Prestbury Golf Club Course Review

Prestbury Golf Club Course Review

GF £40-£95 per round (book online up to 90 days in advance)
Par 71, 6,419 yards
Slope 146
GM Verdict – A beautiful parkland/woodland course with many memorable holes and moments – one of inland Cheshire’s finest
Favourite Hole – The 12th is a modest-length par 4 with a downhill approach over a meandering brook to a wedge-shaped green

Take the mighty links of The Wirral out of the equation and many golfers would rank the fine course at Prestbury near Macclesfield in the top three of a best golf courses in Cheshire ranking. The club, which reached its centenary milestone in 2020, plays over a wonderfully varied yet relatively compact layout, which makes excellent use of a number of eye-catching changes in elevation right from the start. The reasonably accommodating par-5 opener drops down before rising to the green while the splendid, steeply downhill par-3 4th plays from a tee you must scale via steps aplenty.

Related: the best golf courses on The Wirral

Although best described as parkland/woodland terrain, there is more than a hint of a heathland feel trying to get out in places, with Prestbury’s sandy soil ensuring it is one of the best-draining courses in the area. From the 8th, the course plays around the course’s perimeters in an anti-clockwise direction, until making a deviation after the delightful 12th. A look at Google maps tells you that houses lie close to those extremities throughout, but you are often blissfully unaware of this as you make your way round.

Harry Colt was the man tasked with creating the course back in 1920, and as ever, the master designer made excellent use of the natural terrain, picking out some excellent green sites including the distinctive shelf greens on the 3rd and 5th holes. Reflecting on his work at Prestbury some years later, Colt commented that “every hole presents some distinct feature of an impressive character” and few who have played here over the years would disagree.

Among the important events to have visited Prestbury are the English Seniors Championship in 2005 and Regional Qualifying for The Open Championship. There are a number of holes you will remember long after playing Prestbury, perhaps none more so than the difficult 9th with its testing drive and steeply uphill approach to a long narrow green at the highest point on the course. Yes, it is a par 4, not a par 5!

A couple of holes later, it’s the downhill approach over a meandering stream just short of the narrow-fronted 12th green that will linger in the memory, while the shortish par-3 17th then plays across a wide gully from an unusual semi-circular tee wrapped around the left half of the 16th green.