Broadway

Broadway Golf Club was founded in 1895 but moved to its current location on Willersey Hill in 1910. Despite its Worcestershire address, the club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire Golf Union, so we’ve assigned Broadway to the county of Gloucestershire rather than Worcestershire.

Set at altitude of nearly 900 feet, Broadway affords some of the finest Cotswold views imaginable across the Vale of Evesham to the distant Malvern Hills on a clear day. A nameless local professional laid out the original 9-hole course, but the club had the foresight to call in Alister MacKenzie in the late 1920s and the good doctor built a number of new greens, including the greensite on the drop-shot par three 5th which is perhaps Broadway’s signature hole, with the town as a backdrop.

Tom Simpson later altered the 8th and 9th holes before James Braid was called in to fashion a new back nine for the club just before the outbreak of the Second World War. It would take another two decades before the club completed work on the second nine, which plays over much less interesting terrain than the front.

Sean Arble, one of our regular contributors, commented as follows on golfclubatlas.com: “Unfortunately, the back nine at Broadway is far less compelling than the front nine. Too many holes are marred by senseless bunkering or a general lack of detail. That said, there are a few holes which stand out as excellent. Like Stratford on Avon GC, I don't think the course as a whole warrants much travel and that is despite what has to be one of the best sets of short holes which NEVER gets a mention. However, because the club offers nine-hole rates, I am going to break with convention and recommend one play Broadway on the strength of treating the course like a nine holer. Skip the back and play the front twice or thrice... it is that good!”