Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course

Despite it's remote location, The Roxburghe is a championship calibre, parkland course. Set on the banks of a river and among the hills of the Borders, the course is a long, tough test of golf and a tough walk.One of the most spread-out 18 hole courses I have played, the layout takes you up and down hills, through trees and along the river. A long course anyway, the typically moist conditions make it play seriously long. The setting, the holes and the design make the Roxburghe worthy of a Tour event. If you like parkland golf then this course is, without doubt, worth the trip. I would plan a game in the heart of the summer to get better weather, plus the course struggles throughout the winter. Just make sure whenever you go, you are hitting your driver well!

I played the Roxburghe Golf Course in early October and thought the greens were very good for the time of year and still had a lot of pace despite being quite soft. It was the second time I have played the Roxburghe Golf Course, the first being just after it opened 7 years ago and it really has settled down well. The fairways are very generous, probably to speed up play, and there are plenty of yardage markers in the fairway which is good, although I wouldn't put your house on them being that accurate. Roxburghe Golf Course is a good layout with loads of good holes, especially the par-3s. The last four holes are a bit contrived in order to get back up from the signature 14th next to the river to the clubhouse, particularly 15 and 16, but overall Roxburghe Golf Course is a very good course. The clubhouse is cosy and welcoming and we liked the fact you can walk off the 18th, leave your clubs by the bar door and walk in with your spikes on if you want. The only criticism is the amount of walking between holes which probably adds 30 minutes onto the round - 4hrs 15 for a three ball off the yellows is not good, but that's modern designs for you! Roxburghe Golf Course proved a bit expensive at the full green fee of £60 but good value if you use 2fore1 vouchers at £30.

Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course is a stunning golf course in a fabulous location. The only thing that lets it down in the current state of the greens. Apparently, they were fine until the very heavy rains during the (so called) summer and a touch of disease has compounded the problem. They are confident that this will be resolved soon though. Although the overall condition was poor, I still found that putts rolled relatively truly. This shouldn't detract from a wonderful piece of course design, thoughtfully integrated into a stunning piece of countryside. The hole design at Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course is fantastically varied with good contouring and excellent elevation changes. Make no mistake, the Roxburgh Golf Course is a tough track. Unusually, you can choose whether to play from the Yellow or White tees which makes it nearly 7000 yards. On the signature hole towards the viaduct you are even invited to play from the tiger tee. There is quite a lot of building going on around the course so it will get busier in future. Play the Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Course now while it's quiet.

I found the Roxburghe Golf Course very disappointing. A great course layout but the greens were not up to the standard you would think for such a grand place. Have putted on better winter greens at some courses. A pity.