Bramshaw (Forest)

The Forest course at Bramshaw Golf Club dates back to the mid-1860s, fifteen years before the club was actually founded, making it the oldest golfing layout in Hampshire. Retired Royal Navy Lieutenant Philip Augustus Champion de Crespigny set out the course, though it’s thought he may have built it without first obtaining the requisite planning permissions.

The newly formed club formed an alliance with another 9-hole club which was situated in nearby Lyndhurst and for a time during the 1890s this New Forest Golf Club played on both courses until de Crespigny created a further nine holes at Brook in 1907, allowing members to play a full 18-hole round without a 5-mile journey in between the nines.

Shortly after World War II ended, the club examined the prospect of engaging Harry Colt to advise on improvements but his estimate of £750.00 was deemed too expensive, as was his revised proposal for a partial course upgrade. Instead, renovations were limited to reworking the 1st tee and the 18th green.

The club became a limited company in 1953, with Sir Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre and his family becoming the new owners, and they have steered the club on the path to prosperity ever since. A second course, the Manor was constructed on neighbouring private parkland in the early 1970s and the modern day clubhouse was brought into use in 1983.

The Forest course is set within the boundary of the New Forest National Park on land owned by the Forestry Commission and it’s subject to many covenants, including locals having the right to graze their livestock. Special restrictions apply here as the property is designated a site of special scientific interest, a special area of conservation and a special protection area.

Following a long period of consultation, the course was reconfigured in 2018 to “enable commoning practices to continue to thrive alongside a leisure activity that is enjoyed by many” and this involved building a new par four 15th to replace the old par three hole and redesigning the old 1st hole (now the 4th), altering it from a short par four to a long par three.

The King’s Garn Gutter stream affects many of the holes on the Forest course and there are bunkers on only one hole, the par three 12th. Of local interest, it’s said that the left doglegged 14th – known as “Rustler’s Oak” – is where the last known criminal was hung in chains in England and a fallen tree to the left of the fairway is a reminder of that story.

The course, the club and the on-site Bell Inn, New Forest are now owned by Stellar Asset Management in partnership with Ben Blackburn Golf, following the purchase of the businesses in August 2021.