Painswick Golf Club

Golf at its natural best. Despite feeling like you're playing a golf course which has remained unchanged for a hundred plus years, Painswick is anything but stuck in the past. The club were very accommodating of us and actively took pleasure in our pleasure. It was just so much more enjoyable than your average modern water and sand offering where you get little to no interesting run on the ball as the grass is either watered to resemble a garden lawn or looks that way anyway because of the use of land better suited to crops than golf. At Painswick you never quite know what to expect at each turn and an understanding of the ground game is key to being able to score well here. Painswick really is proper golf for proper golfers. Long may it continue to shine.

As previous to this report what a load of fun !! Although I had some success on the course it was the new challenges mixed with outstanding views that hit the button. Walking (and hitting) among historical sites was a first, as was the various roads criss-crossing the course at the end. We came across the course on a May Bank holiday full of people and wondered how you would ever have enough time or patience to get round. It was not a problem and with the course at mid morning relatively empty of other players we overcame the steep first and avoided weaving left or right with our second shots on the 2nd. You will all love the blind par3 5th while the view from the 6th is currently my screen saver. Success at the par3 7th made it very enjoyable, as was the long uphill 9th with its testing pitch onto the green. Another blind par3 at the 10th was followed by a blind tee shot at the 11th and on it went. We loved the tee shot at the 14th with a 180 yds to the fairway, ditto both the 15th & 16th. Overall players who hit straight and leave the driver in the bag can prosper if they get the puts right but play the course with friends and enjoy the reminiscing later in the smart and very friendly clubhouse The greens are small but were pacy and in good condition so we caught them at a good time. Green fees make this a genuine bargain and we enjoyed it so much we returned early the next day before traveling home and found it just as good!

Bizarre. Eccentric. Frustrating. Mad. I loved it. As others have identified, the word unique barely begins to describe this place. Blind par 3s. Shared fairways. Incredible views. Some of the smallest greens you will ever see – in fact, so small, you could almost struggle to find them... Painswick makes even extraordinary layouts like Perranporth and Cruden Bay seem utterly conventional. Even the course planner is a total oddity – it barely has any yardages in it. Instead, it's more of a map of how to get around, punctuated with strange initials like D.P. (Direction Post), M.U.P. (Made Up Path), Y&B (Yellow and Black Post) and so on. The opening hole is a 224 yard par FOUR that plays up a hill so steep that even a mountain goat might get vertigo. Of course, there just happen to be twenty foot deep grass pits in front of the green as well... There are so many fantastic holes, but I particularly loved the blind par 3 5th with the tee set back in the trees and the 312 yard par 4 14th, with a stunning tee shot over the old quarry. The one gripe I had was that they hadn't been able to get any water to the greens recently, so they were hard as rock. Of course, anywhere else and you would have been spitting fire. Here you just have to smile and accept it's all part of the fun (although that's tricky when you five putt from 15 feet, as 'Young B' managed to do!) We found in the summer that Painswick really played like a links with some of the fairways being very fast-running. Overall, I read somewhere else words to the effect that, because it's short, "Painswick isn't a course you can judge by numbers" – how true – this place really is all about the experience. 8.25/10 'Young P'

Played in August 2005. Thoroughly enjoyable course that I would visit again. However the greens were is terrible condition which spoilt an otherwise little gem of a course. Hopefully the Club are going to rectify this. But using 2fore1 vouchers it worked out at only £11 for the day - fantastic value! I would have no difficulty in recommending this course.

Since I played in a competition between US and UK architectural fiends at Painswick in May 2004, I am an unabashed fan of this seemingly little course, only 4900 yds and par 67. Yet the tiny, tricky greens and interesting approaches, and touches of antiquity such as shared fairways and walkers made this course so interesting that it was an absolute pleasure to play. The friendly membership of the club were delightful to we visitors, who will have great memories of Painswick for years to come. I am making plans to return with my wife next summer en route to St Andrews for the Open. Favorite holes: #2 stout blind second shot; #4 ditto; #5 and #10 blind wedges over the ramparts!; #6 super lengthy par 3; #7 600 sf green; #8 and #9, surprisingly difficult par 5's; #11 driveable par 4 but don't stray; #12, a downhill par 3 longer in yards than #11; #14 strong drive over the quarry; #15 beautiful par 3 into a dell; #17 dogleft around a cemetery. Fun course, highly recommended.

The course is different and that's to say the least. It is well worth the trying but if you hit a reasonable length ball don't bother with a driver and on the blind par threes hit a scuffy ball! One of the par threes with the beacon behind you was voted one of Henry Longhurst's top par three holes. There are some very beautiful holes and the views are worth the green fee. The food and hospitality are outstanding but avoid the Greens Secretary at all costs! You'll never get away!!!!

Very interesting!!!!!!! You start with a 220 yrd PAR 4 straight up a mountain with a gully on the top before the green. You need to play this course more than once to have ANY idea where you are going. You share fairways a few times, and the totally blind par 3's are, I think, totally unfair. If you are off line on these, and all the other blind holes, you aint got a clue where to start looking. The views on the course are fantastic, and its worth climbing a few more yards at the back of one of the par 3's to the beacon for a spectacular sight. Because of its beauty and the "right to roam" the Cotswolds, you share the course with walkers who dont even realise they are on a golf course, which puts you off somewhat. There was even a family sunbathing on a tee on one hole, and a group of girls sitting right where your ball would land on another!!!!! It seemed to us that this was originally a nine hole course that has been expanded, or possibly designed when hardly anyone played the game so the shared fairways wouldn't be a problem. There are some gorgeous holes though, the par 4 "gallows" being one of mine. It's worth playing this course for the novelty value.

I recently played the course and found it to be a most enjoyable course with splendid views and very friendly members. The club house is comfortable and easy to relax in after the round.