Overview

I enjoyed the music playing and family-friendly atmosphere but I thought the car parking needed improving for disabled people.

Transport & Parking

I had a parking space booked in car park 3A. It was quite difficult to actually find car park 3A as there were very few signs to let us know where car park 3A was. When we arrived at the car park we were told to put our hazard lights on so the other staff knew that we were looking for disabled parking, I thought that this was a good idea that I've never seen in the past. There is also an accessible shuttle from the train station to car park 3A but I never used this so I can't comment.

Access

I had to book a mobility scooter and pay a £25 deposit and the only thing I would say about this is why do I have to 'book' a mobility scooter? Why can't I just turn up and get one there and then? Just a small problem I had. When I returned the mobility scooter, I was told that the money that I paid as a deposit would be returned to my card on Monday. I felt a better idea would be to pay the deposit upon my arrival and collect the return when I returned the scooter. There were a total of 9 accessible viewing platforms, 1 accessible catering area, 1 accessible bar, 1 area that you can keep your guide dog and also 1 quiet room. I did see at the entrance that there was an accessible golf buggy which you could push your wheelchair on and then they would give you a ride over to the golf course. When we parked our car, we were about 100 meters from the event mobility office so I had to get my dad to pick up my scooter for me and bring it back to me. You have to think, what if my dad wasn't there? How would I get the scooter that I hired? I felt there was many staff in the car park making sure everyone got in okay, they knew I was coming as my scooter was booked to be picked up so couldn't they get 1 of the staff to take the scooter to me? The grass was also quite long in the car park and I was struggling to get through it in my scooter and you wouldn't be able to push a wheelchair through it. On my way to the entrance, I noticed that there was a small plastic ramp to enable wheelchairs/mobility scooters to get down. My problem was that the was raining and the ramp got quite slippy and my scooter starting slipping and when I was talking to my dad about this, an elderly woman lost her footing and slipped down the ramp, proving that the plastic ramp was a danger to everyone. Then we had to go through the entrance, we just went with the biggest queue however I noticed that there were steps and realized that I needed to be in the other queue, I thought that someone should've been there to make sure we got to the right bit. We then made our way to the viewing area for the start and I was disappointed to see that the wheelchair viewing area was full... but it wasn't all bad, moments later an official Solheim cap landed beside me as the staff were throwing stuff into the crowds for the fans :) We then went around the course and I must admit that the accessible viewing platforms were some of the best spaces available. Once we had finished watching the golf we headed back to the spectator village where your toilets and restaurants are. I felt that the platform which you drove on was quite high at about 6 inches from the grass and I was worried in case a wheelchair drove off the edge because that would be quite nasty.

Toilets

There were 6 accessible toilets, 2 changing places toilet and 1 gender-neutral toilet. I went to both changing places toilets but I only went to one accessible toilet, in the spectator village. Both changing places toilets were fantastic, plenty of room inside and everything you need. I cannot fault the changing places toilets having said that, none of the toilet doors were automatic which could cause a problem if someone else didn't open the door for you, however, you needed a member of staff to open the toilet door with a key and they keep the door open for you. The accessible toilet hasn't got a key, I couldn't get in the toilet because someone was in it. Then an able-bodied person walked out and it made me think, why did the changing places toilet have a key but not the accessible toilet?

Staff

Very helpful and very friendly.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

All things considered, It was an enjoyable day out and I would absolutely recommend it as even though golf isn't my favorite sport, I really enjoyed myself :)

Photos