Harleyford Golf Club

We played Harleyford last week and really enjoyed it. We found the course quite challenging but let me mention the Folley at the 14th green & 15th tee....beautiful! After our round we had lunch and a few glasses of Prosecco and we really enjoyed our day at Harleyford. The staff was very friendly and both the food was great so was the Prosecco:-) We are definitely coming back:-)

I think this place is wildly under rated by reviewers here. For a start a previous contributor described the course as parkland, it isn't! It's a down-land course designed for hard bouncy conditions. Fairway irrigation would therefore be anathema. The greens are large and full of tricky undulations all over the place, i'm a bad putter but enjoyed the challenge. Also the course goes from being very good on the front to outstanding on the back nine, seriously the 12th is gorgeous and the 14th is a lovely tricky but drivable par 4 with loads of risk and for others perhaps reward! My favourite though is 17. It's a par 5 that can be got on in two but the drive is all important as a large Oak guards the right side of the fairway, brilliant design! Play here - you'll love it!

Played here August 10. An update on my previous report . On my previous visit the course was in lush condition but this dry summer has hit this course hard .Driving in i thought that the 2nd fairway looked suspect & this turned out to be the case as the fairways were really dry & scruffy .No mower or fairway edge definition gave an unkempt feel .You can't really blame the course for the weather but it was surprising that no fairway watering was put in initially . I think that the course is going to take a long time to recover . Although i played well i didn't really enjoy the course .It feels like a long walk round & although in a nice setting it's fairly mundane. We played on a nice summers midweek evening but there was hardly anyone around the clubhouse afterwards, which is starting to feel a bit jaded (stains on carpets). Am unlikely to return. Kevin B.

This is a parkland course on the side of the valley above the Thames. Although very close, you never see the river from the course. The course is interestingly laid out, including existing mature trees which makes it appear more well established than it is. A good mixture of holes using the natural countours. Excellent, large greens, though when we played the fairways weren't at their best. Although there seems to be a lot of land a surprisingly large number of holes seem to get in each other's way, both from the tee and on approaches to the green; the worst offender being the 7th tee where you drive straight over the 6th green. There are numerous long winded warning signs explaining where you need to be careful. The complex has up market pretensions, but the golf course, although good, isn't up to the standard you would expect for the summer visitor green fee they charge,(£40 mid week, £50 Friday and £65 at weekends in 2009). Certainly worth playing if you can get a good discount deal.

Played here midweek April 06 (£22 using a county card). Contemporary parkland course on the Harleyford estate.There's an air of exclusivety as you go through the security gatehouse to get into the estate but the atmosphere ,although moneyed is relaxed & friendly . The sort of place where you don't get any riff raff but without the snobbery. The course is reasonable.It's very well manicured & although the greens didn't run as fast as they looked they ran very true .The fairways were very lush & were lovely to hit off . It's not the most challenging course as it's fairly open with few bunkers & a little bit bland It's also quite tiring & there's a lot of walking imbetween greens & tees. Excellent classy clubhouse. A relaxing place to play but i wouldn't pay the full normal green fee. Kevin B.

Harleyford is a nice course but I agree with the previous poster, it is overpriced for what it offers. The course managers consider their course to be at the higher end of the market so careful what you wear. Still, you should enjoy your round here.