Chalk downland at its best
Wiltshire's golf is built on chalk, and it shows in nearly every round you play here. Eight of the county's 22 clubs are classed as downs courses, and the reason they cluster so heavily around Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs is straightforward: this ground drains fast and plays firm all year. Chippenham Golf Club, founded in 1896 and expanded to 18 holes in 1932 by Harry S Colt, is a good example — reduced to nine holes during the Second World War, then doubled back up with seven new holes in 2012. High Post, close to Stonehenge, keeps its original Hawtree and Taylor bunkers and greens intact, and Peter Alliss reportedly rated its 9th as his favourite hole anywhere. Nearby, Salisbury & South Wilts runs to 27 holes on a J H Taylor design and borders the racecourse, hosting South West Counties and County Championships on a regular basis.
Further north, Ogbourne Downs was laid out by five-time Open champion J.H. Taylor on fast-draining chalk between Swindon and Marlborough, with small, firm greens that reward accurate approach play. Kingsdown, near Corsham, dates back to 1880 and claims the title of oldest club in the county — its greenkeeping team between them have logged over a century of experience on the same turf. Tidworth Garrison, a Colt design from 1908 on Salisbury Plain, rarely closes in winter thanks to the same chalk base, and its Ladies Section has been running since 1926.
Parkland variety and one genuine curiosity
Parkland courses are just as numerous, with nine clubs offering a softer, more sheltered style of golf. Bowood Hotel Spa & Golf Resort in Calne, a Dave Thomas design set within the wider Bowood estate, is built around a sharp dogleg signature hole with a water hazard and a shared double green at the 5th. The Manor House in Chippenham, designed by Clive Clark and Peter Alliss, runs tree-lined fairways with natural undulation and is GEO-certified, with its clubhouse powered by biomass and solar. Cumberwell Park near Bradford-on-Avon takes a different approach entirely, offering six separate nine-hole layouts across rolling terrain with lakes and woodland — useful if you fancy a different combination every time you play.
Wiltshire's one links course, West Wilts at Warminster, is worth seeking out simply for being an inland anomaly. Founded in 1891 to another J.H. Taylor design, it sits on a hilltop with views into three counties and natural chalk sub-soil beneath it, giving it the small greens and undulating approaches you'd expect from a coastal course despite being nowhere near the sea. Marlborough Golf Club offers its own contrast within a single round: a parkland front nine laid out by Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler in 1921, followed by a downland back nine added by J Hamilton Stutt in 1974 — the same architect responsible for Turnberry's Ailsa Course.
Where to play and what it costs
Golf is spread widely across the county, from Marlborough and Devizes to Salisbury, Melksham and Royal Wootton Bassett, so you're rarely far from a course whatever corner of Wiltshire you're in. For something different, Basset Down near Swindon is the county's only 12-hole layout, pay-and-play with a floodlit range, while Hamptworth sits right on the edge of the New Forest with an Art Deco clubhouse and five croquet lawns alongside its parkland course. Green fees start from £18, which for chalk downland golf with this pedigree of design — Colt, Taylor, Simpson, Fowler — represents genuinely good value. Whether you're chasing a fast, firm links feel or a sheltered parkland round, the county's spread of courses makes it easy to build a varied few days of golf without travelling far.