Many members of Sheffield’s business community are known for their fondness to wind down with a short golfing break but often lack the time to travel far.
A solution lies just one hour’s drive from the city in the heart of Lincolnshire at the Forest Pines Spa & Golf Resort which offers a number of packages to suit most needs.
The resort has 27 holes of golf, a health centre, spa and a recently-refurbished hotel rebranded under the DoubleTree by Hilton banner, so you can simply play golf and get back home the same day, or combine a round or two with a bit of pampering and an overnight stay.
In other words it’s a perfect place for a corporate day out or an indulgent weekend break with family and friends.
The resort is in easy reach of Sheffield, and it’s motorway or dual carriageway all the way from Park Square to the hotel lobby, situated on the old Roman road Ermine Street, just outside the historic market town of Brigg.
Golfers who know Forest Pines vouch for the quality of the three sets of nine that weave, as the name suggests, though some majestic mature trees. Fairways are lined with some healthy specimens which have easily survived the constant battering from golf balls hit in the wrong direction.
It’s often described as “The Woburn of the North” which is stretching things a little, but it does have a maturity that belies its relative youth. Surrounded by 190 acres of woodland the course opened as recently as 1996.
Of the three loops of nine – Forest, Pines, and Beeches, the first two are better in my opinion. The Beeches is a strategic thinking golfer’s loop, which you really need to play more than once to get to know the required shot making. An example is the 2nd, a short par four with a dog-leg to the right. From the tee it easy to pick the wrong line and what seems a perfect shot annoyingly ends up in the trees.
Forest and Pines are excellent, providing a level of quality and variety which will make you want to come back to play them again. Relatively flat, they are easy to walk and the good draining soil ensures they are playable for most of the year.
The 3rd 4th and 5th holes on the Forest loop provide a good snap shot of the course as a whole. Hole three is a nasty par 5 with a dogleg left tee shot. The water channel running along the left of the fairway cuts across in front of the green making a long second shot almost unthinkable. The 4th, a very short par 4 need a very accurate tee shot to the right of the fairway or you will find yourself blocked by large trees.
The following hole, my favourite on the course, is a par 5 to a sunken green. A good drive will provide the opportunity to go for the green but what you cannot see is a heather clad bunker in front of a very narrow green, so go for broke here at your peril.
Forest Pines has been rated one of the leading UK winter courses and has hosted numerous competitions including the R&A Boys Home Internationals, British Blind Open and the PGA four-ball Championships 2009-2013.
It was also the winner of the 2018 Today’s Golfer ‘best golf course in the east of England’ award.
The hotel has 188 bedrooms, a health club and spa, a conference and events centre and three restaurants. The refurbishment is of high quality and the bedrooms as well as spacious are well appointed with large comfy beds.
Restaurant quality, which can be average at best in some golf resorts, is also good with more than adequate evening meals and a very good full English or continental breakfast.
Forest Pines was one of five Q Hotels properties rebranded under the DoubleTree by Hilton name under a franchise agreement between the group’s owner, Aprirose and Hilton.
