Skysports.com travels to The Grove and experiences luxury both on and off the golf course.
Mark Kendall and Dave Tindall travel to The Grove and experience luxury both on and off the golf course. Dave tees us off....
Shortly after checking into my five-star room, I looked out from the balcony to the course where Tiger Woods won the 2006 WGC American Express Championship and watched a member of the San Francisco 49ers American Football team walk by.
No, this isn't one of Walter Mitty's diary entries, it really is happening. I'll explain. I'm a welcome guest at The Grove in Watford.
I've only been here five minutes since the three-hour drive down from Leeds and already I'm itching to Facebook/Twitter family and friends about what I've experienced so far. However, I'm due down at The Stables for some food so it will have to wait.
I dined there a few years ago with my brother and his wife (Grove members) but on the opposite table tonight is a San Francisco 49er and his young family. The NFL star is tucking into a hearty meal ahead of Sunday's NFL showdown with the Denver Broncos and couldn't look more relaxed. No wonder The Grove has become such a popular base for sports teams in recent years.
Mrs T and I have a London date too. Not Wembley but the Pigalle Club in Leicester Square. A five-minute cab ride to Watford Junction and a 20 minute whizz through to Euston and, in no time at all, we'll be in the heart of the capital.
Jump forward to the following morning and I've woken up in a panic. I've forgotten my golf trousers. All I have with me is jeans and although the club shop offers a range of pants I'm loathe to fork out for another pair when I have plenty at home.
I get a buggy ride from reception to the golf shop where I explain my predicament and mutter something about trying to 'hire' some. "No worries, Sir" says the pro. "We have a relaxed dress code here. You're fine to play in your jeans."
Hurrah! It's a triumph for common sense. So many places - with vastly inferior courses - would have given me the "rules is rules" line and re-opened old wounds I have about golf being stuffy, elitist and stuck in the dark ages. Not The Grove though. Like me they realise that the world isn't going to end just because my legs are covered in one sort of material rather than another.
It's another big tick in the customer satisfaction box and, in its way, sums up the totally positive experience I take away with me.
Mark Kendall, who accompanied me on this trip, gives you the full rundown on the course and how we got on below but I'll just quickly chip-in with a few comments of my own.
Firstly, I had walked some of The Grove's holes back in 2006 when Tiger won the WGC there. I was pushing a pram at the time having just become a dad and I recall a mixture of excitement and terror. Excitement that I could one day tell my son that he was just four months old when he first 'watched' the great Tiger Woods play; terror that he might start wailing during Tiger's backswing.
Seeing the course (in more relaxed circumstances!) for the first time in four years I was surprised how well I remembered so many of the holes. That isn't always the case so it must speak well of how impressively The Grove is designed.
Secondly, when you're playing golf it's always good to know that the lady in your life is having fun too so Mark and I were able to play this immaculately-conditioned course safe in the knowledge that our other halves were also being royally treated as they relaxed in the health spa after some gym and a swim.
True, there was a chance they might be being chatted up or ogled by a San Francisco 49er but I've learned down the years that it's best not to pick a fight with a 7 foot tall man who weighs 20 stone.
Golf completed, we round off our stay with a light lunch in the Lounges - a delightful labyrinth of beautifully decorated rooms where the Earls of Clarendon threw endless lavish house parties for the likes of Queen Victoria and Horace Walpole (wikipedia him as I don't have space to do the man justice in a few words).
In one room a group of business people chew the fat; in another a mother smiles as her two young daughters "played princesses" in the palatial surroundings.
Such luxury comes at a price of course but there are some great golf deals on this winter such as 18 holes, access to the practice area with range balls 30 minutes prior to play and lunch in The Stables for £99.
The Grove is fantastically stylish but without pretension. The service is simply first-class across the board and the staff can't do enough for you.
You'll find full details on the
website, including this description of The Grove that absolutely hits the nail on the head:
"It comprises so many exquisite and quirky elements, you could describe it in different ways... it's a 5 star hotel, a luxury golf resort, a health spa resort, a grand country house hotel. Even Queen Victoria enjoyed regular weekend breaks here. Come and discover it for yourself!"
Now, over to Mark for the course review...
A round at The Grove
Despite having only opened in the summer of 2003, The Grove has already forged a reputation as one of the finest courses in Britain and beyond with the emphasis very much on style and substance.
The joy of this Kyle Phillips-designed 7,170-yard, par-72 lay-out is that The Grove's non-membership policy and mulitple tee options mean anyone can test themselves over a course on which Tiger Woods won the 2006 WGC-American Express Championship.
It quickly becomes apparent how it secured the honour of hosting that event because from the beautifully-manicured tee-areas to the pristine undulating greens the course really is immaculate - and that remains the case all year round.
Myself and Dave are the first group out on what is an ideally clear and crisp morning and, with The Grove mansion providing an elegant backdrop, it really does feel like millionaires' golf.
Getting underway with a couple of relative friendly rolling par-fours, the first real test comes at the third - stroke index one.
Should you require a helping hand look no further than your buggy which boasts in-built GPS and a spoken description of each hole as you pull up to the next tee (and also prompts you at the eighth to put in a food order to collect up at the 'Halfway House' adjacent to the ninth green).
A demanding par-four, the third requires an accurate drive past bunkers which guard the left side of the fairway and a lengthy approach over 'Hell's Lake' to a slightly raised green.
With my approach not having quite crept over the water I escape with what feels a satisfying bogey following a wedge to a ten feet and a solid putt.
It is Dave who steps up next producing his shot of the day as he fires a perfect eight-iron to four feet at the fourth - a par-three sternly guarded by a stream running across the front of the green.
The birdie putt pulls up short of the cup; frustrating no doubt - Dave's face attested to that - but understandable given the seriously fast putting surfaces on which it is often as easy to leave your ball as far past the hole as where you started.
While very much a parkland lay-out, the front nine nevertheless has a linksy aspect with the wide expansive fairways offering ample opportunity to get the driver out, but numerous thoughtfully-placed bunkers ready to punish anything off line.
The two par-fives are particular highlights, especially the ninth - a hole that Woods eagled on three successive days during his 2006 triumph (then it played as the 18th). We are some way from emulating that feat, my three-putt bogey summing up a mixed bag of a front nine.Feeling much more like a parkland trail, the back nine kicks off with a sweeping dog-leg left and a real treat of a driving hole with your tee-shot framed by a variety of imposing trees.
After a solid drive and approach, my putter lets me down with judgement of speed again the culprit as a seemingly comfortable par becomes yet another bogey.
Dave is back on the birdie hunt at the rolling, downhill par-three 13th as his tee-shot plots a perfect line across the contours of the sloping green to come to rest 10-12 feet away from the cup.
Again the putt fails to drop and it's a similar story at the 'Mausoleum', the deceptively long par-three 16th, after my tee-shot flies the cannily-placed bunker short of the green to finish close.
It becomes evident a birdie will not be forthcoming as a final opportunity comes and goes at the straightforward par-five 17th which sweeps its way uphill back towards the mansion.
A three-quarter wedge to 10 feet opens the door, but I'm unable to saunter through with the mental scars inflicted by the greens ensuring my overbold attempt fails to take the break and stays on the high-side.
But putting frustrations aside it is extremely hard not to enjoy The Grove. While oozing quality and being fun to play, the course remains testing without ever being intimidating (unless you're off the back tees that is!).
The attention to detail both on and off the course ensures the experience is a resoundingly positive one, the club-cleaning service offered as soon as you step off the 18th green just one of the touches that ensure you will feel like a pampered pro even if you haven't played like one.
Check out our photo gallery of The Grove.
The San Francisco 49ers certainly seemed to benefit from the Grove experience as they went on to beat Denver 24-16 at Wembley a few days later!
