Minchinhampton Golf Club (Old Course)

Great days golf, just pure fun, requiring many challenging golf shots. Played it a few times this year, only £15 on county card, probably play here more than my home club, never get bored. Food very good as is the welcome. Greens putt very true and have quite a few slopes, the downhill putts are surprisingly fast. Seriously thinking about traveling 25 miles and making it my home club, did not see this coming.

Although this course will never win any prizes for today's modern conditioning, I've never known it to be bad condition though, it certainly is better designed than most courses, this course has all the challenge any skilled golfer could want. Most golfers these days like stripey fairways and greens where the ball stops on a sixpence and then screws back 10 feet, what's wrong with feeding the ball up to the hole with maximum precision, this is Minch Old, give me that all day long.

What an absolute pleasure of a round. It's nice to see courses like to this making a resurgence and being appreciated for the gems they really are. I for one will shout loudly and proudly about the experience on offer here. Golf on the sort of land never to see a bulldozer, this is for the purists out there. Cattle provide a cheap means of maintaining the rough , as seems to be an old trend which is regaining popularity around the country. And courtesy of the animals, just £19 for a round. Unbelievable.

Don't let anyone put you off, this is a very enjoyable days golf. Nearest you'll get to a links test in the Cotswolds and very true greens. Not a a bunker in sight, but plenty of hollows to make the serious golfer scratch their heads. Food was very good as well. It has a holiday type feel to the place. We quite happily played 36 in a day and would do it all again. Very highly recommended.

I was lucky enough to play a round on this wonderfully eccentric course on the evening of September 19 2006, where I had what was for me a golfing first (no not a hole in one; well not quite). The course is an old-fashioned gem, on common land and covered in cows. Teeing off on the par 3 14th I noticed a small herd of cattle between me and the pin. On closer inspection, I saw they were actually on the green. Luckily they weren't by the pin, so, having missed green and herd with my tee shot, I chipped on. I don't believe there are many courses like this left. The holes used to cross the roads that go through the course and had to be redisgned so as not to, but you can still feel rather close to the traffic. The course remains very picturesque - particularly the par 3 8th and 16th holes and the valley views from the 9th to the 12th. I don't think I've ever been on a course that has so many Anglo-Saxon earthworks per hole either (at least that's what I assume they are). The £16 green fee was nice too.