Hello and welcome. You've reached Glen of the Downs, a web portal dedicated to golf. On this website, we plan on posting news and updates from the world of golf. Name of the website we got from the Irish golf course that bears the same name, "Glen of the Downs". It's one of my favorite golf resorts in the world. Sadly it recently closed its doors due to financial problems. I've decided to use this website to pay homage to this top-of-the-line golf green. I'm from Scotland, but I've visited Glen of the Downs quite frequently. You can see the full beauty of the golf course in this high-quality promo video on the right. They even used high-quality drones with return home to record this promo. Luckily, drones are not that hard to control, they are very advanced and "smart". Modern-day drones, including DJI Inspire 2 we used here, have a so-called "follow me function". Basically, that function means drone will follow you automatically and you don't need to use the controller at all. It's great for taking aerial photos/videos of you playing golf. I know, it sounds weird, but here's a list of best follow me drones by DronesGlobe. I know, cause one of the managers bragged to me personally during one of my visits It's really a shame that the golf course had to close down its doors. This seems to be the fate of many good golf courses nowadays. People are losing interest in golf since it's considered a luxury, only reserved for old rich CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. People often think drones are for rich people only too, but trust me, that's not the case here! In 2017, there are tens, if not hundreds of relatively cheap and beginner-friendly drones. You can buy them literally everywhere.

Reality is quite different though. I'm a great example of that. My name is Terra Franklin and I'm a 34-year-old photographer from Dunkirk, Scotland. My dad Will is to blame for my love of golf. Growing up my dada would take me to the golf course at least once a month. Other than golf, I love photography, which is my bread and butter, bowling, darts, and snooker. Now I realize that I'm probably an extremely lazy person considering that all the sports that I'm interested in don't require a lot of physical activity. More proof for that is the fact that I recently bought an electric skateboard. I mean, how lazy do you have to be not to go for a regular skateboard, but an electric skateboard instead? I'm a huge nerd for tech and I spoiled myself a little bit, what can I say. Golf courses are another thing that I spoil myself on. Usually, I keep to the UK, but sometimes I venture abroad and check out what kind of golf courses can be found there.

Latest golf course reviews

Golf course review – Woodhall Spa Golf Club

Let’s kick off golf course reviews with one of my favorite golf clubs in England, the Woodhall Spa Golf...

Golf is good for your health

Fun fact of the day

Recent research has showed that during an average golf game the player walks around 4-8 miles throughout the course. Many people don't take golf seriously as a game thinking that it isn't very or at all sporty. This is simply not true. This research has showed that this is simply not true. Walking is a great form of exercise and is still better than doing nothing, just sitting in front of the TV. Now there is scientific proof of that........ READ MORE.

Golfers to watch

Rory McIlroy

FedExCup Champion

Rory is a now a FedExCup champion, and will probably work hard on getting the Career Grand Slam in 2017. He is definitely a player that's going to leave quite the mark on 2017, hence the reason why he's our pick for the player of the month for the month of June. Check out some of his games.

Merger of golf & tech - Cobra King F7 driver

"High tech golf club design for golf nerds"

I already mentioned that I'm a huge tech nerd. It is in part a consequence of my day job. At work I'm surrounded with loads of tech, mainly photography related gadgets and gizmos, but hey, tech is still tech. Photography tech geeks unite. My recent purchase of a beginner friendly electric skateboard shows that I'm expanding my horizons. Another thing that got the nerd in me all tingly was the recently discovered Cobra King F7 driver. Golf players who like the charm of the old timey Persimmon golf drivers will probably notice that there are some similarities between the two. Cobra tries to imitate the retro look and feel of the classic Persimmon drivers, but under the hood these two are completely different animals. Some of the older players might not like Cobra F7 on the count of this fact, but I absolutely love that there is a driver out there that embraces both the old and the new. So what exactly does this new golf club has to offer and what kind of technology is it rocking? Luckily others have already done a pretty bang up job of demonstrating that. Click here to read more.

Blast from the past, Persimmon golf clubs

"Classic golf club design for the ages"

First time that my dad took me golfing we used Persimmon clubs, although I didn't know it at the time. Persimmon golf clubs are one of the most popular golf clubs among the more knowledgeable golfers. They have been around since the 80s, and are a very popular brand among golfers even today. They offer putters, fairways, drivers, you name it. Even though Persimmon golf clubs are very high quality, they are unfortunately not very popular with more famous players on the tour. Persimmon is a very small company, without a huge marketing department. All the golf clubs offered by the company are hand made. More mainstream golf club brands have large manufacturing plants and are relying on huge sale volumes. Persimmon does not have the kind of resources needed to be competition to the big players, nor are they trying to be that. Hand made wooden clubs from Persimmon are all made of real wood.....Read more.

Golf courses that are worth checking out

"Golf course reviews where I talk about the golf courses that I visit"

In my line of work, that of a photographer, I do quite a bit of traveling all over the country. Some people might not like that, but traveling is just what my golf hobby needs. Most of my contracts go to BBC, capturing photos for their local news coverage. However, there is also decent number of weddings, school promotions, anniversaries and other similar events that I also photograph together with my friends Pat and Nick. When I'm covering a wedding there is usually a day of two of downtime, during which I'm free to explore where all the good golf courses are and of course to visit them. What I particularly like is finding hidden gems, less known golf courses which still have a certain charm to them. When I discover something like that you can expect a new article posted in the golf course reviews sections So far I've only done one review, of the famous Woodhall Spa golf club. There's much more coming though, so stay tuned. To do that, make sure you stay subscribed to the golf course review section.

Golf news and event coverage

"Covering the latest news and talking about the UK golf scene"

Glen of the Downs will also have a news section, where I'll try to cover news and happenings in the UK golf scene. Sometimes I'll also cover the PGA tour, who knows. Not a lot of websites are dedicated to golf in the UK, which I think is a shame. We'll hopefully change that. I'm saying hopefully because I'm no professional reporter and I'm limited in time and money, so covering golf events will be limited. Who knows, maybe in the future once Glen of the Downs gets big enough I'll be able to dedicate more time to the website. So far I'll cover just the bigger events, golf tournaments, updates from pro players from the UK, etc. Granted golf in the UK isn't as big as it is for example in the US, but that shouldn't be a reason to ignore it completely and not talk about the major events, like The Open Royal Birkdale. Read more...

Cobra King F7 video review