Minchinhampton Golf Club (New Courses)

I'm not sure. Played both courses in the one day and, although pleasant enough, there wasn't really any sparkle. You can see why the Cherington course is used as a qualifying venue in so much as it has length, it's well groomed and calls for a few long irons here and there but there's a difference between testing golf and good golf and we just felt these courses were a little short on character. Minchinhampton Old Course, owned I believe by the same people, is where the real fun is to be had. A more natural course you could not wish to find.

Along with Lilley Brook these are the best two courses in the Cotswolds. Both the courses at Minchinhampton New are worth playing, with the Cherington being an excellent attempt at creating an inland links course and the Avening a well designed parkland layout. Both courses have very interesting holes and a great variety of par 3's. When golfers are asked which course they prefer, generally there is a 50 50 split, the courses being so different from each other. If you are planning 36 holes, remember one of the courses is always a 2 ball course, and the club are quite happy for visitors to play off the white tees. The grooming of the course is as good as it gets with many local courses sending their greenkeepers here to get good advice. When the greens are at their best they are super fast and many small burrows now becoming almost Augusta like. The food is always excellent with a variety of dishes. This is a Great days golf indeed.

My wife and I walked on the Avening course as "2fore1" pass holders. The weekend rate was 27.50 each with the pass. The course itself was lovely, with very nice greens all the way around. The course is a parkland course with well established trees bordering most fairways. The most difficult thing was finding the course, it is NOT the Minchinhampton Course on the Nav system, it is in the town of Avening. There are 2 18 hole courses here, as well as the one in Minchinhampton (the "old course"). All in all, this was a very pleasureable day and the "2fore1" rate made it a good value as well. I would come back and play this course or the other course at this complex with pleasure.

My brother and I played the first of our 2008 seasonal series in vary late March on the Cherington Course which is perched between 160 and 170 metres (about 525 to 550 feet in “old money”) on the plateau of the Cotswolds Hills. This provides one of the key elements of our late winter choice of venue, a free-draining course and two days after some very heavy and prolonged rain the course was a pleasure to play. The high elevation and the limestone bedrock are an ideal combination and although this isn’t by any stretch of the imagination a links-style layout it does share the key characteristic of all-year playability. Unlucky for us the greens had just been heavily top-dressed so can’t really add anything to previous comments apart from they were in places very heavily contoured; rather at odds with the general lay of the land. Of the several courses reviewed so far this one had by far the best facilities; the locker rooms were splendid and the “equal-opportunities” lockers a first. Overall, the general classiness of the clubhouse put many others in the vicinity to shame and the bacon baps were good value too. We paid £40 which was ok, in the London area where I play and am a member this would be a snip. Nice driving range but as usual they charge for the balls which I think is just plain mean-spirited … they don’t at my home club in Surrey. On the day we played the yellow tees were pretty much the same as the whites with one or two exceptions so felt we got a fair deal on this front. The golf is fine, nothing to rave about perhaps and I couldn’t quite get the stunning views claim although the constant birdsong accompanying us was nice and there were some very interesting holes; particularly those where the dry-stone walls come into play like the 9th, 11th, 12th and 13th. The wall should not come into play on the 16th but alas it did for me with a snap-hook. The 18th is a fine finish on the Cherington, don’t go in the left hand pot-bunker as I did, had no option but to play sideways and away from the hole. I guess we were unlucky as contrary to Peter Allis and other slow-play bores we don’t want to whizz around somewhere when we will only play there once but we had too as we were pressed from behind the whole time and we waited on every tee-shot and approach. We played on a weekday and unfortunately for us we were the first singles behind a stream of four-balls and behind us were all singles. Yes, we did get one offer of a play through but we would have gone nowhere fast. In short, check if you book (as we did) and if our day was anything to go by after lunch looked better than the morning. Overall, well worth considering if you are in the area and the converted barn clubhouse is a gem in that glorious golden Cotswold Limestone.

There are two 18 hole courses here at the Minchinhampton New Club, The Avening and The Cherington. Both set in glorious Cotswold countyside, the Avening Course is parkland style while the Cherington is a newer one with a links feel about it. The idea is that each day, one course is for 2-balls only and the other is for 3-balls & 4-balls. After a slight mix-up and minor confrontation with a disgruntled member, we established which was which and set about our 36 hole Society Championship. This is not an easy club to find, so allow enough time. How the pro's manage to get here for Open Qualifying I'll never know, but it is well worth the trip when you eventually find it. Whilst both courses are in a sense different, the main thing about playing here is to putt well. The greens are regularly up at around 11 or 12 on the stimpmetre (In laymans terms, that's lightning quick, US Open speed!) so bear that in mind. The course lends itself to mini-breaks and society days. We stayed in a local country inn, a typical Cotswold type place - it all makes for a much more enjoyable (and cheaper) weekend than going to a big hotel chain with a golf club attached. You can even stay an extra night and go over to the Common to play the Old Course if your really feeling brave! Everything around the clubhouse is excellent, from the pro-shop, the huge locker rooms and the bar/restaurant upstairs. The catering is good too. They say that the best time to come is in September, when the sun is still shining but the leaves on the trees have started to turn. It all adds to the spectacle apparently. If you only have time for one round, I would be hard pressed to suggest which course to play. They are both excellent. This was a major cause for debate amongst the 8 of us as to which course was tougher and which was the more scenic. Frankly it makes no difference, even the members seem split on this one - they are both great courses!

I must just say it was a pleasure to play here today. Right from the start everybody was helpful, the course guide and pin positions guide were useful and the course was in superb condition. The Cherrington course had tight fairways that made me concentrate a lit more than usual, the greens were fast and the bacon sandwiches tasty. A great day out!

I've played this course many times as it's quite local to me. Now, I've played nearly all of the courses on this list of Gloucestershire, and this course really sticks out from the crowd. Great course design, wonderful service, great pro shop and relatively cheap compared to most places in the Glos area. Excellent value for money, a definite must for beginners and experts alike.

The Cherrington is a testament to good design and greenkeeping. On paper this shouldn’t be much of a course, what with only 90 acres to play with and prohibitive planning restrictions but Martin Hawtree has a done a great job of creating a true inland links, if that’s not a contradiction in terms. Cleverly placed bunkers, delightfully subtle rolling contours and the brilliant use of wispy but long rough go to make this a challenging course that fits beautifully into the surrounding landscape. Other course designers need to get their backsides down here and have a look at how to produce an enjoyable classic course that doesn’t rely on gimmicks and doesn’t cost the earth.

I have played both courses with the Cherrington being my favourite. This is a testament to good design and greenkeeping. The course itself on paper is not that great being built on a relatively small site and with restrictive planning regulations in place but inspired design (Martin Hawtree I believe) has made this into a bit of a gem. It is a true inland links (if that's not a contradiction in terms) with the quality of the course being made in the subtle contouring and clever use of rough, which turns it into a thinking, mans course. It sits perfectly into the landscape as well. The greens are in excellent shape thanks to Paul Worster their long standing course manager and I love the way they maintain the bunkers to give a natural look. Hit it straight, shape your shots a bit and study those greens for a really enjoyable days golf.

Totally agree with the previous comments regarding the relative merits of the two courses. The Cherington is far superior... featuring excellent greens, a much more imaginative layout and wonderful panoramic views of the Cotswold countryside. The Avening is less inspiring, particularly on the outward nine. It's still OK, but not in the same league as the Cherington.

My partner & I were made welcome from the moment we walked into the pro shop. We were told that the club alternates 2 balls & 4 balls on each of the 2 courses, so that 2 balls aren't held up. We were also given the days pin positions on each hole, which added to the perception of the level of class of the club. The Cherington course was superb - the fairways were tight but the surrounding rough not overly penal. The courses main attribute, in my opinion, were the greens. They were all in excellent condition, hard and fast, and heavily contoured, and allowed the stronger putter pull back shots on opponents. Best hole ? The par 3 10th - only 150 yrds downhill, but a 1 in 3 sloping green and a pot bunker guarding the bottom right. Best course in Gloucestershire, no doubt.

I played in the Gloucestershire County Foursomes championship on the Cherrington course recently and really enjoyed it. The Open qualifying had recently taken place out there and you could see the tight fairways and grassy knolls, it really gave the course the look of a linksy type open championship course, stunning. A nice gentle start, tough in the middle and a gentle finish but what a great course, I would rate it the best course in Gloucestershire, well done to Minchinhampton, a real gem!!

This course is an absolute pearl with the greens and fairways in scintillating condition. We played the Cherrington course and people told us that the Avening is even better with water coming into play, so i am more eager to play that than Henman is to win wimbledon. Greens are large and extremely challenging and best of all consistent.