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Berkshire (Blue), England |
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The Berkshire Golf Club
Swinley Road
Ascot
Berkshire
SL5 8AY
England |  | Herbert Fowler |  | P. Anderson |
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 | +44 (0) 1344 621495 |  | Between Bagshot and Ascot |
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Golf Club Website
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 | By prior arrangement |  | Lt Col J.C.F Hunt |
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Sunningdale and Wentworth are the only clubs in the whole of the British Isles other than the Berkshire Golf Club that can boast about having two heathland golf courses positioned in the top 100. It’s an amazing surprise that so few people know how charming the Berkshire experience really is.
The Blue course is the Red’s more conventional and slightly shorter sister. A more standard four par 3s, three par 5s and eleven par 4s make up the configuration for this delightful par 71 course. In Bernard Darwin’s book, Golf Between Two Wars, he wrote: “The other, the Blue, which some people prefer, a little less ‘big’, but by no means a secondary course. The country is essentially undulating and interesting and full of natural beauty…The Berkshire courses have more of charm perhaps and less of austere grandeur than Walton Heath.”
Herbert Fowler was the Berkshire’s architect and the Blue course opened for play in 1928. Fowler was actually very good at designing excellent twin golf courses. Not only did Fowler design both courses here at the Berkshire, but he also designed the superb intertwined courses at Walton Heath, the Old and the New.
Both the Berkshire courses have the same natural hazards, although the Blue plays over flatter ground than the Red. Cruelly, the Blue opens up with an exceptionally tough par 3, with the tee directly in front of the clubhouse window. The green sits on a distant plateau. Not the easiest hole on which to start a round of golf – play the Red course in the morning to prepare for it!
There are many other notable holes on the Blue course but it’s the closing sequence of five holes that makes this a tough but special course. All five are par 4s and three of them are more than 400 yards long. It could be argued that the Blue has a similar but less acute weakness than her brother the Red – the three par 5s on the Blue course are very short indeed, the longest measures only 477 yards.
However, short par fives aside, the Berkshire is the most delightful place to play 36 holes of golf, perhaps only surpassed by the pairing of Sunningdale’s Old and New courses. | |
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If the above course review article is not accurate, let us know by clicking here |
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 |  | | Average Reviewers Score: |  | | | The Berkshire is a great club and has two very lovely courses. The highlight is the 1st on the blue for me - which is an intimdating shot over a valley of heather - right in front of the watching crowds washing down their breakfast with a few laughs at your expense (can you tell I topped it?).
The course is very beautiful and a treat to play - very much in the same vein of some of its sister courses in the area. Certainly one to play. |
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| 02 November 2009
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| | This is tougher than the Red course here, but not quite as nice or memorable. A few holes on the front 9 are affected by a lot of traffic noise and aren't quite as good as all the others here. The back 9 is very nice and probably the hardest of the of the four 9's here. Theres lots of long uphill par 4's, which require your full attention. The 1st hole here is also worth a mention, 200+ yard par 3 with heather all the way to the green, tough start!! Great way to spend a day, 36 beautiful holes of golf at The Berkshire. |
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| 25 August 2009
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| | A day of 36 holes golf on the 2 courses at the Berkshire is a golfers dream.
The Blue is the tougher of the 2 in my opinion.
Great. |
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| 26 September 2008
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| | The Blue course runs through the flatter part of the property and to me was somewhat less interesting than the Red course. The opening hole, a long 200+ yard par three over a wide expanse of heather, is outstanding. However some of the holes, especially on the outward nine, have less character than the Red and the back nine of the Blue. There is also some distraction from the nearby roadway. But I shouldn't let these few comments distract from the otherwise outstanding holes that make up a very good golf course. The whole experience of the Berkshire is wonderful and the Blue is a very good course that a golfer of almost any level would enjoy.
Richard Smith, Knoxville, Tennessee |
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| 04 August 2008
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| I unfortunately didn’t get the chance to play the knee-trembling first hole on the Blue course as both it and the second hole were closed for what appeared to be quite extensive drainage work but I did feel fortunate to be allowed to play the remaining  holes from 3 to 18, even though the course was officially closed – which meant my playing partner and I had the place to ourselves! After playing the Red in the morning, the early holes on the Blue by comparison in the afternoon did not provide quite the same thrilling golf experience. Holes 3 to 9 play a little more on the flat and its true to say the front nine are, collectively, not as strong as the other three nines on the property, but - let’s not get too picky here - they are all very decent holes. It’s a shame a very busy main highway runs just yards behind the green on the 10th – surely some mounding/tree planting could alleviate part of the visual and sound distraction here? The double doglegged par five 11th is a real cracker, with a wicked two-tiered green and big bearded bunker to the right of it then the blind tee shot at the 14th begins a very testing sequence of five par fours to complete the round. These are all strong holes, particularly the 452-yard 16th where a burn protects the elevated green – great stuff! Despite being pegged back at the last to finish all square (having been dormie two!) I came off the 18th green beaming ear to ear as I’d just played 34 very enjoyable holes on two great courses, managing to retain the same ball I’d started with – a triumph of epic proportion here! Once the clubhouse refurbishment is finished, you will be able to really savour the full Berkshire treatment, both on and off the courses - very well worth saving up your pennies for a 36-hole golfing away day. Jim McCann |
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| 03 April 2008
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| | Straight from the first hole on the Blue (long par-3 in-front of the clubhouse), the course sets a fine standard. A little more open from the tee than the Red course that will favour the less accurate tee shots – this for most players will assist in scoring. The Blue along with the Red course at the Berkshire make up nearly the best 36 holes of this style of course in one place, with the exception being nearby Sunningdale. |
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| 01 November 2007
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| | The Berkshire courses are the very best heathland courses in England. The variation in holes and the elvation make the blue a joyful experience. We enjoyed this more than Sunningdale and found it on a par with St Georges Hill. The course is beautifully prepared and i can not recall any area of the whole layout that looked in any shape roughly prepared. The blend of long grass and heather just frames each holes and you find yourself engrossed in the whole atmosphere, so much so that we found it hard to concentrate on shotmaking for 18 holes!! |
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| 20 July 2007
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| | The Blue is much more of a conventional layout than the Red with four par3s, three par 5s and the rest fours. The Blue is less tranquil than the Red with the busy A322 running close to a few holes around the turn, but that said, the Blue is every bit as good as the Red with the same excellent tee to green conditioning and naturally the heathland drainage is particularly good making it a great winter venue. You don’t need to be long off the tee and some would say that the course is too short by modern standards but you need to think your way round and accuracy will pay dividends (otherwise you’re hacking out of the heather or trees). One of the most endearing features of both courses is the variation of each hole so you are forever on your toes and also a word for the closing stretch that is especially strong. One of the earlier reviews mentioned that the club is stuffy but I would say it’s traditional and friendly and they serve one of the best lunches I’ve ever tasted only to be rivalled by Walton Heath in this neck of the woods. If you don’t want to don the jacket and tie for the dining room, then there is a casual bar where you can get some decent hot food and beer. Overall, the Berkshire is a wonderful club and if I could be a member I’d jump at the chance as they do everything right and I am always pleased to play here. |
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| 02 January 2007
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| | I played this course in August and can safely say that it was a truly stunning course.From the par3 start to the tough par 4 finishing hole this was a great all round test with many long carries from the tee. |
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| 27 September 2005
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| | The Blue's a good course but not as good as the Red. The opening hole is an absloute brute of a par three. Not the easiest opener after lunch and a couple of beers. The Blue has a more open feel to it and it's certainly more forgiving than the Red. There are a number of holes on top of the busy road and these detract from the overall enjoyment...shame really. In my view, the Berkshire comes up just short of Wentworth's original 36-hole combination (East & West). Anyway, it's certainly worth playing as a 36-hole package. But if you can, play the Blue first and leave the superior Red until last. |
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| 13 November 2004
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| | It's hard to split these two courses, they are both excellent heathland layouts. A bit stuffy in the clubhouse but so what? |
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| 01 April 2004
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