Basingstoke Golf Club

Whilst never likely to rank in the top tier of courses in the county, Basingstoke is nonetheless a superb golf course where an ability to use the ground and play the running game is far more important than being able to hit the thing high. Aficionados will appreciate the empathise on genuine golf skills and the lack of silly eye candy in the form of any artificial nonsense. All in all a very worthy, proper golf course which, with the increasing realisation that many of the over watered Americana tracks of the 1980's were not actually good golf courses, is sure to increasingly attract visitors.

Having just played this course at the beginning of November, I have come to the conclusion that Mr Philips has some sort of axe to grind. Yes there is some traffic noise, but it is not excessive. The late autumn trees were beautiful to look at and certainly didn't need pruning (unless you put your ball behind them). Many of the trees were wonderfully located from a strategic point of view. Dog legs to the right had trees blocking off the right side if you tried to be too greedy. Many of the fairway bunkers are very well positioned to narrow the driving area. Whilst the course does not appear very long overall, there are plenty of tough 400yard plus par fours. After a week of rain, the greens were a bit slow, but then who has fast greens in November. There are plenty of tricky slopes that I am sure in summer would make the course very testing if you placed your approach on the wrong side of the hole. Personally I found the members very pleasant and very friendly. We only paid £21 each using our county card, which represented very good value.

Played here midweek, July 2008. A pleasant surprise. Very enjoyable,well laid out & designed (James Braid) established parkland course.Great variety of specimen trees (reminded me a bit of Hendon in this respect). Nice mix of holes (the only hole i didn't like was the long par 3 12th).Starts & finishes with par 5's which i like.Another plus,which makes a change from modern designed courses which are all about length,was that there were several interesting,risk & reward shortish par 4's (holes 6,8,9 15 & 16).The 245 yard dogleg 8th typifies them ,as you can chose to lay up or go for the green which is riskier. There's a lovely overall feel to the course (similar in some ways to Tandridge ),which a lot of courses don't have. Immaculate course conditioning/presentation & the lush fairways were great to hit off. There are a few undulations here & there but it's laid out & flows in such a way that it's not tiring or a slog .You seem to fly round & before you know it you've finished (fairly compact & would be a good 36 hole society venue). Slight shortcomings were that it's very close to the M3 ,so you here a constant drone & as a collection, the par 3's were reasonable rather than memorable. I'd look forward to playing here again & would have no hesitation in recommending it. Kevin B.

An excellent, very well maintained, mature parkland course. True, fast greens, lots of bunkers to catch even slightly wayward drives and approaches to the green. The ample space between fairways and the mature trees makes you feel you almost have the course to yourself. The only mild criticism I would have is that although it has a lot of excellent holes I couldn't think of a signature hole that had the "wow" factor. The members are to be congratulated on opening up their course to 2-for-1 which makes it affordable to visitors.

With a couple of friends, I have just played at this lovely course on the 2 fore 1 scheme. May I congratulate the club for entering this scheme on an all year round basis which has allowed me and no doubt many others to play at a sensible green fee. The welcome was first class from all concerned, the pro shop, the bar (excellent Adnams!) and the caterers ( very filling "Fat Boy!"). The course itself is a good old fashioned traditional tree lined parkland course with many glorious old trees, which is very reminscent of St Pierre, most of which I either seemed to hit or be behind on the day ! A good test, very good conditions on both fairways and greens, and all in all, one that I would recommend anyone to whilst in the area.

While it may look benign, it is a challenging course - not long - but it needs accuracy to score well. With its wide range of mature and younger trees, the course is a picture-perfect parkland layout but don't let the beauty charm you too much or lull you into a false sense of security; the tree-lined fairways are tight but fair. Thanks to the grounds staff, the greens are excellent, becoming more subtle every year, with particularly interesting putting on the 2nd, 5th, 10th, 11th, 12th 14th, 17th and 18th. With their well-designed, typically narrow necks between long bunkers, most greens pose judgement problems for accurate second shots, even with 150-yard markers. Be brave, go with enough club and crisply hit high, floating approaches usually grip and stay. Cross-cut and cunningly shaped, the fairways are clearly delineated with two cuts of rough and the longer cut holds the ball tightly in its lushness making a cleanly hit recovery difficult. Shaped drives are rewarded but accuracy is the key, rewarding the full range of handicaps Laid down in 1928, but with a very new clubhouse and pro-shop, it is a course to visit and enjoy. P.S. Don’t be fooled by the 2nd – it is longer than it looks!

This is an excellent parkland course with fine greens. It is a test for most golfers, but a most enjoyable one, the course never fails to please. The club house has been upgraded in recent years and is first class.

Greens are fantastic, one of the best parkland courses in the south. NEw pro and Club house in the last 12 months.

As near perfect greens as you could wish for - all year round