Tucked into the gentle hills near Lyneham, just off the road toward Chipping Norton, The Wychwood is the kind of course you don't quite expect to find out here. Eighteen holes across 170 acres of rolling Cotswold farmland, USGA-standard greens, and a TrackMan driving range that'll keep you honest.
If you're the sort of person who packs golf shoes on holiday (no judgement, we understand entirely), Wychwood is a genuine find. The course is beautifully maintained, with greens built to USGA specification, and the whole thing sits in that quiet stretch of countryside between Lyneham and Chipping Norton where the views roll on for miles. It's a proper championship layout, challenging enough to hold your attention but never punishing in the way some courses seem to enjoy. Visitor green fees are available, so there's no membership hoop to jump through; you simply book a round and turn up.
The TrackMan driving range is worth a visit on its own, particularly if the weather turns and you still want to swing a club. PGA coaching is on offer too, which is useful if you're travelling with someone who'd like to pick up the game (or quietly improve before the next society day). The clubhouse is comfortable without being stuffy, the kind of place where muddy spikes and a pint feel equally at home. From the cottage, you're there in about ten minutes, most of it along quiet lanes with the sort of scenery that makes you wonder why you don't do this more often.
“I've played a lot of courses in the Cotswolds and this one quietly outclasses most of them. The greens are superb, the setting is beautiful, and nobody looks at you twice if you're in walking boots rather than golf shoes at the bar afterwards.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.