Dulwich & Sydenham Hill Golf Course

It doesn't look promising on the map, surrounded as it is by the urban sprawl of south London. Tower Bridge is less than 5 miles to the north and it's another 10miles to the capital's southern outskirts. Check it on GoogleEarth and it looks cramped; hemmed in by Dulwich College, allotments, and all but bounded on two side by the infamous south circular road.

But, nestling under Sydenham Hill, the course is cunningly laid out to make the best use of space, and although it's neither the longest or hardest track you'll play, it will give you a good game for your money. But then Harry Colt always did know what he was doing. The club – to their credit – continue investing to keep the course a challenge. A new bunker here, a tee pushed back there mean you can't be complacent. And despite being close to the heart of London, the surroundings are surprisingly peaceful. By the time you've finished, you'll be hard pressed to remember if you've heard a car pass by or a plane fly overhead.

The par 3 first is a stiff opener. A long downhill shot requires an accurate iron and a good judge of length to get on to a green which slopes away from you. Tricky enough when conditions allow you to hold the green, and very testing when it's hard and dry. The next holes take you into the “bottom� of the course containing the four least interesting holes, but the layout means you play them two by two and water hazards and out of bounds ensure they are no pushover.

The fourth is the first par 5 and although not that long, it is blind from the tee and the route to the fairway is narrow, guarded by trees either side. Long hitters may well be on in two, but a birdie is by no means guaranteed. Subtle contours on the green require a careful read to get close or down. As is true on all the greens since contouring is used to good effect throughout the course.

Slopes and doglegs keep the course interesting, and missing a green can cost you dear. A fine example is the 9th, a short par three of only 145 off the whites. The sloping green is narrow, out of bounds hard on the right, and a bank steep enough to ski down on the left. Miss it at your peril.

As you go round, keep an eye on the view. The course rise a little above the Thames flood plain and so the whole of London - Canary Wharf, St Pauls, the Gherkin, the Eye, Wembley's new arch in the west – all stretch out before you.

The Plateau, 13th is one of the few par fours longer than 400 yards off white and has a devilishly tricky slope to the green. The Gap, 14th, is another testing par 3 guarded all round by bunkers and a three tiered green which slopes every which way. Par is an excellent score if you don't get very close with your tee shot.

The 15th is the longest hole on the course and played over the crest of the hill and under the noses of the members in the clubhouse. Two more holes in “the bottom� bring you to the last. At about 220 yards in a straight line, this par 4 may seem an easy eagle chance, but you'll need plenty of loft on the club to get it both up the slope and over the trees. The more ambitious player may well try for it but the safer route around the dogleg is likely to be the more rewarding option.

As you shake hands on the final green, don't forget to take in that magnificent view again. Better still, have a restorative on the clubhouse terrace, re-live your game and watch the sun set over the greatest city in the world. Urban golf can be fun!

So on November the 15th, I set off with 5 mates on my first ever golfing holiday, destination Florida! A nice flight time just after lunch from Manchester, with no transfers, straight to Orlando International. To say I was excited was an understatement!

As there were 6 of us we rented a villa on Windsor Hills and it was easily the best house i've ever been in! 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, Pool table, hot tub, pool and 50 inch TV - Perfect for 6 lads! But we had a problem, how would we determine who got which room? So...

.....we had a mini comp before we went to decide who would get first pick of the bedrooms. Stableford around our home course, Highest points scorer would get first pick and lowest points scorer got the left overs! I was lucky enough to come out on top, i therefore picked the room which had a bathroom that required a full wedge to get from end to the other, and a bed which could easily fit four people, which sadly didn't happen as im not Kid Rock!

So onto the golf. We played 7 courses in 7 days but had one day off to go to Sea World and played two rounds on one day. We played:

Grande Pines
Metro West
Mystic Dunes and Championsgate
Eagle Creek
Disney Magnolia
Crooked Cat at Orange County

To raise a bit of money for charity we did a ball sweep for the members at our club, £1 a go and guess how many balls we would loose. Quite hard to determine as we had three golfers all under 6 handicap and three between 10 and 13, all playing courses we had never played before. The winning total was 76 but after day one it looked as if it would be alot higher as we lost 22 balls round Grande Pines!! I managed to loose only 2 all holiday, one on the first hole and one at the second hole at Grande Pines, meaning I haven't lost a ball for 124 holes! This is kind of down to luck as when I hit a bad shot it seemed to end up ok?!

After the 7 rounds we had "The King of Floria" which again I was lucky to win by 18 shots, something I was quite chuffed about as I do tend to get some stick from the lads so was nice to get one up on them!

The holiday cost us just over £1000 each, which if you went to europe and played the standard of courses we did, would of cost alot more!

So onto the courses, which was favourite?! Hard to pick due to the high standard of them all but I think I have my winner!?!

Its not Grande Pines. A testing course, very tight with tricky greens. Very tough opening to the holiday but a superb course and good value. I had 22 points round here but was suffering from illness and jet lag, however this was not the lowest!!

Its not Metro West. A course which every year hosts US Open regional qualifying and had the best greens on the trip. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, quite open in places and was nice to feel like you weren't being eaten alive! I managed 33 round here which won top score for the day, Happy days!

Its not Championsgate. Designed by Greg Norman and host the Father/Son challenge every year which they were setting up stands for when we were there. Again I managed 32, probably the easiest of the courses we played even though it wasn't easy, best club house but stroke indexes all over the place!

Its not Magnolia. The course I was most looking forward to playing due to watching it on TV every year for the Disney Classic. I managed 35 points here and played really well for 35, missing only 1 fairway. Great course but at $140, was slightly over priced compared to the other courses in the area. I was also amazed that after finishing your round, the clubhouse and bar were a short drive away! This was disappointing and out of the seven courses we played, i'd rank it the worst. I say worst, it was still good!

Its not Eagle Creek. A new-ish course with a great finishing hole but again holes with incorrect indexes. Alot of holes similar to each other which meant the course was a little bit repetitive. Superb food in the bar after and worth a visit. I managed 34 points here and didn't really play that well for 34.

Its not Crooked Cat at Orange County. The host of Q School finals for the PGA Tour and has a 360 driving range where you smash balls into a big bowl! The course was in great shape and was a good challenge. I managed 40 points here but didn't play as well as i did at Magnolia. The best pro shop on the trip and would go back again.

The winner was Mystic Dunes. They probably had the hardest greens i've ever putted on and all the holes were a proper challenge. Great club house, pro shop and after the round you got a free sarnie or hot dog, plus a pepsi and a bag of crisps, sorry chips?!! I managed 32 here and had to battle for every single point!

I would also recommend the following tips when on holiday in America:

1 - Go to an Edwin Watts or any other golf shop and try get your hands on some vouchers for the courses. I bought the new Titleist 909 D2 Driver for $350 plus a free grip and they gave us loads of discount vouchers for the courses we were playing - stuff like 20% off green fees, free goodie bag etc

2 - If you want to buy golf gear over there, compare the prices before you go! Some things are cheaper by quite some distance but some bits are more so know your stuff before you go!

3 - Book flights early. We paid £400 for ours with Virgin from Manchester to Orlando International but booked in March and went in November so got a good price on flights.

4 - Get someone to do a savings Kitty. We put £5 each away every week and it meant the wallet didn't take too much of a pounding! This went towards food on a night and "Lads shops" for the villa (Beer, Crisps, Beer and Crisps)

5 - Play some rounds early. On the Friday we played Eagle Creek at 7.30am and then went to Islands of Adventure. There were no queues, I didn't have to wait to go on the Incredible Hulk which I think is the best rollercoaster i've ever been on! Playing golf early also means you don't get held up as you set the pace!

6 - And last but not least! Always carry some ID! As im 23 and was the youngest on the tour, I didn't take my driving license as I wasn't going to be driving. This meant that when I got ID'd in a chinese on our last night, I had to drink Lemonade instead of Coors Light! And to make things worse it came in a pink glass!

Parkstone golf club, Dorset

Probably the best golf course I have ever played, the 6241 yard course doesnt read like a long course when looking at the scorecard but when you are faced with the holes you know its going to be one those days when you cant wait to get back into the clubhouse.
The glorious heathland style course is at its best in the peak of summer, there are many lakes and streams that would have gathered up many balls since the opening of the course in 1909 designed by Willie park junior. The asthetics of the course are outstanding with with views over Brownsea island and Poole harbour, but the dense pine trees which tower over you when you are taking your shot cause the problems.
Allthough the course is relatively short it plays very long i found when playing it for the first time. Standing on the tee of most of the holes noting much can be senn aprt from the lis if deep bunkers, the pine trees which are guarenteed to block your ball flight if you end up amungst the jungle and finally the heather that lines the fairways is thick and takes strong wrists to even move the ball a few yards. The best thing i liked about the course is the fairways allthough there wasnt much of them some only 10-20 yards wide at the narrowest point, were in pristine condition the didnt sit down and you could realy zip the ball off cleanly.
When I played in July in a junior open, the wind was blowing and of course it was raining, my game plan was to play irons and fairways off the tee but this was a bad idea as the approach i left myself were of a huge distance and i was struggling to reach the greens in regulation. Only the straighters of hitters are likely to be successful at this great golf club.
After my round I walked into the clubhouse I was suprised to see that the current leading score was a gross 65 with the second best only an 85 but i wan not to be in with a shout of winning as I shot a 99 with a flake playing off a 10 handicap of which i have reduced to single figures for the first time in the last couple of weeks. As you leave the grand car park you know this wont be the last time you vist this great club, and i would truly reccomend this course if you are prepared to lose a few golf balls.