Top 10 Golf Courses in Gloucestershire 2015
Top 10 Golf Courses in Gloucestershire 2015
Gloucestershire Best in County rankings updated
Gloucestershire is perhaps best known in a sporting context for its professional rugby union team, Gloucester Rugby, or its horse racing track in Cheltenham, where the highlight of the Jump season takes place every March at the Cheltenham Festival.
Even though golf isn’t that high on the list of sports you might associate with this county, the royal and ancient game is still the number one outdoor activity for thousands of local golfers who are affiliated through their clubs to the Gloucestershire Golf Union or Gloucestershire Ladies’ Golf Association.
Having recently contacted all the clubs and professionals across the county and taken their responses into careful consideration, we’ve now updated our rankings for this region. Only one course remains in the same position and it’s Ross-on-Wye at number 1, which is the same spot this 18-hole layout has occupied since we first formulated our English county rankings in 2012.
Founded in 1903, Ross-on-Wye Golf Club moved to its present location in the 1960s, when C.K. Cotton literally carved the fairways out of dense woodland. It’s a very tight track, requiring a number of blind shots to be played during a round, and one recent reviewer has described it as “a tough course where length and accuracy is key to playing to handicap”.
The Hollows and Ruffet course at the 27-hole Kendleshire Golf Club moves significantly up the county listings, rising three places to number 2. Designed by Adrian Stiff and brought into play in 1997, the course features greens built to USGA specification, with many of the fairways routed around attractive water hazards.
Also climbing up the chart, the Cherington course at Minchinhampton Golf Club rises an impressive five places to number 3. The club boasts three 18-hole courses, all of which are laid out on Cotswold Brash, a free-draining limestone type of soil. Opening in 1995, the Cherington is the youngest of the three layouts but it’s now regarded as the premier course at this wonderful 54-hole facility.
The first of two new entries arrives at number 6 and it’s the course at Bristol & Clifton Golf Club. Established in 1891, the club celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2016 by hosting the English Women’s Open Stroke Play Championship. Stretching to 6,413 yards from the back markers, this mature parkland course is a challenging layout that will test the elite lady amateurs to the limit.
The second newcomer to the Gloucestershire Top 10 chart is Chipping Sodbury at number 10. Host to the English County Finals in 2009, the course was laid out on the Mead Riding by Fred Hawtree in the early 1970s, with the Duke of Beaufort performing the opening ceremony. Today, the Beaufort course has matured into a top parkland track, with water coming into play at many of the holes.
We’re grateful to those who helped with our re-ranking process for this region. To view details of all the courses in our Gloucestershire Top 10 rankings click this link. If you’ve played extensively across this region of England and would like to contribute to our next re-ranking exercise then please email Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter at keith@top100golfcourses.com.
Jim McCann
Editor
Top 100 Golf Courses