Macdonald Hill Valley Spa, Hotel & Golf - Sapphire Course

The Sapphire is a decent round to play. Has lots of undulations and features to get around. Its a thinkers course on many holes. The fairways and tee boxes are in good condition, the greens do let it down at times. Hopefully a bit more work and it will be tip top.

The round was cheap at £12 but even at that price, it's not value for money. Whilst the course has some interesting holes, it's scruffy and poorly kept. The greens are terrible and many have large cracks and craters. I nearly twisted my ankle walking to the 4th due a hole that was disguised with heavy rough. Just play the Emerald - even if it's a lot more expensive.

Walked off after 2 holes. Booked online without any notice of course status, drive 1 hour to then be told on arrival after already paid online ''the course has been neglected as the green keepers have worked on the other course''. Why not notified of this upon booking and before paying? course was so bad we walked off after 2 holes. I would expect this to be noted upon booking not to be told on arrival after a wasted 1 hour drive.

Don't no what's happened to the course, so over grown and greens in awful condition. Used to be lovely.

The greens were very tired and played badly. The condition of the couse was average on th whole. Should we have played the Emerald? In a golf course of this level then there should not be any difference between them, the only difference being the level of difficulty. So to answer that question..... definitely not. We will not be back based on our experience. The following day we played Hawkstone Park........like chalk and cheese. We had a wonderful game of golf !!

Played the sapphire course and was very disappointed.Tee boxes were scruffy and hadn’t been mowed

Greens were in poor condition.Having seen that the Euro pro tour had been played on the emerald course probably expected a little too much.Very hilly course with some nice scenery but probably won’t play again

My heart sank a little when i saw the uneven and badly turfed 1st tee. Then when the 1st green rolled slow and bobbly (debris everywhere) I realised I would just have to accept it and enjoy the walk. I wasn’t expecting Augusta for the low green fee but there were parts of the course that were so shabby. It’s a real shame as some of the holes have nice features. The par 3s in particular are interesting. Had to endure a 5ball in front of me for a few holes and learnt a few new swear words. Very much an ‘anything goes cheap and cheerful’ course.

The Sapphire is the little brother of the Emerald, and it doesn’t get the maintenance it deserves.

It’s a nice little track, and can be tough if treated with disrespect by an arrogant attitude. Leave your driver in the car, and use your 3-wood, hybrid or 4 iron off the tees.

Pro-shop is great and the guys who work there are friendly and knowledgeable.

The thing that lets the whole venue down is the hotel and catering. Bar/restaurant staff are utterly clueless, and you’ll need to be prepared to be extremely patient when ordering and when waiting at least 40 minutes for even the most basic of orders (bacon baps take so long that your coffee is cold before the food arrives).

Nice course but needs more attention, and hotel is woeful.

Be good to yourselves, and go to Hawkstone Park to play the Championship Course (never the Old Course) instead if it’s available. If not, play the Emerald course here at Hill Valley (it’s lovely).

From the moment we arrived we were made to feel welcome the lady in the pros shop was fantastic. The saphire course is the shorter of the two here, don't let that allow you to think that this is inferior to the emerald, it is a different and thoroughly enjoyable challenge.

Smashing course often overlooked for its bigger brother the Emerald but it’s got quality of its own

My only complaint is that it isn’t kept as neat and tidy as it should be and the greens need a bit more attention and could do with a cut

Not long but you need to be accurate off the tee and some cracking par 3’s

Don’t miss out on this if you’re playing one course at Hill valley stop and play the other you will enjoy it

Short of a windmill and a rubber ball this is posh crazy Golf!!

Course layout is a joke. Some holes are simply unplayable. Greens were in poor condition. Shouting and swearing all over the course. Golf can be hard enough.

I certainly wouldn’t want to come back and go through that again.

Thoroughly enjoyed it lovely little 18 in very good condition went early didn't see anyone else until about 6 holes in although very busy as we were finishing and for £13 on a Saturday very good value

Shorter course than most but challenging. Really enjoy playing this course. First time I played this ciurs3 I had 5 birdies, played twice since and not been so lucky which to me makes it a challenge, staff in pro shop and bar top class, polite and extremely helpful.

Awful condition. Regardless of the weather conditions on the day, which were poor, the Sapphire course is not well looked after at all. Fairways need cutting, tee boxes and around the tee boxes are woeful. Land in any bunker and you may as well drop out. Pointless taking a shot out the bunkers as they were full of leaves, stones and the sand looked like it hadn’t been raked in weeks. The greens were bang average but were probably the best part of the course which says it all really. Would I recommend it to a high handicapper looking at improving their game...???? No chance!!! How the course is now, It would destroy their confidence. £11 for the round.... The state it’s in now, it’s not even worth £11!!!!!

Played this course probarbly 6 times in 3 years.greens run nicely if a bit small in my opinion.fairways well maintained and ruff not to long.need to be straight on a few holes as a lot of trees and water.thoroughly enjoyed round with my dad who is new to golf at 67.a bit hilly for him as name suggests maybe a buggy next time.doesnt drain to well as we have had a dry summer but rained the day before i played and was very wet in places.

Great value for money, good mix of difficulty for beginners and intermediates, some challenging holes, would play again for sure

This was an absolute bargain .£10 on a Sunday morning is fantastic ..course in perfect condition .greens were brilliant ..all round nice course n a gud pint after

We have played this course several times since and have always been well chuffed

Even though it's not a long course, it's challenging. Greens played well considering amount of rain over last couple of days.