Minchinhampton Golf Club (New courses)

Minchinhampton Golf Club (New courses): golf architecture aficionados rave about the authenticity and antiquity of the Old course at Minchinhampton ... often called "Minch Old". It certainly conjures up the earliest antecedents of the game ... some would say it's as "bare bones" and rustic as golf gets.

For those who prefer their golf with a bit less rusticity and without the grazing cattle, just 3 miles to the southeast you'll find Minchinhampton's "New courses", known as the Cherington and Avening. These two 18-hole sister layouts to Minch Old, are much more traditional parkland in character. They are also home to the main clubhouse, with its excellent all-round facilities, driving range, academy and practice areas.

The out-and-back Cherington course expansively journeys into rural Cotswold countryside to the northeast of the clubhouse. The generally open terrain is home to gently undulating good-width fairways, which run firm and fast in the summer. With its relatively easy-going layout, water hazards and the like are rarely if ever in play. Although attractive bunkering threatens around some, but not all, of the large subtly-sloping greens, fairway bunkering is sparingly used.

There's plenty of low dry-stone walling dotted around on the Cherington, and some pleasant views onto the surrounding Gloucestershire countryside. Well maintained and presented, this quiet and natural layout provides for an enjoyable round, although one that perhaps lacks the excitement and challenge of the more renowned Old course.

Completing the Minchinhampton triumverate, the Avening course, like its companion Cherington layout, is a relatively modern parkland design. Comprising four loops (1-7, 8/9, 10-15, 16-18) that never stray too far from the clubhouse, the Avening feels a little more tree-lined than its sibling. Pine trees give definition to several holes, while, unlike the Cherington, water comes into play on a few occasions (especially from the par-3 10th to the par-3 13th). There's also a tad more elevation change than on the Cherington. Proceedings on a few holes on the Avening can be observed from all three sections of the clubhouse terrace.