Donnington Valley GC

Set among some absolutely breathtaking Berkshire countryside, and less than an hour's drive from London

Donnington Valley GC
Mike Harris
By
published

Golfers in the home counties are usually the first to acknowledge that they are spoilt for choice, not only in terms of the quality, but also the quantity of courses on their doorstep, so it's not unusual for some excellent courses to have slipped through the net and remained hitherto undiscovered gems.

Donnigton Valley Golf Club near Newbury is just such a course. Set among some absolutely breathtaking Berkshire countryside, and less than an hour's drive from London, it is home to a challenging layout that many visitors instantly fall in love with once they have played it.

The course is part of the Sir Peter Michael collection, which includes the vineyard at Stockcross with its fine cuisine, health spa, art collection and the Peter Michael winery in California.

The course was rebuilt, redesigned between 1998 and 2000 and now weighs in at a challenging 6353 yards, par 71 from the back tees. Although some of the holes are quite forgiving, the closing four holes are regarded as one of the toughest finishes in the country, with water featuring prominently on 15, 16 and 17.

Best Hole: 6th 428 yards par 4. Long dog-leg where you'll have to flirt with out of bounds. Approach shot, played to an elevated green, needs to find the right tier.

Address: Snelsmore House, Snelsmore Common, Newbury, Berkshire

Tel: 01635 551199

Green fees: £24 weekdays, £32 weekends

Restrictions: Members before 9.30am at weekends

Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Content Director

Mike has been a journalist all his working life, starting out as a football writer with Goal magazine in the 1990s before moving into men’s and women’s lifestyle magazines including Men's Health, In 2003 he joined Golf Monthly and in 2006 he became only the eighth editor in Golf Monthly’s 100-plus year history leading the brand until July 2023. He is now Content Director overseeing Golf Monthly and two other iconic sports brands, FourFourTwo and Rugby World.

His three main passions in golf are courses (he's played over 500 worldwide), equipment (he's always in search of something shiny to give him an edge) and shoes (he owns more pairs than he cares to mention!).  

Mike’s handicap index hovers at around 10 and he is a member of six golf clubs: Hartley Wintney, Royal Liverpool, Royal North Devon, Prince's, Royal Norton and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

Mike's current What's In The Bag? 

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 10° - Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S - Golf Pride MCC Plus4 grip

Fairway woods: TaylorMade Sim Max 3/15° - Fujikura Ventus Blue 6S & TaylorMade Stealth 7/20° - Fujikura Ventus Red 6S - Golf Pride MCC Plus4 grips

Utility Iron: TaylorMade Stealth UDI 3/21° - Aldila Ascent 90HY - Golf Pride MCC Plus4 grip

Irons: TaylorMade P790 (5-PW)  - Fujikura Axiom 75R - Golf Pride MCC Plus4 grips

Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 50°, 54° and 58° - KBS Tour Hi-Rev 2.0 shafts - Golf Pride MCC Plus4 grips

Putter: Evnroll ER2B - Gravity Grip 

Ball: TaylorMade - Tour Response (Yellow) 

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