My Experience
Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club, founded in 1892, holds a special place in my heart. I don’t recall the year of my first visit, but it was around 2010. A friend and former Georgia State University golfer, Ben Taylor, was a member for a period of time while in London for work. I’ve had family living in the London area since 2004. This is the same year I moved from Australia to the United States. Fast forward seventeen years, my older brother is a former Artisan member of the club. Not to mention both my parents have worked there since moving from Australia to London in 2018.
Family aside, the golf professionals have been a tremendous supporter of my golf brand, FLYT Golf and our training aid, the FLYT Sleeve.
The JH Taylor Course
The JH Taylor course at Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club is considered the ‘outer’. In contrast, the club’s shorter Pam Barton layout lies within the confines and is aptly named the ‘inner’.
Although the ‘Outer’ is not long by yardage alone at 6,402 yards, a par 69 and course rating of 72 are testament to the demanding design. As a matter of fact, the course wastes no time catching the golfer’s attention. The opening hole is a beast of a par 3 measuring 225 yards from the tips.
The green favors a shot brought in from left to right, guarded by two well placed bunkers front and middle right of the green. The course offers a great variety of short and long holes, driver not always a necessity. In addition, many of the greens are well bunkered. This puts an additional exclamation on finding the fairway to remain aggressive on approach to the greens.
My personal favorite is the par 3 11th hole playing back to the clubhouse. Playing just 153 yards, a cavernous bunker protects the green in the front, stretching the width of the green. Subtle runoffs on all sides with no bailout and numerous rough covered mounds guarantee a tricky up and down to save par after an errant tee shot.
I look forward to playing both layouts at Royal Mid-Surrey on any family visit to the UK!