Burhill Golf Club (New)

Burhill Golf Club is owned by the Guinness family through the Burhill Group Limited and it’s the flagship facility of a burgeoning portfolio that now extends to ten golf complexes. The modern 18-hole New course at Burhill comprises one of twenty-two courses operated by BGL Golf within its collection of golf clubs and golf centres.

Former Hawtree design team member Simon Gidman – who came to prominence in very recent times with his critically acclaimed work at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire – was engaged by Burhill at the end of the 1990s to set out a modern new course as a contrasting, but complementary, 18-hole layout to the classic Willie Park-designed Old course.

The New course, along with the newly renovated clubhouse, opened with rather a fanfare in 2001 and by the end of the decade it had established itself as a preferred annual venue for the PGA Europro Tour, one of four development platforms for professional male golfers that exist one level below the Challenge Tour.

Highlight holes on the New course include short par fours at the 333-yard 3rd, where the fairway doglegs right to the green, and the 343-yard 16th, with water delineating out of bounds down the right hand side. Undoubtedly, the best is kept until the very last at the 192-yard 18th, which calls for a heroic carry across the River Mole to the home green.

Architect Simon Gidman commented as follows:

The New Course was built at the turn of the century to supplement the existing Willie Park-designed Old Course. Before the war, the Burhill Estate had two courses but the South Course was given over to the war effort and farming and it was not until nearly sixty years later that the idea of redesigning a new, more modern golf course evolved.

Many of the holes on the New course play close to, or in the case of the 18th, over the beautiful River Mole and most of the holes are framed by mature woodland or specimen trees. The course was built by Abbotts Ltd. and measures 6,957 yards from the Black tees. The course has matured to the point where it is frequently used for Europro Tour events.