Carlisle - Cumbria - England

Having driven up from southern England in the morning, Carlisle was the starting point for a short trip around Dumfries & Galloway for me and my brother in early August. Although the course is usefully less than a mile from the M6 motorway there was little intrusion from traffic noise. The course is predominantly parkland with a sprinkling of heathland, set amidst rolling terrain surrounded by farms. One of the features of Carlisle are greens that are narrow and long. The Par 3 4th has one of these long and narrow greens and is also a plateau. Failure to find the putting surface leaves a tricky up and down. The following hole is a fun and potentially drivable par 4. I also liked 11 and 12 with the latter having a particularly sharp dog leg. The par 4 16th unusually features a massive oak tree in the middle of the fairway. I am not a fan of the short 17th – a short hole with water on three sides and no obvious bale-out area other than a green-side bunker.

The course condition was good. Carlisle is a very useful stopping off point on a journey between Scotland and southern England and we would probably play here again.

We played Carlisle in March this year on the way up to Scotland, it's ideally placed and we really enjoyed our round.

Excellent value, very friendly members, and some good fun golf over undulating ground and plenty of trees.

The last few holes are a little bit of a loop in a field so we cut them out to finally get in front of a slow match in front - can't comment on them !

just off the M6 this is an enjoyable golf course. It doesn't play how you think it will when you look at the card. my only criticism is the finishing holes 16, 17 and 18. they don't quite have the feel of the rest of the course but otherwise it is probably the best parkland course in Cumbria.

Carlisle is a really enjoyable and well maintained track that played quite long despite its modest yardage when I last played here in the autumn. You can see why it is used as an Open Championship Qualifying venue as it’s a well designed thinking person’s course set among mature trees in undulating parkland (although it’s not a tough walk). Perhaps the tricky par 3s are the best feature at Carlisle, although the clubhouse is rather engaging too. Well worth playing on the way to (or back from) the magnificent Silloth.