So after abit of deliberation (thanks for the input) due to location and cost last Saturday we ended up at Newbury & Crookham Golf Club on a fine sunny afternoon and had a great time. Here is a quick tour for those of you who may be interested;
Formed back in 1873 the club is one of the oldest inland clubs in the UK, though the present course was later laid out by JH Turner sometime whilst he was the pro at Frilford Heath GC between 1914 and 1952. It is a fairly short course at just under 6000 yards par 69 set-out on a tight parcel of land next to Crookham/Greenham common. With a mix of heathland, woodland and downland characteristics the course plays on top of and around a hill overlooking Newbury racecourse and the golf course set inside it which is also run by the club. I haven’t seen Frilford Heath where I believe JH Turner did abit of tinkering but from N&CGC it’s obvious he knew abit about what he was doing. It’s not a world beater but with a few really nice little holes and well maintained, for the £30 I paid you really can’t go too wrong.
The club website has the course guide on it and some nice little drone video tours of each hole if you’re interested.
Course Plan
The 1st (387 yards – all distances from daily tees) plays along the top of the hill away from the clubhouse. A fairly straight forward par 4 with bunkers pinching the landing area on the right it’s a gentle opener. Then after nearly teeing off the 11th and 13th holes we eventually found the 2nd as we move into the woods and start to negotiate the hill.
Approach to the 2nd a driveable par 4 (274 yards) slightly doglegging from right to left around the hill and greenside bunkers with nice at-grade green that falls away from the player for the first 2/3 of the green, a common feature at N&CGC. It makes for a tricky chip into the green but the ground was firm and dry enough to run the ball in if desired.
Showing the slope of the green from the left side.
The 3rd (144 yards), one of their advertising favourites is a severe bunkerless drop shot par 3 getting across and down the steep hill quickly and effectively. It’s a pity the hillside obscures the view from most of the tees as it is a pleasant looking hole from further down.
A nice green sloping from back to front.
The inviting tee 4th tee shot (372 yards) asking you to challenge the right bunkers to open up the front to green which again like the 2nd slopes away from the player for the front half or so before rising back up slightly towards the back.
4th Green. The bunkering at N&CGC is really simple but attractive and I think a lot of mid-tier courses could take a leaf out of their book and achieve something similar with abit of work instead of the lifeless round blobs you see at so many places. Though there is still obvious room for improvement in a few places.
The 5th is a straightforward par 4 (348 yards) climbing straight back up the hill with the fairway split by a bank/ridge. The green is quite inventive as a split tier job. It does feel a little bit out of kilter with the rest of the greens though and may be a more recent addition. It also appears to suffer from drainage problems and was noticeably longer and slower than the rest.
The short and sweet 6th (119 yards).
A lovely little par 3 played across the side of the hill to a green benched into it. It’s a pity the sand line of the front bunker isn’t evident from the tee. The rumpled ground to the left can offer some interesting bounces into or away from the green.
The 7th (439 yards) is a fairly plain par 4 back down the hill, another inviting drive. The 8th (419 yards) then work it’s way back up and around the hill and is a seriously tough par 4. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was originally played a as par 5. The tee shot is restricted by trees either side, a sloped fairway and a ditch cutting across at around the 260ish mark.
Then the approach is steeply up and around the hill, impinged by the large tress on the left to a nice and simple at-grade back-to-front sloping affair. A nice par 5 but not sure that is works as a 4. A tough hole.
The 9th (171 yards) is a simple across the valley par 3. Could be spruced up abit with some new cutting lines or the addition of a feature or two to be a really attractive hole.
The 10th (329 yards) was probably my favourite hole on the course. A blind tee shot over a valley to the hilltop on the opposite side, which when reached bends to the right and offers you this great view. Anything too long runs down the opposite side of the hill into the rough so distance control from the tee is paramount. The trees adjacent to the tee and some small trees in the rough prevent you from cutting the corner too much, though I expect some bigger hitting locals aim up there in the hope of getting near the green. The green is beautifully placed into the slope and protected by some attractive hazards.
The 11th (341 yards) is another short-ish par 4, though this one is played along a ridge. A tighter drive than it first appears due to the humpback nature of the fairway leads to another attractively defended green. There are two more unseen bunkers down the left and what appears to be more old bunkers now grassed over to the rear, slightly Huntercombe-esq.
The 12th (280 yards), the third in a trilogy of short fours. One of the downsides to N&WGC is the profligacy of short fours, 5 being vaguely driveable by my count and three of them coming back to back from 10-12, though their variety keeps you interested. Colt-style angled cross bunkers splitting the fairway make you think twice on the tee.
The green is then guarded to by two nasty bunkers on the front flanks.
The 13th (483 yards) plays back across in front of the clubhouse alongside the 1st. It is the first of only two par 5’s both on the back nine. It is very reachable but longer hitters need to keep tight down the left side to avoid running into the trees. Playing to stay atop the hill before a huge valley/swale may be the sensible play.
Otherwise you are left with this view…
It is also worth thinking twice about where the flag/green actually is given both myself and my playing partner played towards the 18th flag by accident, not realising the 13th green was in fact to the left tucked in behind a large tree! The land splitting the two greens is nicely contoured.
The 14th (397 yards) is a solid mid par 4, though with the road running along it’s left side the trees have been left to grow to protect the boundary, impeding the drive and pushing what I assume to be many balls dangerously towards the 16th tees and 15th green. Tight drives down the left are rewarded with a better angle to the green around the bunkering.
The 15th (200 yards) is a stout par with some dead ground short of the green allowing a running approach if the distance is judged well.
16th, the last of the short fours turns left over a valley to a tight approach. Trees protecting the inside of the dogleg prevent the corner from being cut but block out any sight of the green. I’d like to see how the hole would play with the trees cut back and the slope that they would expose used as the hazard instead. Bunkering also protects the green from the tee’s angle.
17th (160 yards) The dreaded ‘signature’ hole is actually rather good. The shortest green to tee walk I’ve ever made leads to this view. The trees could do with being cut back on the left but the bunkering is nice and protects the angled green and the space short of it, creating abit of indecision about the length of shot required.
The road is disguised well from the back tees.
A simple green with some nice banking around it’s back edges.
The 18th (502 yards) completes the round with the longest hole on the course. A drive that again wants to hug the left side impeded by trees leads you to the brow of the hill where the view of what awaits you is revealed. As with 13, leaving your drive abit shorter on the top of the hill may work out best. I hit a great drive only to find myself down in the valley on the left with a restricted view…again.
All in all a very decent little course. The multitude of short fours mean even the poorest round can be perked up by a birdie or two and make for an exciting challenge, whilst the variety keeps you on your toes. A really warm welcome from both the staff and the members helped too. I’d recommend stopping by if in the area and looking for a game.