Gillyflower Golf Opening Weekend.
After 5 years of hard work and ceaseless toil behind the scenes, Gillyflower Golf course is open at last. On a beautiful morning in early June we welcomed our first players to take a bite out of our uniquely beautiful golf course and test themselves against the challenge of its ecological twist. With their first tentative steps onto the green, there was golf in Lostwithiel first the first time in a long while.
At ten past eight yesterday morning, honorary chairman Nico Raubenheimer, Sir Tim Smit, and our head of golf Joe Micklethwaite stepped onto a course bathed in glorious early morning sunshine for the Gillyflower Golf inaugural tee off. The stark crack of a driver striking rang out as the first balls were sent hurtling down the fairway, champagne corks flew and in the quiet before our first guests arrived the course was officially opened. With that, golf was brought back to Lostwithiel for the first time since 2014.
With the loss of Lostwithiel Golf and Country club 8 years ago, our beautiful patch of land had fallen into disarray. Overgrown, the Lostwithiel golf course was decimated by scrub and gorse. It was a far cry from the glorious mown fairway’s our players saw yesterday and risked being lost forever without intervention.
Since stepping in, we’ve brought the course back with a major facelift, creating a course that’s as enjoyable to play as it is astounding to look at . Comprising 9 fantastic holes and 18 cunningly placed tees, it offers a round like no other. Set in the splendor of the Fowey valley, each hole is surrounded by a unique crop of edible fruits, nuts, and vegetables, providing a haven for local wildlife and an extra challenge for our players. Golf gets a bad rep for not being too kind on the planet and it's our mission to create a one of a kind golfing experience that’s easy on the planet and unforgettable for you.
Catching up with a few of our very first players we were keen to find out what their first impressions were.
“The amount of courses that you play that are just up and down and it’s just rubbish whereas here even though it’s a 9 hole course it feels like there’s no two holes that are the same”
we heard from an old member of the Lostwithiel course who was delighted to see golf back in his hometown.
Having played the old Lostwithiel golf course many times, he told us what it was like with our new tee positions and additional features.
“The changes to the old 13th tee bring a little water hazard into play, which actually makes it more playable than before, putting that patch of grass in changes the dynamic of the hole entirely and it looks nice as well, it’s that nice touch.”
Players were quick to remark that whilst beautiful, the Gillyflower Golf course is by no means a walk in the park. The first 3 holes are a definite challenge and our expanded rough meant a touch more concentration than usual was due at times. All that extra risk just made for more reward when they did find the green however, making for a “a familiar course with a challenging twist” as another ex-Lostwithiel member remarked.
Our resident director of golf Joe Micklethwaite was equally as excited to see the players out on the greens as last.
"It has been really exciting to finally see golfers back out on the Gillyflower course. Seeing old members enjoy the course once again, and seeing new golfers discover both 9 hole set ups for the very first time. All of the staff have loved seeing it.”
“We have received so many lovely compliments about the condition of the course, and we will continue to improve and make the course better and better over time. Our greens have been at the forefront of complements, which could have only been made possible from the hard work our greenkeepers Rob and Kev have put into them over the last 12 months.“
The one thing that stood out for most people on the day was just how much of a beautiful golf course Gillyflower is.
It didn’t take long for us to hear that our efforts hadn’t gone amiss, with one player telling us “It looks absolutely superb, the little touches like leaving the old tree and the long grass patches, the bunkers look really nice and well looked after. Just amazing”
Today was the first of many excellent days on our beautiful golf course, but there’s much more coming to Gillyflower in the near future. The orchards of rare Cornish apple trees we take our name from are continuing to bloom and soon we’ll see a host of edible treats springing up along the sides of the greens and fairways. Next year we’re looking to host competitions and see some of the UK’s top golfers test themselves against the Gillyflower 9, and we’ll be bringing fishing to our lake, fondly named Loch McVie.
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