Essendon (New) - Hertfordshire - England

The Hatfield London Country Club estate was acquired in 1986 by the Tokyo Leisure Development Company and the dream was to build a second golf course as a private accompaniment to the existing Old course.

After the purchase of new land to the north of the existing Essendon property, the little-known Landscape Design Company was commissioned to layout a new course in the spirit of its Japanese owners. In 1992 the New course and clubhouse, which was built around a barn that dates back to Tudor times, opened.

Japanese owners developed a number of new golfing facilities in the London area during the late eighties and early nineties, but none, to our knowledge, match the unique details to which the New course was fashioned here at the re-branded Essendon Country Club.

Many Japanese golf courses were designed with dual greens; one seeded with cool season grass and the other with warm season grass to enable year-round play. The New course at Essendon features sixteen dual green holes, which takes time for many golfers to get used to. Each hole on the New course was planted with a specific type of tree or shrub which also provides further individuality to each hole.

The New course stretches out to around 7,000 yards but the distance of each hole will not only depend on which tee you play from, but also which green is in designated use on the day. The dual green concept provides golfers with a course that has a Jekyll and Hyde personality, where the distances and angles of approach may differ quite considerably on a day-to-day basis.

No matter what day you’re playing the New course, or which of the greens are in play, you’ll find the par five 4th a monster that measures nearly 650 yards from the tips. This hole doglegs slightly to the right and a pond to the right of the greens waits in eager anticipation to drown your ball. The par three 8th continues the theme of multiple options with its green surrounded by a U-shaped body of water. Two entirely separate teeing areas change this short hole from 99 yards to 153 yards with a totally different angle of attack.