North Wales

Wales

You’ll find the small seaside resort of Abersoch on the south east coast of the Llŷn Peninsula where it’s a well-known spot for water sports enthusiasts to indulge in their passion for sailing, windsurfing and a variety of other aquatic activities.

What many visitors to this part of the Gwynedd region might not appreciate is that Abersoch also boasts a terrific little golf course that dates all the way back to 1908, when the great Harry Vardon pegged out the original holes.

The modern day course extends to a modest 5,847 yards with holes 1 to 12 and the closing par three 18th all being fast-running links holes, with the five remaining fairways more parkland in nature.

Peter Alliss thinks the 440-yard 11th (“Tan y Bwlch”) is one of the best par four links holes that he’s ever played. Nevertheless, many believe the most memorable hole at Abersoch to be “Fron Grin,” the 246-yard downhill 3rd, where stunning views across the bay to the Snowdonia Mountains enhance the beauty of a wonderful par three.

Abersoch

Britain & Ireland

What many visitors to this part of the Gwynedd region might not appreciate is that Abersoch Golf Club boasts a terrific little golf course that dates all the way back to 1908, when the great Harry Vardon pegged out the original holes.

West Wales

Aberystwyth Golf Club was formed in 1911 and the first committee made the wise decision to engage Harry Vardon – the man about to become that year’s Champion Golfer when he would win the fifth of his six Opens at Royal St.George’s – to design the 18-hole layout.

Situated on Bryn-y-Mor (“Hill on the Sea”) overlooking the university town of Aberystwyth and Cardigan Bay, the course was opened for play in 1913 then officially inaugurated the following year by the French Open Champion, George Duncan (the only one of six Scottish winners in over a 100 years to triumph more than once in that competition).

The original course began as a par 72 with a length of 5,185 yards, but by the 1960s, it had been lengthened to 5,303 yards with a reduced par of 66. Tees were then extended, grass bunkers filled with sand and trees planted throughout the property to shape the modern day course that today measures a very reasonable 6,119 yards with a par of 70.

Two of the feature holes on the card are the 350-yard par four 4th and the 291-yard, par four 14th. A stream runs across the fairway to protect the putting surface at the former and fairway bunkers guard the elevated green at the latter, with both holes offering some stunning views of the surrounding landscape.

Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth Golf Club was formed in 1911 and the first committee made the wise decision to engage Harry Vardon to design the 18-hole layout.

Dunbartonshire

Scotland

Balmore Golf Club was established in 1907, when founding members arranged to have a golf course set out within the Glenorchard Estate, near Baldernock. The fairways were routed around a beautiful parkland property that contained a variety of specimen trees, including giant sequoia, copper beech and blue Serbian spruce.

Harry Vardon, who at that time had already won four of his six Open titles, was commissioned to lay out the course and his design at Balmore is one of the very few that the great man ever put his name to in Scotland. In fact, we think the course at Kingussie is the only other one north of the border to bear his architectural stamp.

The course layout hasn’t changed much in over a hundred years, though all eighteen greens have been relaid to USGA specification since the start of the new millennium. Measuring only 5,542 yards from the back tees, there are no par fives and six par threes on the scorecard so the par mark is 66. Golfers shouldn’t underestimate this little beauty however as the standard scratch score is set at two strokes above the par.

Only four of the par four holes play longer than 400 yards and three of them are played consecutively, starting at the downhill 3rd, “Torrance Turn”. Negotiating this little stretch of holes in par figures will certainly set golfers up for the remainder of the round though a birdie at the semi blind short par four 7th (“Mary’s Well”) might also help.

The back nine plays almost four hundred yards shorter than the outward half, with four of the par threes located here. Two of them, the 217-yard “Temple” and 150-yard “Wee Gem,” are played back to back at holes 15 and 16, and their cross over fairways prove that good old-fashioned golf design still has a part to play in the modern game.

Balmore

Harry Vardon is credited with laying out the course at Balmore Golf Club back in 1907 and his crossover fairway design for the par threes at holes 15 and 16 endures to the present day.

Staffordshire

England

Staffordshire Golf Club started out with a 9-hole course which was designed by Jack Morris, the Hoylake professional, on Stafford Common in 1891. Three years later, some of the members broke away to create another course after leasing land from the Earl of Lichfield on a corner of Cannock Chase at Milford.

By 1897, the original club had folded and many of its members switched to the newer “Cannock Chase” golf club. A thatched clubhouse was brought into use and its opening was marked by a 36-hole match play tie between J.H. Taylor and the leading amateur John Ball.

The clubhouse was burned down in 1922, precipitating the club’s move to nearby Brocton Hall, which was secured for £5,550. The club was then renamed as The Brocton Hall Golf Club. Harry Vardon set out the new course before returning to play an exhibition match against Ted Ray at the official opening on 12th July 1923.

In a century of play since then, not a lot has changed. Greens were replaced during the 1980s and water features were extended in the early 1990s, with the Mill Pool next to the 17th fairway restored to its former glory. New trees have been planted over time to replace older ones, especially elms, which were in need of removal.

In 2018, the lake to the left of the par three 9th hole was redefined by removing overgrown vegetation then edging the water hazard with railway sleepers and a new walkway. Aesthetically, the clean lines of the hole are a lot more attractive and play is speeded up as there’s no time spent looking for mishit tee shots since the lakeside foliage was removed.

Brocton Hall

Designed by Harry Vardon, the parkland course at Brocton Hall Golf Club sits close to Cannock Chase. With fairways winding past stands of mature trees and attractive water features, golfers are always assured of an engaging game when they tee it up here.

Donegal

Ireland

Relatively remote resorts like Bundoran became fashionable places to visit at the end of the 19th century when newly built railway lines made it easy for people to travel from the centres of population to the fresh air of the seaside for some rest and recreation.

Railway companies were quick to cash in on the holiday traffic and many destinations had huge hotels constructed to cater for the incoming customers. Of course, the land adjacent to these hotels was also utilized to keep the hotel customers occupied with healthy outdoor sporting pursuits like golf.

And so Bundoran, through the Highland Railway Company, came to be the location for the 111-bedroom Great Northern Hotel in 1894, and with it came the first 9-hole course designed by a Scotsman, G. L. Baillie, who had associations with the Royal Belfast Golf Club.

 the course was altered again in 1936 when additional land became available for lease: "the decision to lease land on the east side of the existing course, to make a championship course, was of major significance, and this extra space allowed greater scope for development and the foundation of the present course.

The plans for the extension were drawn up by a Mr. Roofers. [Please contact us if you know more about this gentleman] New holes built included the present 2nd, 3rd, 4th , 5th and 6th on the land which was acquired. This resulted, naturally, in major changes in the remainder of the course and eventually the 8th, 10th, 11th and 15th became par 4s in the 1940s, while the present 17th tee was later built. The 6th hole is currently played as a par 3 due to boundary difficulties. The present course includes features from all the various designs since 1894."


It was extended ten years later to an 18-hole layout by Cuthbert Butchart from Royal County Down before the legendary Harry Vardon remodeled the course in 1927 when he repositioned greens, replaced tees and added new bunkers.

Another famous Irish golfer with connections to Bundoran is Christy O’Connor Snr who was the professional from 1951 to 1957. The story goes that Christy was playing in a four ball with three members when one asked him what club he had used at the 230-yard par three 13th hole. When Christy replied that a 3-iron had been used, the member proudly informed the others that he had only needed a 4-iron to reach the green. At this, Christy pulled ten balls out of his bag and proceeded to knock every one onto the green with a different club!

Situated to the south of Donegal Bay where the mighty Atlantic rolls in, and surrounded by the imposing Dartry and Ben Bulben Mountains, Bundoran enjoys a fantastic location. It is a very wide, open course – where the wind is its primary defence – with holes routed in two loops over a large crest of cliffs on the seaside.

The principal charm of Bundoran is that little has changed over the years and if you like your golf simple and uncomplicated then this is the place for you!

Bundoran

Bundoran Golf Club is set delightfully on the shores of Donegal Bay. The club dates back to 1894 and it's inextricably linked with Christy O'Connor.

Middlesex

Bush Hill Park Golf Club was founded in 1895, with members playing a 9-hole course situated at Queen Anne’s Gardens in Enfield. The club was given notice in 1909 that the property was required for housing development, forcing it to relocate to the nearby Old Park Estate which was owned by Hugh Rawlinson Ford.

A new 18-hole layout opened for play on 7th June, 1913 – designed by Harry Vardon, the professional at nearby 

 – and both the grounds and clubhouse were purchased in 1922 for £20,000. James Braid was called in to remodel the layout in 1933, with the local paper reporting that “various improvements” were implemented and “two new holes were made.”

James Braid and his Four Hundred Golf Courses

, authors John F. Moreton and Iain Cumming write: “The only real changes since then involve new 1st and 7th holes, and the removal of Vardon/Braid’s 10th and 18th, all short holes… Holes 1 to 12 are ‘normal’ holes, but holes 13 to 18 are on a fast descending/ascending, wooded piece of land, a wonderfully old-fashioned, tight sextet of holes.”

The local county council offered £70,000 for the course and the clubhouse in 1939, but World War II intervened and the transaction was never finalised. During the war, the clubhouse was leased to the Anti-Aircraft Brigade and ditches were dug on parts of the course to deter enemy aircraft landing. The Home Guard patrolled the course and a warden’s post and air raid shelter were also built.

The modern day layout extends to a modest 5,776 yards from the back tees but length isn’t the most potent protector of par at Bush Hill Park. The tree-lined fairways are narrow here so if you’re prone to spray the ball wide off the tee or you’re careless with approach shots to the greens then you’ll have a hard job trying to match the par of 70.

As earlier indicated, fairways laid out on the first two thirds of the course occupy a mildly undulating landscape, while the last six holes – three of which are par threes – are routed around more heavily contoured terrain to the south of the historic clubhouse and they offer golfers a thrilling, fun-filled finish to the round.

Notable holes on the course include a couple of short par fours at the 4th and 14th (both are eminently birdieable); the longest par five on the card at the 6th (rated stroke index 1, it doglegs right to a bunkerless green); and the signature hole 13th, where the putting surface sits behind a pond that slants across the fairway on a diagonal line from right to left.

Blog of Bush Hill Park Golf Club’s Greenkeeping Team

Bush Hill Park

Bush Hill Park Golf Club was founded in 1895 and the modern day layout only extends to a modest 5,776 yards from the back tees, but length isn’t the course's most potent protector of par...

Shropshire

Jack Morris, the Hoylake professional and nephew of Old Tom Morris, laid out the original course at Church Stretton along with club professional James Hepburn. The first nine debuted in 1898, with J.H. Taylor and Harry Vardon playing an exhibition match to mark the opening of the course.

The second nine followed six years later and Vardon returned shortly after to refine the layout. James Braid was then engaged to modify the course in 1934 and, as John F. Moreton and Iain Cumming write in 

, “Braid’s suggestions were implemented one by one over the next year.”

The authors continue: “Certain tees were re-turfed, the 11th and 12th tees were enlarged, five greens improved (1, 10, 13, 14 and 16), two greens levelled (3 and 5), and the bunkering given a critical look, moving, removing and creating new ones.

Church Stretton is an extraordinary course, high up above the town, on the Long Mynd. It climbs up for the early holes. The amazing thing is that it is only just over 5,000 yards from the back tees. There are no par fives, par for the course is 66. It is a natural course in a prime location.”

Church Stretton

Church Stretton Golf Club is the oldest 18-hole layout in the county of Shropshire and is also the third highest golf course in the UK. The course here offers golfers fantastic views across Stretton valley to the east and there's some testing golf too.

Warwickshire

In 1907, two of greatest names of the day, Vardon and Colt, got together to design the classic parkland layout that was to become known as Copt Heath Golf Club. The partnership of the two Harry’s was a great piece of work bringing immense pleasure to thousands of golfers.

Colt’s main contribution was the superb bunkering – there are 101 in total – and they still cause concern to the golfer of today. Three generations of Hawtree (F.G. F.W. and M.G.) also made alterations to the course in the post war years.

Although only a medium length course, Copt Heath is a serious test. So much so that course is regularly used for Open Championship Qualifying.

There is a big premium on accuracy with sand, water and trees all combining to provide a great collection of hazards. Probably the toughest hole on the course (and one of our favourites) is the 6th – an accurate drive through an avenue of trees is needed to a left to right sloping fairway, then on to the pot bunkered protected green. It’s a great hole. We also love the par three 13th with its green protected by sand and water.

Several acclaimed amateur events have been staged at Copt Heath. The English Seniors and the Champion Club Competition are two, but the event that gains annual national interest is the Peter McEvoy Trophy. This takes place over 72 holes and is open to the very best juniors. Previous winners include Brian Davis, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood.

Copt Heath

Founded in 1907, Copt Heath Golf Club is a mixture of park and heathland with holes lined by mature and grand trees waiting to catch the wayward drive.

Coventry Golf Club was established in 1887, with members playing on a 9-hole course laid out by P. Paxton, the Malvern professional, on Whitley Common. The Coventry Ladies’ Section was founded in 1892, making it one of the earliest ladies’ clubs in the country.

The women had their own playing fields but eventually a 6-hole ladies’ course was built on the common. In 1901, the club’s main course was extended to eighteen holes, using the ladies’ layout and some additional land, but it only remained in play for ten years.

A new property was identified at Finham Park in 1911, with Tom Vardon designing an 18-hole course which his brother Harry subsequently bunkered. James Braid and Harry Vardon then participated in an exhibition match to officially open the course in May 1912.

Six holes were turned over to the War effort for food production during the early 1940s but a Red Cross charity match involving Henry Cotton and a couple of American Ryder Cup players marked the return of golf to the club in June 1945.

Two holes were lost due to the construction of the Kenilworth/Warwick by-pass in the late 1960s, with Fred Hawtree installing two new holes (the current 11th and 12th) on fourteen acres of ground acquired on the other side of the River Sowe.

In the mid-1990s, Fred’s son Martin Hawtree carried out a major renovation of all the bunkers.

Coventry Golf Club has staged Open Championship Regional Qualifying and the course also hosted the PGA Seniors event in 1987, with Neil Coles claiming his third successive title. He would go on to win a fourth championship two years later at West Hill.

Coventry

Coventry Golf Club​ has staged Open Championship Regional Qualifying​ and the course hosted the PGA Seniors event in 1987, with Neil Coles claiming his third successive title. He would go on to win a fourth championship two years later at West Hill.

The small town of Dunfanaghy sits on the western shores of Sheephaven Bay in northern County Donegal and the golf course is set on a narrow strip of land between Dunfanaghy and Portnablagh, where six-time Open champion Harry Vardon is said to have laid out the fairways for club members.

The golf club was founded in 1906 and affiliated to the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1920. According to Dunfanaghy’s centenary book, British soldiers stationed in nearby barracks may have played golf in the area as far back as 1740. The book also mentions the existence of a course connected to the Stewart Arms Hotel in 1886.

Vardon returned to Donegal in June of 1910 but the purpose of this visit was to take part in an exhibition match at Rosapenna involving John Ball Jnr, George Duncan and Sandy Herd. It’s thought he may have revisited Dunfanaghy at that time, or maybe even later in 1927 when he re-designed the course at Bundoran.

Dunfanaghy appears to be rather flat at first sight but the ground rises and falls gently with plenty of humps and hollows to contend with and ditches that cross a few fairways also have to be negotiated. The holes in the rocky outcrop section between the 6th and 10th are the most pleasing, with the short coastal par three 9th hole on the eastern extremity on the property well worth its tag of “signature hole”.

Dunfanaghy

Harry Vardon designed the “True Links” layout at Dunfanaghy Golf Club in 1905 close to the western shoreline of Sheephaven Bay on Ireland’s stunning northwest coast.

Yorkshire

Ganton Golf Club played host to the 1949 Ryder Cup matches between the USA and Great Britain. Team Captains were Ben Hogan (US) and Charles Whitcombe (GB). The U.S. Non-playing Captain Ben Hogan raised a concern about the grooves on the clubs of some British players. A meeting was called with R&A Rules Official Bernard Darwin, who concurred that the clubs should be repaired to meet conforming standards. Despite the USA team being without three key players, Hogan’s side claimed victory after dominating the singles, USA 7 - GB 5. The Ryder Cup was played at 

To classify Ganton as a heathland course is a misnomer – one could just as easily categorise it as an inland links, as it’s situated in the rural Vale of Pickering, nine miles from the sea. This sandy, gently undulating site was once a North Sea inlet. Consequently, it has all the characteristics of a links and a heathland course. Either way, Ganton Golf Club is a perfect place to play golf.

The Scarborough Golf Club (as it was originally called) opened for play in 1891, laid out by St Andrews’ Tom Chisholm. The great Harry Vardon became the club’s pro in 1896, the same year he won his first Open title at 

. This immediately put Ganton on the map.

In 1905, Ted Ray, along with James Braid, J.H. Taylor and Vardon implemented major alterations to the layout. Harry Colt, Alister MacKenzie, Tom Simpson and C.K. Cotton made further changes over the next 50 years.

Ganton is surely one of the few inland courses in the British Isles good enough to hold an Open Championship. It would make a pleasant change to break with tradition and hold an Open somewhere inland. After all, Ganton is used to holding important competitions – it hosted the 1949 Ryder Cup, the 2000 Curtis Cup and the 2003 Walker Cup.

The bunkering is quite extraordinary, a real feature of the course. With over 100 cunningly placed bunkers, some of which are simply huge, both in breadth and in depth, whilst others are small. Only lucky (or very good golfers) will avoid the sand traps at Ganton. Bernard Darwin wrote in 

, that Ganton “possesses by far the vastest and generally most gorgeous bunker that is to be found, as far as I know, on any inland course. It is a huge pit of sand, with just the depths and shallows, the bays and promontories of the genuine seaside article. It is so large that, by its unaided efforts, it provides highly effective bunkering for the tee shots to the last two holes; and as regards its dimensions, I shall not be flattering it very grossly if I compare it to the bunker in front of the fifth tee at 

 (without the sea), you’ve got Ganton. Nearly 100 years ago, Bernard Darwin compared Ganton to being “a little like 

; and, generally speaking, it is the type of course that one would expect to find in Surrey rather than in Yorkshire.” Occupying open, windswept heathland, it’s a supreme thinking man’s and woman’s test of golf; the fast greens and firm fairways test the very best players. Various types of thick gorse, heather and broom highlight the course during the spring and summer months.

Three short par fours provide the opportunity of a game of risk and reward for the big hitters. A minor downside is the fact that there are only three par threes but the strength of the par fours more than compensates for this. The 4th hole, a 406-yard par four, requires a solid drive to a wide fairway before an undulating green sited on a raised plateau is unveiled. The approach shot must carry across a gully and avoid a canny bunker on the right-hand side of the green. From the raised 5th tee, a short 157-yard par three, you have a great view of the well-protected green. Only an arrow-straight tee shot will suffice. Stray to the left and you will be swallowed up by one of two bunkers, stray to the right and you'll be trapped by a huge curved bunker, which wraps itself around the entire right-hand side of the green.

Ganton is a friendly club that opens its doors warmly to visitors (providing you have a handicap). If you are a serious golfer and have never played here, we strongly recommend it.

Ganton

This sandy, gently undulating site was once a North Sea inlet. Consequently, Ganton Golf Club has all the characteristics of a links and a heathland course.

Hertfordshire

The Jacobean-style manor house was built in 1890 for the Hanbury family, and in 1923 it was converted into a girls’ boarding school. It remained a school until 1986, when it was ambitiously transformed into a luxury hotel and the prestigious Hanbury Manor Golf & Country Club.

Harry Vardon originally laid out a nine-hole course in the majestic parkland grounds in the early 1900s, but it was Jack Nicklaus’s eldest son who brought the Hanbury Manor golf course back to life. Behind the manor house was an undulating piece of farmland and this was used for the addition of nine new holes. Jack Jr. also completely revised the original Vardon parkland layout. The official opening took place in 1991 with an exhibition match between Tony Jacklin and Dave Stockton. Jack Nicklaus II was there too.

Nicklaus II has done a decent job with an unremarkable property. He employed many of his father’s tricks of the trade and created an exciting golf course with double fairways and plenty of threatening water. Hanbury Manor is PGA championship standard and it plays its length, measuring over 6,660 yards from the regular medal tees.

The two nines are distinctly contrasting, each having a completely different look and feel. The newer front nine is much more exposed, laid out in a modern American style, while the back nine feels traditionally park-like with fairways flanked by stately trees.

Hanbury Manor’s tournament potential was quickly recognised and, in 1996, Trish Johnson won the Women’s European Open by five clear shots. The following year, the Men’s PGA European Tour arrived in the shape of the English Open and the tournament remained at Hanbury Manor until 1999.

Scoring well on this demanding course is easier said than done. The 8th hole is the toughest on the course, measuring 425 yards with out-of-bounds all the way along the right hand side. The approach shot to the green is tricky, even from the middle of the fairway. The green is elevated and protected by a lake on the left and a grassy hollow to the right, the ground and the green slope cruelly towards the lake. The back nine features some memorable holes, playing through majestic oaks and across numerous lakes.

Hanbury Manor stands on its own in an area absent of notable resort courses and there’s certainly a lovely ambience around the property at this English rural version of an American Country Club.

Hanbury Manor

The two nines at Hanbury Manor Golf & Country Club are distinctly contrasting, each having a completely different look and feel.

Cheshire

Heswall Golf Club on the Wirral peninsula lies on the Dee estuary and it was here, in 1902, that Jack Morris – professional at Royal Liverpool and nephew of Old Tom Morris – laid out the club’s original 18-hole course.

Subsequent alterations were made by Harry Vardon, Frank Pennink and Donald Steel down the years. The Pennink changes in 1972 came about due to the acquisition of the Island Field from Farmer Bower. This allowed for the introduction of new holes at the 12th and 13th, the abandonment of the 7th hole for a practice area, and the redesign of the 18th hole to play from the old 7th tee to the home green.

In the new millennium, architects Mackenzie & Ebert oversaw a course extension involving three new holes on land adjacent to the coastline, with the relocation of three greens and three sets of tees on the existing course.

Nowadays, the layout extends to 6,837 yards from the back tees, playing to a par of 72. Feature holes include the par three 4th which is played towards the River Dee and the short par four 18th, where a closing birdie is a possibility if golfers can avoid the bunkers that circle the home green.

Heswall

Formed on the Wirral in 1902, Heswall Golf Club overlooks the Dee Estuary and the Welsh hills. Jack Morris (nephew of Old Tom) laid out the course and a number of designers have altered the layout down the years.

North Scotland

Golf has been played at Kingussie since 1891 when a 9-hole course was first built by Old Tom Morris. In 1908, the advice of Harry Vardon was sought and the course extended to a full 18 holes. Several improvements have been made over the years but, essentially, today’s course is still very much as it was a hundred years ago – Highland golf at its very best in the Spey Valley.

Kingussie Golf Club is situated on upland to the north of the prosperous town of Kingussie and its elevated position offers spectacular views of the Cairngorms and surrounding mountain ranges. So, even if the scorecard has been ripped up in disgust at one’s performance on the course, the scenic splendor will offer a modicum of comfort!

Kingussie – “head of the pinewood” in Gaelic – offers easy walking on upland terrain, with only a couple of short climbs at the 4th and 8th holes. Fairways are generous with little in the way of penal rough, water features at only a few holes – when the river Gynack comes into play – and greens are a delight to putt on. Position off the tee is important on this course of only 5,501 yards and is the key to good scoring here.

The 4th is the signature hole and it measures 463 yards. “The Fort” is the only par five on the course where two ‘lang whangs’ – mighty blows – are needed to get close before chipping to the pulpit green and hopefully single-putting for birdie.

Kingussie

Kingussie Golf Club is situated on upland to the north of the prosperous town of Kingussie and its elevated position offers spectacular views of the Cairngorms and surrounding mountain ranges.

Originally founded as Hitchin Golf Club in 1904, Letchworth Golf Club had a 9-hole course in operation within twelve months of its formation. Harry Vardon was invited to expand this layout to eighteen holes five years later and the newly remodelled course was officially opened in October 1910 with an exhibition match between Vardon and James Braid.

Nothing much happened thereafter until the start of the new millennium, when additional land became available to create three new holes and lengthen four others. The newly extended layout opened for play in 2004 and today it measures 6,459 yards from the back tees, playing to a par of 71, with holes configured as two returning nines.

Notable holes include the right doglegging 7th (the only par five on the front nine), the shortest of the par threes at the 14th (in the southwest corner of the property), and the shortest of the three-shotters on the scorecard at the 480-yard 16th, where a power fade drive puts players in prime position for a birdie or better at this risk-reward hole.

Jonathan Gaunt drew up a course improvement plan in 2015 and the club started work on this in earnest in 2020, with five holes altered initially. Cross bunkers on holes 3, 5, 6 and 15 were filled in and new sand hazards introduced at more appropriate distances off the tee.

Letchworth

Touched by the hands of Harry Vardon, six-time Open Champion, Letchworth Golf Club is one of the loveliest parkland courses in Hertfordshire, renowned for its cross bunkering and fast greens.

Little Aston Golf Club is set in 176 acres of tranquil, mature parkland in the former grounds of Little Aston Hall. The club is hidden away on the edge of exclusive suburbia, eight miles north of Birmingham city centre. “A pleasant park course of excellent turf,” wrote Bernard Darwin in 

. “This is the kind of golf course which an eighteenth-century English gentleman would have approved.” wrote Patric Dickinson.

Harry Vardon reputedly laid out the course in 1908 for ten guineas. He had a charming and elegant piece of parkland to work with and succeeded in creating probably the best and toughest true parkland course in England. As it turned out, Vardon had created a course with long and challenging carries that ultimately proved too hard for the members, so Harry Colt was summoned to make the course friendlier. Mark Lewis (the club’s professional for over 40 years during the first half of the 20th century) must also be credited for taking Little Aston through to maturity.

The course is always well maintained and even in the winter it plays well for a parkland layout due to its gravel base and the club is justifiably proud of the quality of their large greens and of their trademark Colt bunkers. The undulating formal tree lined fairways ensure that you get a private and picturesque walk in the park.

Above all, Little Aston is an honest golf course. There are no tricks, and everything is clearly laid out in front of you. The first two holes are fairly ordinary but at the third, things start to get better with a testing short par five that cajoles you into opening your shoulders. There are a number of good golf holes here at Little Aston but it will take two or three rounds before you really begin to appreciate this golf course. It is therefore feasible that you might come away disappointed after playing here for the first time.

Little Aston has hosted many important amateur and professional events, including the British Masters, held here on five separate occasions, most recently in 1969. The Boys Amateur was staged at the club in 1994 and 2008 and in between those years, The Womens Amateur took place in 1998. The English Men’s Amateur has also been played here four times, with the last of these events co-hosted alongside Sutton Coldfield in 2010.

Birmingham isn’t at the top of the list for golfing breaks, despite the fact that there are notable golf courses in this area, including Beau Desert, Whittington Heath and, of course, the Belfry. But if you do decide to visit this area, make sure you play Little Aston. It’s one of the best courses in the Midlands.

Little Aston

Little Aston Golf Club is hidden away on the edge of exclusive suburbia in acres of tranquil, mature parkland. The former grounds of Little Aston Hall.

Mid Wales

Golf was first played on a 9-hole course constructed by owners of the Pump House Hotel near the lake at the splendid little spa town of Llandrindod Wells back in 1890. The town council was forced to close the course fifteen years later, however, as it became too dangerous for visitors using the common ground.

Once 140 acres of land at Little Hill had been acquired, overlooking the lake and the town, the then four-time Open Champion Harry Vardon (he would go on to win another two Opens) was enlisted to design a new 18-hole course. And what a grand opening there was in May 1907 when all three of the Great Triumvirate – Vardon, James Braid and John Henry Taylor – came to Llandrindod Wells Golf Club, along with local professional George Humble.

James Braid returned to the club in the mid-1930s to upgrade the course and he duly submitted plans for improvement and his invoice for eleven guineas. Braid designed three new holes, the 4th, 11th and 12th, and reduced two short par fours to par threes at the 6th and 17th. He also lengthened five other holes with a new tee or new green or both.

Nothing much has changed in more than 80 years since the fairways were first shaped by pick, shovel, wheel barrow and horse drawn cart. The grazing sheep have been removed, trees planted and a small irrigation reservoir installed to water the greens in the summer but the course as it was then is as it is now – without a single sand bunker on any of its 18 holes.

The course measures only 5,759 yards and features a number of old-fashioned design traits, including back-to-back par threes at the 10th and 11th holes, a number of blind holes and several short par fours – five of the nine two-shot holes on the card are under the 350-yard mark.

Many feel the best is kept until last at the driveable “Death or Glory” 18th hole. With a deep ravine between tee and green, do you play safe and lay up or try to reach the other side of a 250-yard carry with one mighty smite?

Llandrindod Wells

Llandrindod Wells measures only 5,759 yards and features a number of old-fashioned design traits, including back-to-back par threes at the 10th and 11th holes...

Somerset

Close to historic city of Bath, you will find the village of Gurney Slade and the Mendip Golf Club. The club was originally founded in 1907 and a 9-hole course was laid out by Harry Vardon. In 1965, Frank Pennink extended the course to 18 holes, and in 1988 the course was further lengthened and par was increased to 71.

The course is now a mature undulating downland course set almost 1,000 feet above sea level and at the highest point on the 3rd there are great views over seven neighbouring counties. With this elevated position, the natural drainage is as good as it gets and the course is rarely closed. But do beware of the ‘Mendip Mist’ – golf really played in the clouds!

Walking on the springy downland turf is a real pleasure and the fairways are often tightly cropped and invariably in better condition than many greens at lesser clubs. Overall, the course has much quality and plenty of variety. Ordinary is a word that would never be used to describe Mendip.

, but Mendip is a solid design that has many challenges waiting to judge how good your game really is.

Mendip

Close to historic city of Bath, you will find the village of Gurney Slade and the Mendip Golf Club. The highest point of the course is some 1,000 feet above sea level where the views are far reaching.

South Wales

Founded in 1903, Newport Golf Club is one of the best parkland courses in South Wales and it’s set some 300-feet above sea level among the birch, beech and oak trees of the Llwyni Wood. There are far reaching views of the surrounding countryside from both the clubhouse and the course itself. It’s a pretty place to spend some time and play golf.

Host to a number of important Welsh and National Amateur events, Newport Golf Club is founded on solid traditions and is highly regarded within Welsh golf. But you’ll need to be a member of a golf club to get a game here, so remember to either take your handicap certificate or a letter of introduction from your club secretary.

The topography is gently undulating, parkland turf is lush and bunkering is clear and strategic. It’s a course you can retreat to and enjoy when you’ve suffered sufficiently from the windswept seaside links courses. Newport is pleasantly sheltered from the elements by the woodland and the rolling hills. It’s a veritable oasis.

Newport has hosted a number of important amateur tournaments down the years: the Women’s Home Internationals (won by England) in 1975; The Womens Amateur (won by Emma Duggleby) in 1994; and the Girls Amateur (won by Marianne Skarpnord) in 2003.


Newport Golf Club

Founded in 1903, Newport Golf Club is one of the best parkland courses in South Wales and it’s set some 300-feet above sea level among the birch, beech and oak trees of the Llwyni Wood.

Old Tom Morris, whilst visiting Lord Leitrim on his estate in 1891, is credited with the original design of Rosapenna's Old course. The original 18-hole Old Tom Morris course started on some raised land between the clubhouse and the hotel. Nine holes then ran along the low lying area beside Tramore beach before the remaining fairways ran away from the coastline, across the road, up and around a nearby hill, tumbling down again to the start.

Within a short space of time, Rosapenna was the place to be seen playing, as evidenced by a photo from 1896 of George Duncan, Sandy Herd, Tom Ball and Harry Vardon relaxing on the lawns outside the hotel. Vardon returned a decade later to upgrade the course and James Braid is said to have suggested improvements, though there’s no documentary evidence of this.

Ballyliffin: Golf’s Great Twin Miracles

, the author states: “it was not long until Rosapenna was the subject of more far-reaching design changes as the great Harry Colt was called in about 1911 and was actively involved up to about 1916 and his works were so dramatic that they involved the installation of a narrow railway line to import loam and other materials up the Old Tom valley where he is credited with having created holes twelve, thirteen fourteen, fifteen and sixteen per the hole numbers in 2012.”

In June 2005, nine new holes opened for play, laid out by Pat Ruddy from the European Club. These were carved through the low-lying dunes adjacent to the Sandy Hills course and became known as the “Strand Nine”. Reaching for perfection, the club closed the Strand nine at the end of 2006 for extensive greensite restoration and bunker additions. Shaper Eric Iverson from Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design Company undertook this work and, in September of 2009, the nine holes reopened and the order of holes was re-sequenced.

The opening hole and the last eight holes of the original Old Tom Morris course were removed to form a new “Coastguard Nine” and the newly restored “Strand Nine” was introduced to create the front nine, with the original Old Tom “Valley Nine” (holes 2 to 10) re-sequenced as the back nine, which finishes in front of the Rosapenna Pavilion.

In essence, Rosapenna now has a restored Old course where the modern Strand holes complement the original Old Tom Morris Valley holes in a layout that’s a blend of old-fashioned and contemporary, where design from the late 19th century spans more than a hundred years to meet the brave new modern golf world.

Rosapenna (Old Tom Morris)

In September of 2009, Rosapenna's Old Tom Morris golf course reopened after a major facelift where design from the late 19th century spans more than a hundred years to meet the brave new modern golf world.

Down

Northern Ireland

According to the results of a Top 100 survey, Royal County Down is the most scenic golf course in Britain & Ireland.

There is always lively discussion about which golf course is better than another, but none is more passionate than the debate over the relative merits of Royal County Down and 

. If you haven’t played either of them yet, we recommend a golf trip to Northern Ireland; you certainly won’t be disappointed.

Royal County Down Golf Club is at Newcastle, a little holiday town nestling at the feet of the majestic Mountains of Mourne. It’s an exhilarating location for a classic links golf course where the Bay of Dundrum sweeps out into the Irish Sea and where the mighty peak of Slieve Donard (3,000 ft.) casts its shadow over the town.

A Scottish schoolteacher called George L. Baillie, who was on a personal mission to establish golf courses, originally laid out the first nine holes at Newcastle and they opened for play in 1889. Later that year, Old Tom Morris was paid the modest sum of four guineas to extend the course and 18 holes were ready for play in 1890. Harry Vardon modified the course in 1908, the same year King Edward VII bestowed royal patronage on the club.

Royal County Down maintains tradition; the “Hat Man” still mixes the pairings for the Saturday matches (foursomes in the winter and four-balls in the summer) as he did around 100 years earlier.

Bernard Darwin commented that the greens “lie, moreover, in a good many instances, in those pleasing little hollows which are the most adroit flatterers in the whole world of golf.” In 1926 Harry Colt was commissioned to make further alterations to the course which included addressing the gathering nature of the original greens and reducing the number of blind drives.

Old Tom however deserves most credit for the layout and he was presented with an idyllic piece of ground on which to design a golf course. The sand dunes are rugged but beautifully clad in purple heather and yellow gorse, the fairways are naturally undulating, shaped by the hands of time. The greens are small and full of wicked borrows.

Measuring nearly 7,200 yards from the back tees, Royal County Down is a brute. It’s a mystery that this fantastic course, with one of the finest outward nine holes in golf, has never hosted an Open. Factor in the ever-changing wind and you have as stern a test as any Open Championship venue.

The 4th and 9th holes are both universally admired. The 4th must be one of the most scenic long par threes in golf described as follows by one commentator: “Innumerable gorse bushes, ten bunkers, three mountain peaks, and one spire equal the most magnificent view in British golf”. The 9th, a long par four, is perhaps one of the world’s most photographed holes, the line from the elevated tee is directly at the Slieve Donard peak and the sweeping fairway lies eighty feet below—magnifique.

Sure, the course has a level of eccentricity; there are still a number of blind drives and some of the bunkers are fringed with coarse grass, which gathers the ball with alarming regularity, but this simply adds to the charm. If a measure of a great golf course is the number of holes that you can remember, then Royal County Down is one of the greatest courses of them all.

Architect Martin Ebert kindly supplied the following short update in November 2021:

“A review has been made of the Championship course. Plans have been drawn up for the 16th hole. These include the reshaping of the green. At the 17th, the triangular pond has been filled in and further reshaping of the area where the pond used to be will be carried out in the near future.”

Royal County Down (Championship)

Royal County Down Golf Club is at Newcastle, a little holiday town nestling at the feet of the majestic Mountains of Mourne. It’s an exhilarating location for a classic links golf course...

Cambridgeshire

Saffron Walden Golf Club was established in September 1919 and its Windmill Hill address conjures up an evocative image. The club is physically located in north Essex, within a short walk of the market town that changed its name in the 17th century from Chipping Walden to Saffron Walden after it discovered wealth by extracting saffron from the humble crocus. Although the golf club is located within Essex, it is affiliated to the 

Nine rudimentary holes were originally laid out in Audley End Park, but the club moved to its present site in 1929 when Harry Vardon and Reg Cox (Saffron Walden’s professional) designed a new layout. The following year, Vardon and Cox officially marked the opening of the new course with an exhibition match.

The present course was extended to 18 holes in 1975 and the largest church in Essex, St Mary’s, is never far from view. Panoramic vistas over the ancient market town and across to Audley End House (take a moment to enjoy the view from the 5th tee) culminate in a country feeling that is quintessentially English.

Best described as a picturesque, mature, parkland course, you may be lulled into thinking that Saffron Walden might be a pushover. Measuring more than 6,600 yards from the back tees this is a challenging layout but also one that offers good scoring opportunities. The design is nicely balanced with four par threes (unusually the course closes with a one-shot hole), four par fives (three appear on the outward nine) and, of the remaining ten par fours, only four measure in excess of 400 yards. However, as with most good golf courses, the more challenging holes are left until the round enters the closing third.

The stoke indexes of holes 13, 15 and 17 (4, 2 and 6 respectively) suggest that you have your work cut out to score well on these three long par fours. In fact the homeward nine is 200 yards shorter than the opening nine, but with a lowly par of 35 you’ll be advised to make your score going out rather than coming back.

There are a number of strong holes, but our pick is the long par four 15th which requires an accurate tee shot to reach the corner of the tree lined, right to left dogleg, where the fairway slopes trickily from left to right. This will leave a tough approach to a left to right sloping green that is protected on both flanks by a bunker. If you mark a par on the card here, give yourself a pat on the back.

Saffron Walden is a traditional members’ golf club and one of the most highly respected in the region. It’s also an exceedingly pleasant place to play golf.

Saffron Walden

World Golf Hall of Fame – Class of 1974: "Harry Vardon was possessed with a talent and method so singular he was considered a shotmaking machine in the era of hickory and gutta percha. He won The Open a record six times and was golf’s first superstar. Vardon was a true original. On his own, he developed the Vardon Grip, the grip used by 90 percent of golfers today."