demon come and join me at 5am and listen to the boom of the bitten as he calls for his mate and the shrill cry of the oyster catcher as I disturb his foraging on the 18th fairway as he hunts for his breakfast of earthworms.

Ian, Head Greenkeeper