Canterbury Golf Club (UK)

The course at Scotland Hills came about when a sufficient acreage of land was leased from the War Office, allowing Harry Colt to set out eighteen holes which were built by the architect’s construction company of choice, Franks Harris Brothers.

The layout was officially opened in July 1927 with a match between club members and the Buffs Golfing Society and at the first AGM the following year the membership was informed that the final costs of building the course and the clubhouse amounted to £7,500.00.

Interestingly, Douglas Grant, the first Club Captain at Canterbury, was an American who had collaborated with Jack Neville on the design of the course at Pebble Beach towards the end of the First World War, but he played no part in fashioning the fairways of his new English club.

The club suffered a major setback in 1938 when its mainly wooden clubhouse was burned to the ground overnight and everything inside was lost to the flames. Thankfully, nobody was injured and temporary accommodation was soon put in place until a new building was erected.

Over time, the original heathland traits of the layout have been replaced with more parkland aspects as trees bounding the fairways have matured. This now presents a woodland golf setting on a rolling landscape where Natural England has designated substantial areas of the course as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Today, the course extends to a modest 6,272 yards from the back markers, playing to a par of 71, and a round here starts and finishes with a par five, both of which offer a reasonable birdie chance, despite the fact that they dogleg slightly uphill from tee to green.

Highlight holes include the recently extended par three 5th (where tree clearance has helped improve playability), the 452-yard 10th (the longest par four on the card), the signature 12th where the fairway falls from the tee then rises to the green, and the long par three 17th, played to a distinctive raised green.