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Royal Berks DGC reviews
8
0
Well balanced white course still under construction 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:May 6, 2017
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
- Designed at white course level (900 rated to par of 57) and is just about perfect for this skill level. Our tournament there came in at pretty much exactly 900 to par. There are some red level holes and some blue level holes evening each out.
- Fun mix of holes testing a range of shots
- Nice tee markers
- The 9 reconditioned homemade baskets. I was expecting to hate them but ended up loving putting on them.
- Friendly local club
- Cafe and activity center on site
- Gorgeous location in a 350 acre country park.
- Toilets at either end of the course.
- Red course tees playing to the same baskets are a good challenge to hone your short game and perfect for beginners
- huge potential at the course. I expect there to be a blue course layout to the same baskets shortly with almost all holes having more difficult potential tee positions. There is probably the chance to design a number of gold level holes there to the existing basket placements as well although not quite a full 18.
- Fun mix of holes testing a range of shots
- Nice tee markers
- The 9 reconditioned homemade baskets. I was expecting to hate them but ended up loving putting on them.
- Friendly local club
- Cafe and activity center on site
- Gorgeous location in a 350 acre country park.
- Toilets at either end of the course.
- Red course tees playing to the same baskets are a good challenge to hone your short game and perfect for beginners
- huge potential at the course. I expect there to be a blue course layout to the same baskets shortly with almost all holes having more difficult potential tee positions. There is probably the chance to design a number of gold level holes there to the existing basket placements as well although not quite a full 18.
Cons:
- Baskets, if you are a hard putting spin putter will not be your friend. The 9 old Essex baskets have smooth rims and hit the edge of these with a spin putt and you will be flying long, the 9 old Beanhill baskets will have some spit throughs from hard putts. Both will catch well to pitch putts.
- No tee pads, ground is starting to cut up.
- Signage - the course is still young and I will update this review over time but currently it would be very hard to play a round without a local. The teessigns are beautifully made but lack information, You can't see where the baskets are for many holes and the walk between holes in not intuitive in a big park.
- A couple of the holes have no real defined lines to play them, It's a case of throw into the or over the trees and hope to punch through or chip up for the putt. Hole 12 and 17 particularly guilty of this currently.
- Baskets are probably just a touch too close to OB on too many occasions through the course, there is OB within 4 meters on at least 6 of the holes although it does tend to be on the more attackable threes so wasn't a huge concern.
- A few too many blind baskets, either left or right or over the top of ridges.
- 18th was a bit anticlimactic after a great first hole.
- If you have a power hyzer forehand and backhand (~330+ pure hyzer lines) the white tees will play very easily for you.
- Dogwalkers, my gripe in every UK park...
- No tee pads, ground is starting to cut up.
- Signage - the course is still young and I will update this review over time but currently it would be very hard to play a round without a local. The teessigns are beautifully made but lack information, You can't see where the baskets are for many holes and the walk between holes in not intuitive in a big park.
- A couple of the holes have no real defined lines to play them, It's a case of throw into the or over the trees and hope to punch through or chip up for the putt. Hole 12 and 17 particularly guilty of this currently.
- Baskets are probably just a touch too close to OB on too many occasions through the course, there is OB within 4 meters on at least 6 of the holes although it does tend to be on the more attackable threes so wasn't a huge concern.
- A few too many blind baskets, either left or right or over the top of ridges.
- 18th was a bit anticlimactic after a great first hole.
- If you have a power hyzer forehand and backhand (~330+ pure hyzer lines) the white tees will play very easily for you.
- Dogwalkers, my gripe in every UK park...
Other Thoughts:
overall I really enjoyed playing here and there is huge potential for an absolute destination course or courses.
At least 14 of the 18 holes have the opportunity to put in trickier tee positions to produce an 18 hole blue tee layout. There are another 300 acres of parkland and lakes to potentially play with.
It's a very well put together first course for the designers Russ Westwood and Martin Hough and offers a good challenge to the skill level they designed at. It is very well looked after considering the huge space and that it is all club done.
Signage is their next mission and straight away improving this aspect will put half a star onto my rating. Tee pads alongside that would be great.
There is a really fun mix of holes out there. My favourite was probably the 145 meter par 4 1st. It really made you think about your shot off the tee, an attackable line was possible for the two but risky, and the placement shot needed to be executed well to have a good look at a three. I walked away with a three and a four and felt content with that.
Notable mentions go to the iconic hole 10 pond hole, playing 90 meters across a pond with trees either side shaping the shot and hole 7 which is quite a rare hole in the UK. A 110 meter absolutely unobstructed shot across the field, sounds really boring on paper but when you are so used to playing tight and controlled lines it was nice to just open up the hyzer for once!
Hole 4 - Enjoyed this from the white tees, challenge was set to hit a semi island green but with safe layup option available, there are excellent options for blue and gold tees cutting back into the woods that could make this the best hole on the course. A real risk rewarder to top players.
For a better player this will be a real birdie fest course - my morning round of 51 was 969 rated, I would expect a thousand rated player to shoot above rating with the current tee setup as the hyzer line (either backhand or more predominantly forehand) was open on virtually every hole.
The potential Blue tees will go back into trees and make this a more technical course, I really look forward to these and once in with good signage and tees this will be comfortably a four star course.
At least 14 of the 18 holes have the opportunity to put in trickier tee positions to produce an 18 hole blue tee layout. There are another 300 acres of parkland and lakes to potentially play with.
It's a very well put together first course for the designers Russ Westwood and Martin Hough and offers a good challenge to the skill level they designed at. It is very well looked after considering the huge space and that it is all club done.
Signage is their next mission and straight away improving this aspect will put half a star onto my rating. Tee pads alongside that would be great.
There is a really fun mix of holes out there. My favourite was probably the 145 meter par 4 1st. It really made you think about your shot off the tee, an attackable line was possible for the two but risky, and the placement shot needed to be executed well to have a good look at a three. I walked away with a three and a four and felt content with that.
Notable mentions go to the iconic hole 10 pond hole, playing 90 meters across a pond with trees either side shaping the shot and hole 7 which is quite a rare hole in the UK. A 110 meter absolutely unobstructed shot across the field, sounds really boring on paper but when you are so used to playing tight and controlled lines it was nice to just open up the hyzer for once!
Hole 4 - Enjoyed this from the white tees, challenge was set to hit a semi island green but with safe layup option available, there are excellent options for blue and gold tees cutting back into the woods that could make this the best hole on the course. A real risk rewarder to top players.
For a better player this will be a real birdie fest course - my morning round of 51 was 969 rated, I would expect a thousand rated player to shoot above rating with the current tee setup as the hyzer line (either backhand or more predominantly forehand) was open on virtually every hole.
The potential Blue tees will go back into trees and make this a more technical course, I really look forward to these and once in with good signage and tees this will be comfortably a four star course.
