Mill Ride Golf Club - Est 1990

Info correct at last date played: 1st July 2005

Club Facilities

AGN Review Score 7.1

Course Card

Course Review

Mill Ride is a very nice new course, the greens are very good and the fairways are looking nice, a little more work could be done on the tees though. The clubhouse looks good and the staff were very helpful & friendly. The course marshals even gave us a little advice about certain holes while we were waiting at the 1st. The course has quite a bit of variation, it seems fairly tight on the front nine and opens up a little on the back nine but well placed bunkers and water on many of the holes keep you in check.

Looking down the fairway of the 1st.

The 1st has quite an intimidating tee shot with bunkers on the left and bushes/rough down the right the fairway seems quite tight, a row of bunkers before the green leave you with a tough choice of trying to get there in two or laying up and pitching on to the double tier green. The 2nd again from the tee looks like a tight shot between the bunker on the right and the lake on the left, then comes the 3rd, hopefully you will be striking the ball well by now as this one requires a carry over the lake to a sloping left to right green. The 4th and 5th are pretty straight forward holes with the only danger on the 5th being the lake on the left & back of the green.

The tough tee shot over the water at the 3rd.

The 6th is a short par 4 but once again has a very tight tee shot and if the pin is tucked away back left the approach can be very tricky. The 7th again requires a threaded tee shot between the bunkers on the left and the tree on the right, or you could copy Ken's approach and blast your tee shot over the tree on the right but this put him in the bunker in front of the green. The 8th is a nice little par 3 with a two tier green so depending on where the pin is make sure you get the yardage right. The 9th has a tough drive uphill into a slight dogleg if you are not long enough off the tee you will have a blind approach down to the green.

View from 10th green looking back over the water through the gap in the trees.

The course seems to open up slightly now so you can have a good swing at your tee shot off the 10th if you get a good one you will have a choice to make with your next shot. Go for it in two and try to carry the water or lay up and settle for reaching the green in three. The 11th is a very picturesque par 3 which requires a well struck shot to carry the lake and find the green unless you bail out to the left. The 12th is a long uphill par 4 from the whites and will require two good shots to reach and the 13th tightens up a little with a tee shot that once again needs to be threaded down the fairway.

View of the 11th green looking back over the water to the bridge & 10th fairway.

The 14th is a good par 4 dogleg, if you drive straight down the fairway to just passed the tree on the left you are left with a long approach to the green so you need to try and go down the right but if you don't drive it far enough you won't have an approach shot. The par 3 15th has bunkers all round the front of the green so anything coming up short is going to be in trouble. The 16th again requires an accurate tee shot but not a long one, down the right is the best line into the green taking those bunkers near the hole out of play. From the 17th tee you can see no danger, just a bunker on the left, but trust the marker post. The lake on the left is just waiting to catch your tee shot and with the double tiered green the approach shot must also be an accurate one otherwise you could be in three putt territory.

View of the 18th tee shot where that deep bunker just has to be avoided.

The 18th is a great finishing hole the huge bunker on the left needs to be avoided at all costs and the lakes before the green will have you in two minds as whether it is worth the risk.

The staff at Mill Ride have done well with the course and it is looking very nice, if the improvements keep coming then this course could well make it into our Top Ten.

Favourite Hole

Hole 18:   553 yard par 5.

Looking back down the 18th fairway from the green.

It was a tough decision this as there were a few holes that could have made it as our favourite but the 18th just pips them. As mentioned above the huge bunker on the left needs to be avoided but if you want any length at all off the tee you just have to play over it as the sloping left to right fairway drags any ball down the right off into the rough. You are then left with a choice of laying up or going for it, even if you lay up the lake on the left is close enough to the green to affect your next pitch shot and with a miss hit approach you could leave yourself with a putt of over 40 yards on this long green.

Visitor Comments

Submitted by Warren on 08/07/2005.
A good review. I'm a member at Mill Ride and I must say it's a fantastic newish course in the heart of Berkshire. The Par 5's make the course IMO. The 1st, 10th and 18th especially. The course is well kept, greens are top quality as are the fairways and bunkering, the tee boxes have improved and are the right tracks although they do still need some work. All in all a great test of Golf and well worth the visit. If you play to your handicap here you know how to play the game.

Submitted by Jack Small on 1/04/2006.
Mill Ride is a brilliant course. It is hard test for any standard of player the par 3's are great and you would do well to get a par on this course you can not be too wild of the tee or you will get punished,that is with a few exceptions. Overall a great course and a brilliant test of your skills for all levels of golfer.

Submitted by Anon. on 02/04/2007.
Worst golf course to play, and definetly worst place to work!!!!

Submitted by Russell Neill on 04/07/2007.
Fantastic golf course well worth playing, held a number of top events including European ladies tour events and European seniors tour events. Obviously a sacked members of staff has held a grudge!!!!!!

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