Greys Green Golf Club - Est 1992
Info correct at last date played: 4th April 2003
Review Rating - Bronze
We re-visited this course so here is an updated review.
There are no bunkers, no water features, no clubhouse facilities & no irrigation.
Right
that's the bad points out of the way let's get on by telling you that we really
enjoyed ourselves on the 18 holes that we played here. The first few holes are
nothing to shout about, a couple of basic par 4's & a
shortish par 3. But you do have to contend with newly planted hedge rows on the
3rd, 4th & 6th just where your drive is likely to end up.
The 7th is where it starts to get interesting, it's
a dogleg par 4 & you need a good drive to just get to the fairway which then
bends almost at right angle to the left. Hit a wood dead straight & you may
well run out of fairway, get a good draw & you could almost reach the green
in 1.
The slopes on the fairway's & greens make this course quite
tough to score well on, with no irrigation your approach to the
green has to be thought out as a full toss shot to the centre will
see your ball finish about 20 yards past the flag.
This
is one the the few courses where you don't just get a wood out on every hole
that isn't a par 3, you have to think your way round. The pictures you see here
are all from the first seven holes as after that we enjoyed the golf so much
we simply forgot to take anymore. With new plantations & hopefully,
eventually, some irrigation this course could well become a gem.
We do not normally mention the green fees on our reviews as keeping this sort
of info up to date would be very time consuming but we feel we must mention it
here as some driving ranges are more expensive than a practice round here.
Red Course is £9 per day (£13 per day w/e and BH), with juniors half those prices.
Blue Course is £5.50 per day (7.50 per day w/e and BH), with juniors half those prices
White Course (Practice Par 3) is £3.50 per day (£4.50 per day w/e and BH) with juniors still £1 per day every day of the year.
Favourite Hole
Hole
13: 400 yard Par 4 stroke Index 1. We actually liked a lot of
the holes, 7 & 16 came close but this one just takes it.
It's a pretty straight par 4 with a hedge row & a large tree just in front
of the tee. Beyond that it gets interesting, the whole fairway slopes severely
from right to left any sort of shot you play from the tee you are more likely
to end up off the fairway on the left in the rough, unless you can slice your
ball into the hill & pray that it stops there. When you reach the green it
too slopes from right to left so if you end up above the flag tap your putt & pray
it stops.
| Hole | Red | Par | Stroke |
| - | Course | - | Index |
| 1 | 383 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | 154 | 3 | 11 |
| 3 | 392 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | 289 | 4 | 17 |
| 5 | 373 | 4 | 9 |
| 6 | 306 | 4 | 14 |
| 7 | 286 | 4 | 18 |
| 8 | 133 | 3 | 15 |
| 9 | 471 | 5 | 6 |
| OUT | 2787 | 35 | - |
| 10 | 356 | 4 | 10 |
| 11 | 420 | 4 | 3 |
| 12 | 151 | 3 | 16 |
| 13 | 400 | 4 | 1 |
| 14 | 352 | 4 | 13 |
| 15 | 218 | 3 | 4 |
| 16 | 330 | 4 | 12 |
| 17 | 465 | 5 | 7 |
| 18 | 454 | 5 | 8 |
| IN | 3146 | 36 | - |
| OUT | 3787 | 35 | - |
| TOTAL | 5933 | 71 | - |
Address:Greys Green Farm, Rotherfield Greys, Henley on Thames, Oxon, RG9 4QG.
Telephone:01491 628578
Email:arandamhood@hotmail.com
Website:www.greysgreengolf.co.uk
Architect:A. Hood
Submitted by Mrs A Hood on 31/03/2001
Re your review of our course.......
We do not need (or indeed want) permission to dig up our land for course drainage as the last thing our land needs is drainage. It is stony, flinty, chalky and gravelly....get the picture? That is why it is grade 3b agricultural land and perfect golf course land.
Not sure what you mean by "not in immaculate condition"
(two m's by the way). The course is not manicured but we think it is kept very tidy.
If you are going to be so sniffy about it, you might care to mention the PRICES: £5 PER DAY for adults for all 27 holes (£8 w/e and BH), £3 PER DAY for adults on the 9 hole(£4 w/e and BH), £1 PER DAY every day of the year for under-18's on the 9 hole, plus reduced rates for juniors on the 18 hole.
Quite right, we have no facilities off the course and no bunkers or water hazards on the course. But there are two excellent pubs right by the entrance to the course. We make no stipulations about handicaps, dress, sharing clubs etc. Our prices are competitive, we think, even with the lack of facilities.
In the last 5 years, we have planted nearly 100 acres of trees on the farm, many of them around the golf areas. From the feedback that we get from the golfers, this seems to have added to their enjoyment.
Come and have another look and this time, don't forget to mention what excellent value we are.
Submitted by Tim Palmer on 14/05/2002
Great Course just to pop down to - very friendly - very well kept and great value. Could do with some bunkers and water hazards.
Submitted by Giles Lunn on 24/08/2002.
The courses have changed a great deal since the original review was written. There are now three courses: the par 3 nine hole which used to be the blue course, a long nine holes which contains some of the holes of the old red course, and the eighteen hole red course.
The par 3 and blue courses are excellent for practicing on as they are not too tricky but do still offer some challenges.
The red course is considerably better than the other two courses and is improving all the time. The course contains no bunkers or water but is still tricky as in many places you have to hit over bushes, trees etc. A good gold course does not require hundreds of bunkers to make it interesting! The course is also quite tight in places and very undulating. The only thing which lets it down a bit is the consistency of the greens which vary quite a bit. However I'm sure that when Mr Hood is granted final planning permission these will be improved considerably.
The cost of playing the courses has gone up by a couple of pounds. The cost of the blue course is £5 during the week, and the red £8 during the week for an adult. This is far cheaper than any other golf course in the area.
The other good thing about this course is that you can turn up and play whenever you want, and you don't have to have golf spikes, long trousers etc.. This makes it an ideal place for both children and adults to learn to play golf without the intimidation and cost of joining an expensive golf club. However the courses will still offer an experienced golfer a very good challenge.
Submitted by Mike Cawthra on 6/05/2003.
This course is great for people starting to play or those who want a reasonable priced round and aren't expecting a championship course. Set out of the Red course is challenging and the greens are improving. Blue course is straighter and the 9 hole is perfect if you are just moving up from the driving range. I am a member of a good local private course but this is great to go to with a few friends where we don't have to worry about clothing or cost. Finally the Evening price of £5-6 after 5.30 is great.
Submitted by Spot the Mockney on 19/05/2004.
This course really is great value, and on that basis alone has to be recommended. You can get 18 holes here for less than the price of 9 holes anywhere else locally that I'm aware of, and for people like me who want to play often but find the cost prohibitive that is very welcome indeed.
We have played both the blue (9 hole) and red (18 hole) courses, and found them to differ greatly. The blue course really is only suitable for the beginner trying to gain confidence before stepping out onto a golf course for the first time. The greens are pretty shabby and the fairways are the length of rough on a more average standard of course. The holes are all pretty straight, open and featureless and its difficult to get away from the feeling your just hacking up a couple of fields and back.
The red (18 hole) course is much better. The greens, while certainly not top class, are much closer to your more usual public golf course standard. The fairways also on the whole give you a reasonable lie. This course is completely barren of bunkers or water which does give you the distinct feeling something is missing, but the holes are interestingly designed and force you to use your head in terms of planning and club selection. Mindless slugging that is so effective on some higher standard courses will get very mixed results here (I found). One bugbear is there are no yardage markers, so for the first time visitor there are no clues as to how far you are from anything. There is extensive tree planting on the course and when these mature and if some sand and water was added this could be a very nice course indeed. Favourite hole was the 16th, where you tee off from a great height onto a heavily sloped fairway that runs on the opposite bank of the ravine and runs down to the hole.
Word of warning, the rough on both courses is ROUGH. Whereas missing the fairway or green should usually give you a harder shot, around here finding the rough is almost automatically a lost ball as even the first cut seems to devour balls beyond trace. I guess this could say more about our golf ability than the course, and in fairness it does teach an important lesson, but nevertheless it is frustrating when so often a good shot misses by inches or rolls off a fairway and you are faced with a stroke penalty. On the 17th I missed the pin with my 9 iron approach by 6 feet into the greenside light rough and it took 3 of us a good five minutes to find the ball. Take plenty of balls.
On the whole, the unforgiving rough, plus the lack of facilities (not that we use the facilities anyway), the lack of traditional hazards and the relaxed attitude of the course to attire etc will mean this course gets a mixed reaction. For the average hacker looking for a good value test the red course is great. For the more discerning golfer, they will probably find too much to fault. We enjoyed it.
Submitted by Mark Danson on 10/08/2004.
August Bank Holiday 2003 - For the last 7 years myself and Peter Carney have brought a boys football team down from Liverpool to take part in an annual football tournament held in Crawley. Our base for the weekend is Thames Valley adventure playground in Taplow. We always travel down on the friday with a clear itinerey for the weekend.
Last year we decided to call in at Greys Green on the Friday As Peter had visited prevously and though it would make an enjoyable addition to our weekend.
We hospitality we recieved from Sander and the round of golf were excellent, some of the lad's had never played before so this facility certainly offered them a welcome approach to the game of golf, not the usual stuffiness associated with many courses.
We are returning this year on the 27th August with Greys Green Golf Course our first stop for the weekend.
Submitted by Jordan H on 03/06/2005.
I think this is a good course but needs a few more general hazards. I found it quite easy to play the red course. I think it could be made better with some basic facilities, but all in all its a good course to start on.
Submitted by Steve Thomas on 04/01/2006.
I've just got back playing after a 18yr break. Found everyone at greys green friendly and helpfull.its a good all round course with some easy and some tricky holes. The course might be lacking a few bunkers but this is made up for by hedgerows and a lot of recently planted trees.some of the fairways have a quite severe camber which makes for interesting drives of the tee. Lack of facility's are not a problem as the dog pub is at the entrance to the lane and does good food and beer!
T the greens catch you out on your first round as a chip from even 30yds will often see you end up on the other side of it. I found using little knock on with a 7 iron where I would have used a wedge worked well, all round this course is great value and not overly busy like some others locally. I for one, will be back very soon. p.s. excuse the typing please, I'm new to this!
Submitted by Sean Conboy on 02/05/2006.
The course is challenging enough without any sand or water hazards. The rough is punishing in places and hitting over long with approach irons will land you in trouble on most greens. Greens roughish but fairways excellent. Good blend of par 3s 4s and 5s. For a pay and play this is hard to beat especially if you appreciate remote rural Oxfordshire countryside. This course will give you a great day out especially if you have a pint or two next door in the Dog afterwards.
Submitted by Sandy Hepburn on 03/06/2006.
After being an "on and off golfer" for the past few years I've seen the drastic changes this course has undergone, for a start you used to be able to see right across any of the three courses with ease due to the lack of trees but now you can hardly see the next tee, this offers an element of charm as you never know anything about the hole you are just about to play.
There are also no yardage markers which could be annoying for the average golfer but for me it offers a new dimension of skill which is to be able to estimate the distance to the hole. But on another note as you walk across the course you cant help thinking that a few bunkers wouldn't go a miss. I know that the owners cant be making that much progress with the course at the moment but you cant help thinking that they are trying.
Submitted by Steve Beattie on 27/09/2007.
Found this course by chance after I drove passed it and checked it on the internet. A phone call confirmed the fee's and dress code, that was £9.00 all day golf (July 07) and.. no dress code! The course is basically what I would have thought the first ever golf course must have played like.
There's no traditional hazards such as bunkers just rough and a lot of tree's. It's very basic and the greens where hardly playable but still requires a lot of skill to play. Had an absolute Mare! High winds not helping not knowing where I was going! Give it a go just for the experience.
Submitted by Dave on 03/01/2008.
My mates and I have just started out in Golf and so were looking for a place where we wouldn't hold up loads of 'better' players. We found the blue course to be both challenging, forgiving but above all really enjoyable. Yes you lose balls in the deep rough, but you find about three for every one you lose! Also, the staff are friendly and there are no restrictions. Just come, play and enjoy! By the way, two pints at lunchtime at the nearby pub doesn't help the afternoon 9 holes! Oh dear.
Submitted by Paul Jarman on 15/06/2008.
I play golf for fun and to have a good day out. The big plus for me with this course is that it is excellent value for money, there is no dress code, no handicap certificate required, everyone is welcome. Mr hood is out and about in his buggy cart a lot of the time and is very friendly and always stops for a chat and to wish me luck. The most important thing in my case is i can take the dog round with me (i would not enjoy the game leaving her at home, while i had a great day out). I find the holes to be very challenging. I love the 2nd,7th, 12th and 16th holes. I am learning not to use the driver at every hole. In my case playing without the correct dress, handicap certificate and taking the dog with me excludes me from just about every golf course i have tried to play on, with the exception of this one. Thank you for such a wonderful and important leisure facility in this area. Paul
If you have played this course then why not add your own comments by using the form below...