Macdonald Hill Valley Spa, Hotel & Golf - Emerald Course

Do not,I repeat do not book this golf course, after being placed into tier 4 and no fault of ours or any of the 2 x 4 balls I had booked we could not attend our booking as it was against the law, after contacting golf now to issue a refund 6/7 times each time I’m met with the same thing, the golf course will not answer the phone to issue your refund, the golf course have been no help whatsoever and basically a joke.

Although snow stopped play the staff gave us a voucher to come back whenever. Course was fantastic though despite the weather

Course played very well despite poor weather. Greens in fantastic shape. Good effort on collecting leaves etc.

Course played very well despite questionable weather the preceding week. Staff were great and app facilities open despite Covid restriction. Greens played a lot better than they looked which was a pleasant suprise. Will be back.

Great fun, challenging. Never held up up in play. Greens great for time of year

Although pro and staff very accommodating it was let down by a very..very poorly maintained course. Yes it had been raining for a few days before and was wet but we accept this but fallen branches everywhere, bunkers were the worse I ever seen, the greens were appalling, it just felt unloved like some courses we play, I'm really not sure MACDONALD hotels care about the course at all.

When we booked this course we were really satisfied with a £15 price tag. It’s not hard to understand why it was so cheap!

The course was just SO full of leaves it was impossible to find a ball even when it went straight down the fairway! We must have lost 20 balls between us and it wasn’t because of poor shots. The course was also holding a lot of water. Luckily I was carrying but others had trolleys and were struggling to get anywhere without lots of slippage. The mats we were playing off weren’t great and were coming away and curling up in places. When we finished the round and went to the 19th, we were told that the chef wasn’t very well and there was no food to be had. We asked for crisps and were told that there weren’t any. Ended up grabbing a burger on the way home!

All in all, the experience was very poor. The only good thing was the friendliness of the lady in the pro shop before the round. Had a good chat about lockdown before the round which was nice and there were very good one way systems to get in and out of the shop.

All 18 tee’s were off matts. Struggled to find your ball with the amount of leaves on the course.

This golf course is right up there with the WORST we have played . It hasn’t been maintained well at all . The bunkers were full , and I mean full , with leaves . If you went in your ball was lost . Where you could see the sand it was as hard as a rock .

Fairways were covered in leaves .... I know leaves fall of trees but we are talking months worth of leaves.... losing your ball when you hit the fairway made it almost impossible to play .

The temporary Tees were a joke ..... uneven , falling to pieces and barely big enough to get a stance on .

What a shame .... this course was great when I played here a few years ago ...... now it’s like a poor municipal course .

Do not under any circumstances attend this golf course or facilities. The course and hotel both suffer from total neglect. We arrived at 1pm to find the pro had decided to leave for the day so no buggies or service....we literally had to ask a guest where to tee off. Course is ageing and unkempt as is the hotel. Bar stafff were rude....only saving grace was the hotel porter and receptionist who at least did try and help us.

like playing here its a nice course in pretty good condition but the bunkers are a disgrace, its as though they keep forgetting about or they cant be bothered with them full of weeds and haven't seen a rake for 6 months , £22 off golf now its overpriced wont come back till there sorted

We have been coming to Hill valley for 12 years on our annual golf trip.

The course was absolutely awful. We had a lot of rain but the green were slow and bobbly and the bunkers were terrible.

The course was extremely scruffy and I don’t think we will be returning.

Big disappointment!

Lovely lady in Pro shop. Very helpful and efficient . Thank you

Courses require money spending on them.

Courses are magnificent in their planning , aesthetics and Beauty.

Upon playing both courses, it becomes obvious very little maintenance is happening.

1: fairways full of silver/white Leaves which makes your ball almost unidentifiable.

I lost six balls after hitting drives down the fairways. Not good enough

2: first cut of rough played like third cut. Poorly maintained and very scruffy

3: Bunkers were really poor. Tall weeds growing in them, hardly any sand in these.

It seems to me, Mcdonalds Hotels are not funding these courses to an appropriate level.

Not enough green keepers

And really and an inability to realise the requirements that courses like need.

Won’t be coming again unfortunately

Had a great time, but very challenging, not for the fate hearted.

Played a couple of times over the summer so far and it's a fun course and a great test certainly for beginners/intermediates. The greens are immaculate - only slight criticism is that the tee boxes can be a bit scruffy at times. Overall though, an excellent course.