Oxford Golf Club

A Hidden Gem in the Heart of the City

A Harry Colt designed course, Oxford Golf Club is an absolute must-play for any golfer visiting or living in the Oxfordshire area. This outstanding course is one of the best kept secrets in the region, offering immaculate conditions year-round.

The course itself is impeccably maintained by a dedicated team of green keepers who clearly take great pride in their work. The greens are pristine, rolling true and fast, while the fairways are like lush carpets beneath your feet. Thanks to being built on sand, the course remains dry and playable even in the wetter months, a rarity for courses in this part of England.

From the layout to the landscaping, Oxford Golf Club is a pure joy to play and rivals the best courses in the county. The only other course that comes close is Huntercombe.

This hidden gem will surprise and delight you with its superb conditions, beautiful setting, and challenging yet fair test of golf. An absolute pleasure to play!

Varied contour holes some uphill some steeply down. Well maintained fairways but some very deep hedges so stay in the middle. Friendly ground staff and decent 19th! Best of all stunning views back over Oxford and the dreaming spires.

Ok, I’ve not been able to provide many photographs here of Oxford (formerly Southfield) Golf course - only glimpses of it. This review is about a personal story which took place by the golf course.

In the 1960s the golf club was quite liberal in its attitude towards those who wished to see the golf course and enjoy its greenery, its great views of surrounding areas and, of course, the luxuriousness of its vast expanses of beautifully manicured lawns.

At that time, most visitors walked around the edges of the golf course and were courteous enough not to disturb the golfers.

However, in the early 1980s, a group of dirt bikers decided they had the right to use a redundant plot of land by Cowley Marsh as their own personal race track. (Called Cowley Marsh Triangle).

For many months the sound of dirt bikes could be heard across the valley. I have no idea what happened but, one day, the problem just disappeared.

Two trenches were then dug by Cowley Marsh. It wasn’t clear who dug the trenches or why - did it have something to do safeguarding the golf course from dirt bikers or with draining the marshy land by Barracks Lane?

One evening in the early 1980s, my mother and I, and my dog Sandy, walked along Lye valley and turned north-west along Boundary Brook. In those days it was possible to cross bridge along the 17th hole and then climb the slope towards Warneford meadow.

When we got to the meadow we discovered a trench had been dug along its boundary. This seems to suggest that the golf club had dug all three trenches to stop people accessing the golf course.

We stood on the edge of the trench. My mother, who was in her 60s, decided she could edge down the side of the trench and then clamber up the other side. I tried to keep behind her to offer what support I could to get her to safety. But the trench was too steep. She was forced to take a couple of steps down the trench in the hope that her momentum would carry her up the other side of the trench. But it was a forlorn hope. Gravity reasserted itself and we both ended up sprawling at the bottom of the trench with Sandy excitedly enquiring what game this was.

The route we took is no longer physically possible. The golf course has increasingly become a green fortress. Since 2020 there seems to be something of a full scale attack on the hedge that runs along Hollow Way, by people trying to invade the golf course. This hedge is just being ripped open and scarred. Ugly metallic fences are having to be installed to keep out those who could easily use Hollow Way Recreation Ground. This beautiful hedge is being ruined.

I did not play here but I did use the putting green, the green was true and quick, the Greenkeeprs have done an excellent job so far, I'm sire the rest of the course is in fantastic condition. I then went in for a coffee and sat down to watch some TV, a very relaxing morning.
It's a great place to play golf, a very challenging course from.what I can remember (played it back in 85) You won't be dissapointed, a green fee worth paying!

Great golf course, the condition through this wet winter has been remarkable. Tees have been good, and the green are excellent. Fairways have been well maintained. The green staff have done an excellent job. I can't wait to play it in the spring.