Newlands or Slade Valley?

Delbhoy74

Hi,looking to play either slade valley or newlands this week. What would be the better of the two in condition of greens,difficulty etc. Any input would be great!

thegen

Delbhoy74 wrote: »

Hi,looking to play either slade valley or newlands this week. What would be the better of the two in condition of greens,difficulty etc. Any input would be great!

Personal choice would be Newlands. Try SouthCounty as well. Slade is quite hilly.

ShriekingSheet

I've played both a few times. Newlands is a very nice old fashioned parkland, if a little bit boring. Slade is a very hilly par 69, with a couple of great holes and great views, but some slightly crap holes too. Newlands would be better in terms of condition/upkeep, though in mid-summer, SV seem to have a knack for getting their greens up to an incredible speed, just for a brief few peak weeks though.

Both are worth a game though.

heavyballs

i don't rate either but as it's a handy walk you'd have to choose Newlands,i wouldn't get out of my bed to play either tbh

Delbhoy74

Thanks people,nothing booked as yet so will look around teetimes.

madds

Newlands would be my choice. They had added some new fairway bunkers on the opening holes when I was last there in May '09 which were marked G.U.R. but these should be well in play now. Nice clubhouse too.

Russman

Haven't played Newlands in a few years but it was always a decent place to play and I hear they're improving it all the time. Very underrated IMO.

Slade is now par 70 with three new holes added last year on land they bought to the right of the old 12th hole. Still a few crappy holes on the front nine to be sure, but the back nine is now a seriously good nine holes of golf in my humble opinion.

Both are worth a game with Newlands being an easier walk.

@ Heavyballs, not sure I'd agree with the wouldn't get out of bed comment (sure isn't that what forums like this are for ) - a little unfair on two decent courses I think.

copacetic

newlands for me, have played it quite a bit and it's a tightish tree lined parkland with a few really nice holes. No real crap throwaway holes, which is slade valleys problem. 15-18 at newlands is a lovely challenging finishing stretch.

martinrowlands

I am not a member of either, but Slade is now a far superior golf course. Slade is now one of Irelands premier golf courses boasting 3 magnificant new holes and the extension of the 16th(now 17th) makes this a truly great test of golf with some majestic scenery to boot. Newlands on the other hand, has regressed hugely in the last couple of years, they have lost significant amounts of land to both CRH and the roadworks. The course is now, sadly, a rather cobbled together affair with many holes now using "temporary" greens all year round. The course is also much shorter now(didnt think it was possible) with plenty of mickey mouse holes. Definitly Slade for me, no contest.

copacetic

martinrowlands wrote: »

I am not a member.

lol! that statement would not appear to be consistent with the laughable one below!

martinrowlands wrote: »

but Slade is now one of Irelands premier golf courses .

heavyballs

Russman wrote: »

@ Heavyballs, not sure I'd agree with the wouldn't get out of bed comment (sure isn't that what forums like this are for ) - a little unfair on two decent courses I think.

eh i thought this forum was about opinions(honest ones) and that's what you got
if i replied to every comment i didn't agree with or thought was unfair i'd have to give up work and spend my days on boards
get over it,i stand by my comment 100%

Russman

Absolutely, its all about honest opinions, if we all felt that same about things how boring that would be. I wasn't picking a row or anything, I simply gave my opinion on your comment so i don't think there's anything to "get over". You're perfectly entitled to your opinion as I am mine.

Just interested to know what your point of reference is if you don't rate either course, thats all. In my opinion both are decent members courses. Of course they don't compare to some of the newer, bigger, expensive developments such as, say for example, a Powerscourt, Carton House, Druids Glen/Heath, Luttrellstown etc etc but for old style member courses in Dublin I think they're both fine. Neither promotes itself as a "championship" layout (whatever that means) and thats not what you get when you play either/both.

Apologies for mistaking the forum as a place for debate/discussion.

ShriekingSheet

Russman wrote: »

Just interested to know what your point of reference is if you don't rate either course, thats all. In my opinion both are decent members courses. Of course they don't compare to some of the newer, bigger, expensive developments such as, say for example, a Powerscourt, Carton House, Druids Glen/Heath, Luttrellstown etc etc but for old style member courses in Dublin I think they're both fine. Neither promotes itself as a "championship" layout (whatever that means) and thats not what you get when you play either/both.

It's decent for an old style member's course in Dublin? I don't agree with that. Grange, Milltown, Castle, Clontarf, Skerries, Dunlaoghaire (old), Woodbrook, Beech Park, Old Conna are the logical points of reference I assume Heavyballs means, and what you mean by old style member's courses in Dublin, and it's not as good as any of those in my opinion.

Some of them may be as short as SV, but the likes of Milltown and CLontarf have awesome greens, and the whole place is maintained to a great standard. They're also well laid out so despite new technology, they've stood the test of time anyway.

I play the course every year, and it's grand, but I'd find it hard to argue with someone who said it was shyte.

martinrowlands wrote: »

I am not a member of either, but Slade is now a far superior golf course. Slade is now one of Irelands premier golf courses boasting 3 magnificant new holes and the extension of the 16th(now 17th) makes this a truly great test of golf with some majestic scenery to boot. Newlands on the other hand, has regressed hugely in the last couple of years, they have lost significant amounts of land to both CRH and the roadworks. The course is now, sadly, a rather cobbled together affair with many holes now using "temporary" greens all year round. The course is also much shorter now(didnt think it was possible) with plenty of mickey mouse holes. Definitly Slade for me, no contest.

When will people learn that posts like this do more harm for a clubs image than good. Some could argue Slade Valley is a charming little track on a nice calm day. It has a buzzing membership too. But others could argue it's a short course, with one poxy par 5, up, down and accross hills all day long. It has 4 or 5 genuinely good holes.

Overall, relative to courses in the immediate area, imo it's a cut above Dublin Mountain or Hazel Grove, on a par with Dublin City and Blessington Lakes, and a cut below Newlands and Beech Park.

martinrowlands

copacetic wrote: »

lol! that statement would not appear to be consistent with the laughable one below!

May I ask when you last played the course (I played a Wednsday open last week by the way) ? As you would be amazed at the difference the new holes have made

PhilipMarlowe

If you put up a post that paints a course in a glowing light and reads like a marketing blurb then you'll need a thicker skin when someone strongly disagrees with your point of view... particularly when you registered to create that post... and particularly when you have no problem in taking apart another course with what appear to be a few low blows of your own.
Having played neither course, I will do my upmost to avoid Slade because this type of 'promotion' gets my goat.
At least the two boys taking lumps out of each others opinion with 7 irons can help the OP to form a better opinion of his own because there's proper debate in there somewhere.

Russman

I agree with more or less everything said above, I guess I didn't agree with the sweeping statement originally made.

Obviously everyone's opinion on a course will differ and I'm not going to compare Newlands or SV to each of the courses named as we'd be here all day !:) and as was said I wouldn't like to unfairly criticise a club I may know nothing about.

Newlands have had their problems with boundaries AFAIK etc and SV is on a mountain as opposed to, say, the Castle or Milltown, so taking these factors into account I reckon both are good layouts. Condition wise, yes, Slade Valley can fall down sometimes but they've done massive work on drainage in the last few years and in the summer the greens are as good as anywhere.

I guess it comes down to what people expect from a course. I know some friends who have recently taken up golf in the last few years and always took advantage of deals and tee-times.ie etc to play really good courses before they joined anywhere and now anywhere that isn't as good as Mount Juliet they regard as crap - its that attitude I think is unrealistic.

I don't want to take lumps out of anyone its all a bit of debate about courses we each like/dislike.....no harm or offence intended to anyone.

martinrowlands

Licksy wrote: »

If you put up a post that paints a course in a glowing light and reads like a marketing blurb then you'll need a thicker skin when someone strongly disagrees with your point of view... particularly when you registered to create that post... and particularly when you have no problem in taking apart another course with what appear to be a few low blows of your own.
Having played neither course, I will do my upmost to avoid Slade because this type of 'promotion' gets my goat.
At least the two boys taking lumps out of each others opinion with 7 irons can help the OP to form a better opinion of his own because there's proper debate in there somewhere.

I actually work in marketing so perhaps its in my nature

Kevinmarkham

martinrowlands wrote: »

I actually work in marketing so perhaps its in my nature

I work in marketing too, but your 1st post was a promotional masterpiece. And, as with most marketing blurbs, a touch on the embellished side.

That said, I'd play Slade Valley ahead of Newlands. It's got more excitement and fun, some thrilling holes and shots up and down the hillsides, plus the very real danger of being hit by a golf ball. What more could you ask:eek:

If you're looking for a relaxing game of golf that is of decent quality but not too much excitement, then Newlands is a safe bet.

As with any course comparison, it depends what you're after.