Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf & Spa - Championship Course

With all the rain we have had in the North West and with most courses closed due to the persistent rains it was great to get out and play a full course with all greens open. Granted the course was wet under foot especially round the 16th green and fairway other than that the course has stood up well to the bad weather. Greens staff were working hard on the day and well done to them - course had distinguishable fairways, greens and aprons. Greens were ok, some balls needed hitting that little bit more to get them to the hole even if it was to get through all of the "worm casts". But overall no complaints, and the rain stayed off for the whole of our round which made it even better! Will definitely return in the summer!
Only gripe would be breakfast sandwich purchased on the morning - sausage and egg x 2 with 2 coffees £16.00!

Otherwise we all need to be reminding ourselves we are playing Winter golf in the North West of England. Thanks Portal for a great walk.

It's a long walk (7000 yards) but well worth it. Even at this time of year the course was in pretty good condition with some great holes and beautiful views across Cheshire towards the Pennines. Will definitely be playing again, great round.

Played a round January 13th and wow after all the bad weather we have a had this course was in top top condition for winter no complaints whatsoever, I have seen worse courses in summer never mind winter good days golfing and not to forget the great staff in the pro shop and in the halfway house on the championship course brilliant very friendly, welcoming and helpful, booked on again for the week later as it was spot on.

Considering this is a championship course and even allowing for the weather recently, This course is in terrible condition. Fairways aren't cut, neither are the greens and the overall quality is poor. Extremely disappointed and not worth the value of almost £50.

After a downpour the night before. The course played ok… but arguably should’ve been closed.

The round didn’t help either as there was the slowest 4 ball in front, refusing to let us play through (a 2 ball). A few groups behind us were complaining about them too. Multiple times on the first few holes they were just leaving the tee box as we were approaching and not once waved us through. We had to skip a hole just to get ahead of them.

The course itself is really nice with some real picturesque holes. It’s definitely worth playing but i’d avoid after a couple of days of bad weather.

Forgetting the price, this course mid December was in absolutely fantastic condition, no matts, no temporary greens, everything was brilliant, had a great round and will definitely go again

I love the champs course at the portal ,the greens are always in a good condition and the place is very picturesque.Sadly winter golf and the weeks of deluge have been harsh on the place and playing a round of 18 without losing at least 10 balls is a difficult task. The fairways have had a bashing and you can good bye to that ball in the rough.
Given the recent condition I think it’s possibly not true value for money .

To many golfers tee of same time 4 golf buggies on same tee should be 10 minutes gap between each tee time , thats a joke thats says making as much money as they can which makes very slow play which is golf rule but every group was slow play it taken me 2 hrs for 8 holes so i walked of course ill never go back

Played portal on numerous occasions & it’s excellent condition 🏌🏿‍♂️

Coming from a beginner point of view a tricky course with a couple of really nice holes as a beginner. Course was in great condition and staff were great even giving me some tips at the half way house. Would recommend

I play here a lot through winter and was gobsmacked to find the greens even slower at the end of summer.
The fairways are more like semi rough and the semi rough - good luck finding your ball and if you do you’ll struggle to get a strike. Tee boxes and green surrounds are bumpy and need a cut. The greens were very frustrating because they were too firm to stop a ball on with a well struck shot but ridiculously slow and desperately needed a cut. Having recently left my home club I may of been tempted to join but I couldn’t join a club where the condition let’s it down so badly. In all fairness - it was great value at only £20 but I wouldn’t mind paying £30-£40 if it was well kept.

Played here for first time with some friends and we all enjoyed it. Definitely a challenge, especially with no prior course knowledge. Can't compare it to the Premier Course but imagine you'd be happy playing either. Very peaceful surroundings with views over the Cheshire plane. Course was in good nick. Fairways quite wide but first cut pretty thick so easy to loose balls down in the grass. Greens were well maintained, as we're the bunkers. Definitely play here again.

We played during the tail end of a storm, our original course called it off due to the weather and state of the course. So we thought we would try somewhere else. The drainage was fantastic, greens were fast, staff gave us free food at the turn. Was a great course

We enjoyed the Course (Championship) and it was a nice setting to have a drink before and after game, however drinks (coffee, beers) were expensive!

The Portal Championship is a well maintained parkland course that demands accurate driving. Greens were in excellent condition despite the recent rain and very unforgiving if you dont read them well. All of our group dropped points through over enthusiastic putting. The par threes are especially devious, requiring long ree shots over hazards. It's not a course for the faint hearted but very much worth it if you fancy more of a challenge.Allow four hours if walking and be prepared for a good aerobic workout navigating the hills.