Calcot Park Golf Club is one of the lesser known designs on Harry Colt’s CV, laid out in collaboration with John Morrison. It’s set in beautiful, undulating parkland and its four short holes are among the best collection of one shotters in Berkshire.
Calcot Park Golf Club is one of the lesser known designs on Harry Colt’s CV, laid out in collaboration with John Morrison. It’s set in beautiful, undulating parkland and its four short holes are among the best collection of one shotters in Berkshire.
Calcot Park Golf Club
Situated four miles west of Reading, Calcot Park was first developed in the early 17th century by Sir Peter Vanlore, a Dutch-born merchant and jeweller who purchased the property from Thomas Crompton then built the existing mansion to replace the original manor house of Tilehurst on the same estate.
When the golf club was founded and the famous design firm of Colt, Alison & Morrison laid out the new course in the early 1930s, the magnificent mansion building was used as a clubhouse but it was sold off and converted into flats in 1960, allowing the club to construct a more utilitarian new building from the proceeds of the sale.
With only two par fives on the scorecard, the course extends to 6,300 yards from the back tees, playing to a par of 70. Feature holes include short par fours at the 2nd and 10th, with the 156-yard 7th, which plays across a small lake to a raised green, considered as the “signature hole” on the scorecard..
Clayton, DeVries & Pont were appointed to develop a master plan for the course in 2020 and Edward Cartwright, the firm’s head of operations in UK & Ireland, told us phase 1 of an intended four -phase restoration project was scheduled to begin in October 2021.
The latest ranking of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World serves as the ultimate global golf bucket list. Most members of our World Top 100 Panel are seasoned golfers, each playing 20-30 of these courses annually while travelling extensively over decades to form their opinions on others. We recognise that opinions vary—even among our panel members. Rankings are subjective, and there are undoubtedly 50 or more courses in the UK and USA alone that could easily fit onto this list. Links Golf Pilgrimages The rankings
California, United States
New Jersey, United States
Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
New York, United States
New York, United States
Top 15 Golf Courses in Berkshire 2015 Berkshire Best in County rankings updated Berkshire lies to the west of London and it’s the sporting playground of choice for many of the Royal Family, especially those with a keen interest in horse racing. Ascot is one of the leading racecourses in the UK and its annual Royal meeting in June is a major highlight in the racing calendar, as is the prestigious King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, which is run at the same venue the following month. The British Royal Family has granted the royal title to nineteen English golf clubs down the years and two of these are located in the county of Berkshire. The oldest club, Royal Ascot, was formed in 1887 and Queen Victoria allowed the royal prefix to be used by founding members the same year. The club moved location in 2004 to a course designed by Jonathan Tucker. The Royal Household Golf Club had its origins in 1901 and its course is set within Home Park, a parkland area under the east wing of Windsor Castle. Designed by Samuel "Mure" Fergusson, who also laid out the New Zealand course six years earlier, this 9-hole layout features two different tee positions at every hole. Following a period of consultation with clubs throughout the county, our Berkshire Top 15 chart has just been updated and so we now present the latest edition of these regional rankings. Holding onto the number 1 place at the top of the listings, we have Harry Colt’s masterpiece at Swinley Forest, his “least bad course” as he liked to call it. Armed with the knowledge that this charming old layout currently resides within our World Top 100 chart, it’s perhaps easier to understand why it’s just managed to hold off the formidable challenge of Herber Fowler’s magnificent Red and the Blue 18-hole layouts at The Berkshire for the top spot in the county standings. These courses remain at number 2 and 3, the same as last time. Also retaining a static position in the chart at number 4 and 5, we have the “polished to perfection” modern layout of Martin Hawtree at Bearwood Lakes and the century-old Peter Paxton design at East Berkshire, described by one recent reviewer as “one of the best value courses in England”. Two Harry Colt courses make significant upward moves in the listings and they’re Calcot Park, rising two places to number 6, and Sonning, which climbs four spots to number 7. Also soaring an impressive seven places up the chart to number 8, we have the modern Neil Coles layout at Castle Royle Golf & Country Club which recently celebrated twenty years in operation. There’s one new entry into the Berkshire Top 15 at number 13 and it belongs to the parkland layout at Maidenhead Golf Club, which was founded in 1896. Two years after the club’s formation, J.H. Taylor and James Braid played in an exhibition match to mark the official opening of a course that’s still largely the one in play today. We’re grateful to all the clubs and professional golfers who assisted with our re-ranking process for this county. To view details of all the courses in our Berkshire Top 15 rankings click the link. If you have extensive experience of playing across the south west region of England and would like to contribute to our next re-ranking exercise then please email Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter at keith@top100golfcourses.com. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses
Bearwood Lakes Golf Club, Sindlesham, Berkshire, England Click any of the large images to return to the main Bearwood Lakes course page 1st hole Bearwood Lakes 4th hole Bearwood Lakes 11th hole Bearwood Lakes 12th hole Bearwood Lakes 13th hole Bearwood Lakes 14th hole Bearwood Lakes 18th hole Bearwood Lakes
Top 100 Golf Courses continues its “Best In County” rollout 27th July 2011 In May 2011, Top 100 Golf Courses announced the extension of its golf course rankings to “Best In County” golf courses. Five counties were included in the initial rollout: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Cornwall, Devon and Hertfordshire. Development of the new Best in County initiative is progressing well and is ahead of schedule. Many will have already noticed the inclusion of further counties, but for those who haven’t, here is a list of the completed phase two counties. Click the blue link to navigate to the respective Best In County page: Cumbria Best In County Golf Courses Dorset Best In County Golf Courses Durham Best In County Golf Courses Gloucestershire Best In County Golf Courses Hampshire Best In County Golf Courses Herefordshire Best In County Golf Courses Northumberland Best In County Golf Courses Shropshire Best In County Golf Courses Somerset Best In County Golf Courses Surrey Best In County Golf Courses Sussex Best In County Golf Courses Wiltshire Best In County Golf Courses Various other counties are in a state of change on the website currently and the development process will be ongoing for the next few months. Announcements will be made periodically as more English counties are added and extended. In the meanwhile, keep checking your home county via the Top 100 England county map: England County Map The Top 100 Team If you have played county level golf or are simply passionate about your home county’s golf courses and would like to help us further develop this exciting and first-of-its-kind initiative, then please send an email to info@top100golfcourses.com. We’d love to hear from you.
