Wrag Barn - Wiltshire - England

Wrag Barn is an undulating parkland layout built 30 years ago. It has an abundance of tree-lined fairways which creates a premium on accurate driving.

At 6400 yards off the Yellow tee boxes (it is only 220 yards more off the Whites) the golf course seems long. This may be because we played after a wet summer spell and the well-grassed fairways and light rough didn’t offer a lot of roll. The pace of the greens was also quite slow. Having said that, the course is well maintained and a pleasure to play.

Good scoring wasn’t easy with most of the par4s requiring two good blows to reach large greens, where 3 putting was all too easy. The signature hole which is the 5th, a par3 of 166 yards over a large pond and into a strong wind, found me out in no uncertain manner.

My acid test of a golf course is how many of the holes do I remember shortly after playing it for the first time. In this regard, Wrag Barn was struggling until the stretch of 4 finishing holes. The 15th is a long uphill par4 of 453 yards but with a wide fairway, the 16th a relatively easy downhill par3, 17 is a dog leg short par5 to a delightful raised green largely surrounded by a ditch and 18 requires a strong blow from the tee to an uphill fairway, before the approach shot over a bunker and onto a pretty green right in front of the Clubhouse.

We played Wrag Barn on a windy day which largely kept the expected rain at bay. The course is above average, even if it’s testing condition had us exhausted by the end.