Wokingham doesn't have a large number of golf clubs, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. Six clubs sit across Wokingham, Reading and Crowthorne, and several of them punch well above their weight for a county this compact. The dominant style here is parkland, with three of the clubs falling into that category, alongside a heathland course that stands apart in character. Green fees start from £50, which is fair going for golf of this standard so close to the M4 corridor.
The headline name is Bearwood Lakes Golf Club in Wokingham, laid out across 200 acres of former Windsor Great Park estate land dotted with lakes and mature woodland. Founded in 1996, it has built a serious competitive pedigree in a short space of time, hosting Open Regional Qualifying in both 2024 and 2025, Senior Open Qualifying in 2021 and 2025, and the Rose Ladies Series between 2020 and 2023. Gary Player is an honorary member, which gives some sense of the regard the club is held in beyond Berkshire.
Sand Martins, also in Wokingham, takes a different approach to parkland golf. Founded in 1993 and sitting handily between M4 Junction 10 and M3 Junction 3, it's built around two contrasting nine-hole loops. The outward nine plays through classic parkland with lakes and water in play, while the back nine shifts into something closer to a links feel, with deep revetted bunkers and the appropriately named 15th, 'Deception', crossing a fairway ravine. It's the kind of course that rewards two different games in one round.
Reading's Parkland and Heathland Contrast
Reading holds the county's other parkland options along with its one heathland course. Hennerton Golf Club began as nine holes designed by Colonel Dion Beard before Gaunt & Marnoch extended the layout, and the club grew to a full 18 holes in 2006. Set among rolling hills and valleys within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, its best-known hole is the 16th, a 183-yard par three that crosses a sharp valley with views stretching towards the Berkshire Downs and Henley. Castle Royle Golf & Country Club, also in Reading, pairs its championship course with an extensive leisure side, including well over a hundred weekly classes and spa treatments for anyone looking to make a day of it rather than just a round.
The real change of pace, though, is Sonning Golf Club. Where the others are parkland, Sonning is heathland proper, laid out among mature trees and shrubs on ground originally shaped by Harry Colt and C.H. Alison and later reworked by Martin Hawtree, who also created a new 18th hole. Peter Alliss rated Sonning's 17th among the best short holes anywhere in the South of England, which is high praise for a hole most visitors won't have heard of before they play it. For golfers used to Wokingham's parkland courses, Sonning offers a firmer, more textured alternative in the same county.
Crowthorne and the Wider Picture
Crowthorne brings East Berkshire Golf Club into the mix, rounding out the towns represented across this small but varied cluster. Taken together, Wokingham's golf is easy to sum up in one respect: strong parkland is the backbone, from Bearwood Lakes' lake-strewn grandeur to Sand Martins' split personality and Hennerton's valley views, with Sonning's Colt and Alison heathland routing offering the one genuine departure in feel. It's not a county you'd visit for sheer volume of courses, but the standard on offer, and the competitive history at Bearwood Lakes in particular, make it worth the detour from anywhere in the Thames Valley.