The Oxfordshire Golf Club review

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THE OXFORDSHIRE is set in the heart of the county's countryside, designed by world-renowned architect Rees Jones 20 years ago.

The championship course has hosted various events on the European Tour including the Benson & Hedges International for four years, and the Ladies English Open.

Past winners of the B&H include Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer, and Darren Clarke on a course that has been voted number one on the Top 100 Golf Courses website.

The inland links-style course incorporates four lakes and 135 bunkers built into the natural terrain to boast a challenging game of golf, particularly for low-handicappers.

The par-72 layout has championship tees measuring 7,200 yards and yellows offering a more manageable challenge at 6,300 yards.

Green fees are currently £100 for midweek visitors and £120 at the weekend, while a member's guest pays £40 or £55 on the weekdays and weekends respectively.

In this review I'll look at the course features, the most enjoyable holes and provide an overall verdict.

Course features

As the course is a relatively new build, it has a distinct modern layout, in a part of the Oxfordshire countryside that has limited woodland, creating a very open-plan experience.

This in turn helps the natural elements such as wind come into play, especially when stroking a drive off the first and tenth hole, giving your ball a hang time that seems as though gravity has forgotten all about it.

There is an incredible array of bunkers spanning the course and the fairways are extremely undulating. Combined with the fescue grass used for rough, you have a real feel of a links course, which I felt was a triumph.

There are holes where hitting a high-lofted shot is needed to carry water while other holes prefer a low-running shot to reach the green like the tough par-4 16th.

Favourite hole

I enjoyed the challenges presented on most holes whether it was carrying water on one of two of the par 3s or navigating your ball through the vast amount of fairway bunkers.

But my favourite hole was the par-5 17th (right-hand photograph) where you needed to direct your ball to the right of the giant lake, which separated two fairways.

This imaginative hole gives you an option on your second shot, where you can either lay up down the right leaving yourself around 100 yards or risk carrying the water down the left to get within a pitch of the green. It's a fantastic test of course management for any golfer.

Verdict

You can see why The Oxfordshire was used as the venue for one of Europe's top competitions with its perfectly maintained greens and fairways and unique inland-style course layout.

If you play with a member for around £50, for me it's one of the best value-for-money offers you can get on a championship course.

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