The Wiltshire Hotel Golf and Leisure Resort

The Wiltshire Golf and Country club is located just outside of Royal Wotton Basset and contains the 18-hole Lakes course and its smaller 9-hole sibling, the Garden Course. There is also a hotel and spa on site. There have been multi-changes over the years I have visited. The Course is for the better, the Clubhouse/Hotel not so much. If you are in the Swindon area, it’s worth a round.

Course – Designed by Peter Aliss, this is your typical resort course; by that, I mean there is plenty of space for you to hit an erratic drive or two. Greens were large, firm and quick, and greens keepers had placed the pins in locations away from surface water. Almost all the greens were multi-tiered or at least contained a MacKenzie. Water comes into play on roughly a third of the holes. Bunkers weren’t the best and quite gritty but well placed. The courses seem to be designed so you can gently play your way around without incident; however, if you are chasing birdies or better, you are likely to fall foul.

Clubhouse – More of a hotel than a clubhouse; as you enter, there is a golf shop to your left, this was closed on our visit, and we had to speak to the receptionist. The restaurant/bar also appeared to be closed (I assume there were no guests in the hotel, and the site was running on a skeleton crew.

Staff – The receptionist didn’t have the best grasp of English but did so with a smile, and we got there in the end. Greenskeepers waved and were working away in the rain.

Highlights – General upkeep of the course was good, we played during the rain, and apart from the occasion puddle, the drainage was fantastic, and the green remained quick and firm.

Lowlights – Routing on the course wasn’t the best. You could walk onto a tee only to discover it was the wrong one, and you had to walk in the opposite direction. The paths were also muddier than the fairways, which was odd, but likely just a winter issue.

Great golf courses!

Aardige course om te spelen. De routing, zeker als je er voor het eerst speelt, is slecht.

Heel plezierig om te spelen. Niet al te moeilijk. Soms is de volgorde van de holes wat lastig te vinden.

Very enjoyable course to play. Come early morning, and you may have a deer crossing the fairway. But stay away from the coffee in the clubhouse.