Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf & Spa - Premier Course

I last played this course in the mid to late 90s. I’m pleased to say the course didn’t disappoint in the present day. Well manicured with immaculate greens. I will be returning!!!!

Been playing here since it was built and called Oaklands. Love the course some great holes. On Saturday we booked a 4 ball tee at 14.36 assuming we would be able to play 18 holes. When we arrived there was a group of I believe 70 who were in the process of teeing off followed by another smaller group who decided to play off the white course ? When we reached the 4th tee there were 5 groups stood there waiting in front of us the next group to play had been there for 45 minutes. We had to wait over 1 hour to tee off and then subsequently on every hole after there were people just walking off in disgust. The greediness of the club to allow this is a disgrace the course should have been shut down with that many golfers. We were only able to play 13 holes before it went dark. Drive an hour each way to play here !! I demand a refund !!

Enjoyed playing here, some lovely holes and some testing holes. The 15th & 17th a great par 3s

Given some green fees that average and below average courses are demanding atm I would definitely recommend this course. Not perfect, but that wasn’t expected, but still very good. Against that below average ‘Malkins Bank’ in Sandbach - that tripled its green fees for a below average course - makes this course like the Open! Want a challenge with good conditions and friendly staff? You won’t go wrong in this course! I recommend

We played on a Sunday at 2:36pm the first tee was overloaded when we got there. By the time we got to the fourth hole there were 5 tee’s waiting to hit off mostly four balls. Tried phoning the pro shop to highlight th bottle neck and couldn’t get through. Took 3 1/2 hours to play 9 holes and 6 1/2 hours to play 18 holes. Raised a complaint via the website (as no one there by the time we finished) and heard nothing back. Shame because I love the varied hols on this course but will not be playing there again !!

Play the three ball on the 31st of May and the course was in very good condition. Unfortunately, some cows had escaped and caused damage to some of the greens, but the green staff have done an excellent job at minimising the damage and repairing them and was not perfect, they had done a good job.

An arrival, we had nobody in front of us and went straight out and the next group behind was approximately three holes behind, so we never felt under the pressure and had a good round. Lots of elevation change, some challenging holes and great value for money. I play off a 10 handicap and would come back again.

The course itself is nice but the pace of play is horrendous. Walked off after there were 3 groups already waiting on the next tee box

First impression count. Exterior of clubhouse is in dire need of attention, peeling wood treatment. Putting practice green has bare patches & ball bobbles when rolling.

Once out on the course length of grass on tees too high, above top of 54mm castle tee. Fairways have no definition from semi-rough which is of uneven height causing delays looking for balls. The greens whilst cut were very slow & have suffered from severe non-repaired pitchmarks resulting in bare patches & hollows making putting difficult.

The course has a variety of difficult par 3s, testing par 4s & long challenging par 5s.

The course deserves a lot more attention.

This was a lovely well thought out course. Unfortunately the fairway round the entire course was over grown and like a first cut of rough.

If the course was maintained in the correct manor it would be value for money but in this condition I wouldn’t play here again.

While it was clear the greens were being grown out for essential maintenance, the current conditions made them nearly unplayable. Unfortunately, this significantly impacted our experience, and my group decided to leave after only six holes. It was disappointing, as we had high expectations for the round.

It’s a great course and has good variation of holes with a couple of feature holes, good value for money with GN only criticism is the club house which is a fantastic building could do with money spent on it apart from that I would highly recommend it

Average golf course, good for social golfers and societies as there is plenty of places to let people through if you require too

Clubhouse looks really tired but staff friendly. Course looked in poor condition in parts but there are some really spectacular holes and it is first week of April following a dreadful spell of weather through the first quarter of the year.

I’ve no played both Portal courses and would recommend both.

Pretty hilly so a good walk.

Huge queues the whole way around, as a two ball it took us 3 hours to play 10 holes, waiting for ages on each tee. They appear to put 4 balls out every 5 minutes all with buggies.

We gave up after 10 and went home. Never left a bad review before but feel obligated to do so. Beautiful course, terribly run. The guy who works in the driving range is a self important loser as well. Definitely won’t be going back.

The welcome was great, but they did not inform us that the club house would be shut when we finished.

Some what of a let down to a reasonable day.

Played after days of some of the worst rain that we have ensured in years. The course was holding up better than most in the area. Full greens in good condition. A few shorter holes or with mats on the teeing area, but very good.

Terrible course. The grass was not cut anyhwere.. dreadful foe the price we played. Signs were all over the place..the layout is awful.

The fairway was like the rough, the rough was like a jungle

Disgusting