Cavendish Golf Club

Dr Alister MacKenzie, the celebrated course designer, was commissioned by the Duke of Devonshire in 1923 to lay out a new 18-hole course, replacing a 9-hole course in nearby Buxton. The course at Cavendish Golf Club was ready for play two years later and it has remained virtually unchanged in character for more than three quarters of a century.

With an overall length a modest 5,721 yards and a par of 68, Cavendish holds true to a couple of MacKenzie’s design principles – that the golf course should look as natural as possible (with artificial features blending in seamlessly with the landscape) and, above all, be interesting to players of all abilities.

Cavendish has plenty to arouse the golfer – whether it be it the elevated tee position of the short par three 4th hole, the blind drive at the 8th hole, the two-tiered green on the 9th or the crescent shaped putting surface on the 13th – there’s many stimulating design features to enjoy during the round where accurate approach play is essential in making a reasonable score around here.

Architect Jonathan Gaunt, who has been a playing member at Cavendish Golf Club since 2010, started a renovation project at the club in 2020, remodelling bunkers to a MacKenzie style and thinning out woodlands to recover lost views across the course. The plan originally focused on holes 10 and 11, considered to be two of the best on the layout. It's intended to have all of the work completed in time for the club's centenary in 2025.