Mill Ride - Berkshire - England

Donald Steel has the reputation for doing some outstanding original designs as well as being the only architect to do some changes on every course that has hosted The Open Championship. I have played many courses that he did some alterations, but only a few that were his design. I hope to change that because there are three designs of his that I have played that I found either average or uninspiring. These are Lambourne GC, the Bracken course at Woodhall Spa, and Mill Ride.

To be fair, all three courses are on terrain with very little movement and no great views. I believe all three were likely built within a smaller budget which possibly did not allow for the opportunity to do a better routing or create more interesting golf holes. I am speculating when I write this, but this is my feeling when I walked off these golf courses.

I played Mill Ride several times soon after it opened when I lived in England. After going through a series of owners it seems to have found a better footing, although I wonder what might happen if there is another economic downturn similar to 2008-2009. As it went through ownership changes in its early life, the conditioning obviously went up and down. I recall playing the short eighth hole, a slightly downhill par 3 with a putter off the tee, so scarce was the grass at the time. I made the green but missed the 12 feet putt for birdie.

The course does not have a consistent character to it. Some holes are wide open and some go through trees. The trees are sometimes so dense or impinging on the fairway that they are suffocating. The bunkering is also inconsistent.

The holes I liked are:

1 – a par 5 that is well bunkered off the tee with four cross bunkers near the green. The green is connected with the seventeenth green. The negative to the hole is dense trees on the left side while small trees and manufactured mounds go down the right side.

2 – a dogleg left par 4 where a pond is on the left side so if you go too far right with the tee shot you are likely to end in the trees or a single bunker. The green is long and narrow and well defended with three bunkers.

15 – the best hole on the golf course as a 200 yard par 3 with four bunkers fronting the elevated green which also has a peanut shape to it. The hole is back-dropped by trees to frame the hole. If there were more holes like this on the course, Mill Ride would merit more conversation.

16 – a short dogleg left par 4 of less than 360 yards with good greenside bunkering on the left. My only quibble is a large tree on the left side of the fairway that is too punitive.

The holes I disliked or thought could have been easily improved are:

3 – a long par 3 over water but the water is not really in play. It does have a nice crowned green. The hole is visually boring.

4 – a long par 4 with the tee shot coming out of a tunnel of trees, a pond on the left and large bunkers at the green. The trees do thin out on the left side a bit leading to a green that is out in the open. It felt like too much is going on and too much of a transition.

5 – a mirror image of 4 but from the back tee it is a short par 5 of 482 yards and the member tees it is a par 4 of 439 yards. I would put both tees together and declare it either a par 4 or 5. It does have a nicely sloped green towards a pond set hard against the left side. If this were a par 4 only, I would likely favor the hole.

6 – a short par 4 that the tee shot goes into a narrow sliver between perhaps the densest trees bordering each side of the fairway. The trees do disappear as you near the green with the defense being two left side bunkers and a slope down the left from the green. The trees are simply suffocating.

7 - a short par 4 but with several trees coming into the fairway at the slight turn of this dogleg right with another single tree also coming into the fairway on the right. The hole has five bunkers so once again it seems to have overkill for defense. The hole unfortunately has both an unsightly fence and garden sheds behind it (no fault of the club).

8 – a short par 3 slightly downhill where again the trees come into play and are too close to the green.

10 – a longer par 5 that has a relatively wide open tee shot before the trees pinch in so much for the second shot that one wonders if they want the tree limbs to cover nearly all of the fairway. The second shot has to clear a pond at the point where the trees are the closest. It has likely the most boring green on the golf course.

11 – a mid-length par 3 over a pond with a tiny green and trees close to the back of the green. It is another visually unexciting golf hole.

Other holes:

9 – a longer par 4 again playing through a narrow chute of trees. It is a slight dogleg left but does have the best green complex on the golf course with two fronting bunkers on the raised and sloped green. I do think the green is a bit small for the length of the hole. You cannot go over the green as you will end up in trees.

12 – returns to the concept of one side of the fairway wide open and the other side with dense trees before the hole opens up to a green that is too small.

13 – a mid-length par 4 that once again has some trees pinching into the fairway making it look like a double dogleg. It does have the best green complex on the golf course with an elevated green and large bunkers.

14 – a mid-length par 4 that turns to the right and takes one back nearly to the clubhouse. It ends in a boring green. One can hit players on the thirteenth green if one hits a poor, low tee shot to the right.

17 – a longer par 4 dogleg to the left that shares the same pond as the second hole and connects the green to the first hole. It is an okay routing to the hole but the green is pretty bland.

18 – a longer par 5 that turns slightly to the right with small ponds to navigate for the second shot both on the right and left. The left pond stretches nearly to the front of the green. The green is unexciting.

In summary, as I mentioned I find Mill Ride to be inconsistent both with the density of trees, trees that impinge on the fairway, small greens, and flat greens. It has one very good hole, the fifteenth. This is a course that could be improved with a tree removal program. Some might believe this would take away the challenge of the golf course, but I believe it would add immeasurably to the enjoyment of the course by making it both more playable and more visually exciting. Many greens should be reshaped to add contours.

Mill Ride is a very enjoyable and unpretentious golf course in good condition that winds through rolling parkland that is partly wooded and has more than its fair share of H2O. For a relative newcomer it has plenty to recommend it and contrasts very nicely with the rightly exulted neighbours down the Swinley road. Sure, you can see where the Architect has taken a bit of rolling farmland and built a golf course but they have done a very creditable job. It is a good walk pleasantly routed. It is very tight in places, with mature woodland guarding the flanks of fairways and rather large lakes virtually everywhere; if money is on your game there will be thrills and spills. The fairways are lush, and alas, the innocuous looking rough even more so, You will do well to reach your target from here. The par 5's tease you to take on the water, The par 4's are strategic, where only accuracy will reward you, whether they are long or short and the par 3's ask for a meaningful carry over water on more than one occasion. The recently renovated bunkers can be cavernous and deep. A notable feature. It's very well balanced as a challenge. It's under new ownership and I am sure it will go from strength to strength. Perfect for a weekend round with your buddies or to be member then and only a short hop from London, Reading etc. Although its never going to be in the top 100, its a welcome reminder that this country has strength in depth. Thank you Mill ride for a lovely day and warm hospitality. JCB LAY

We played here with a friend who was considering joining. Lovely course, however a very rude marshall ruined our round by unnecessarily asking us to speed up play. He wasted more of our time than anything else, and ruined the back 9. Ironically we still played whole round in 3 hours 40 minutes, and the course wasn't busy. What would it be like if it was busy?? NB our friend is not joining as a consequence

Mill Ride is undoubtably an under-rated course deserving of higher recognition. I first played it 5 years ago and on the odd occasion over the last 5 years, including last month. It is a tough course from the white tees with ample water hazards and several very memorable holes including the 2nd, 3rd, 10th, 11th, 17th. The club house has a welcome feel albeit is somewhat dated. The summer visitor green fee is quite racey, but a very recommendable experience.

Having played Mill Ride in a few corporate events, I was determined to get membership, which I now have. I have to say that within the locallity it is a better than great value for money course, and considering other local courses include Wentworth, Sunningdale, Swinley Forest and Berkshire, this is a huge compliment. The course is always challenging, and will really test even the single figure hadicap player, hence the course has been chosen as a qualifying venue for the seniors open! I would recommend anyone to try the course!

Could be a great course which has some super holes, but the condition on my visit wasn't great. Like many courses in the area its way over priced. Definately worth playing if they reduce the green fee. Beware its gets boggy quickly in the rain.

Has great potential, but alas the investment clearly isn't there! Falls some way short of good in my view. In fact, it's quite a boring US type trek. Made worse by the poor condition of the tee boxes. Greens are better than before though.

I played Mill Ride today with my husband and must say that the course was in magnificent condition. The greens were fantastic and as good as any others we have played on in the past 3 months. We have played quite a few times over the past couple of years and the improvements being made are considerable. I look forward to our next visit and highly recommend others to visit Mill Ride.

Disagree with comments as the TEES & GREENS were in fabulous condition this weekend & in October. Great strides have been made at Mill Ride in last couple of years and layout is so interesting. A must play. Only concern is I chatted to some members who said GM who got it in such great nick has recently left - but hope things stay as good.A definate re-visit on my South East golf course list - better condition than Wentworth.

I agree with the previous review in that Mill Ride is a good golf course indeed. It has fantastic holes, notably the 2nd, 10th, 14th, 15th and 18th. It deserves a ranking for sure. The clubhouse is a bit dated and needs changing (they've been talking about changing it for about 4 years now though!!). It simply needs better tee boxes and shorter, trueer greens for it to move up a level and compete with its highly regarded neighbours.