Essendon (New) - Hertfordshire - England
Bedwell Park,
Essendon,
Hatfield,
Herts,
AL9 6HN,
England
+44 (0) 1707 260360
5 miles E of Hatfield
Welcome, contact in advance
Paul Densham
Landscape Design
Ian Taylor
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.
The New course at Essendon Country Club is no longer the private reserve of its members; visiting golfers are warmly welcomed to a facility that is boldly unique.
Reviews for Essendon (New)
A big, modern course, featuring lots of water, buggy paths, and the unusual feature of two greens on each hole.
First, the unique greens: My understanding is that it is quite common in Japan for golf courses to have two greens on each hole: one sowed with summer grass which goes dormant in winter, and the other sowed with grass suitable in winter. The New Course was built with Japanese money for Japanese ex-pats, and this design philosophy was brought over as well. In my opinion it doesn't work: the second green is always available as a bail out and it diminishes the visual challenge as well as the strategy on many holes. And then from an agronomy perspective it's not really necessary in England. Although it is unique and part of the heritage of the course, I believe it would play a lot better if the "B greens" were removed.
The course has a nice balance of long and short holes, including some long and short par 5s which offer a good chance to score. The signature holes for me are:
7 - which requires a drive over a small lake to an angled fairway. On the tee you need to decide how bold you want to be and how much water to carry.
8 - a short par three from an elevated tee to a semi island green.
17 - a short par 4 which doglegs to the left around another pond.
All in all, it's quite a pleasant course with some attractive shots over water. Greens have always been on the slow side when I've visited (at any time of year) and there is not a huge amount of interest in the green complexes. The Old Course next door wins for me (just).
The club has decent practice facilites, a nice clubhouse and seems a progressive and welcoming place to play.
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As I mentioned in my review of the Old course at Essendon, the complex here is well maintained in the main and caters for all standards of golfer. The atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming and the facilities are such that as a member, you would never get tired of the options for both on course play and practice that are available to you.
The newer offering of the two courses (you’d probably guessed that from the name), the New course has a slightly more match play leaning feel and as such, gives plenty of opportunity to hit ego boosting hero shots a plenty. Water is a significant foe throughout and asks testing questions on many of the hardest holes. There are five par 4’s that measure 350 yards or less from the white tees and a three of the par 5’s measure under 500 yards, which is where most of the fun decisions re strategy will be made.
Taking the course on its own merits, I enjoyed our summers afternoon playing in a four ball with friends. This course lends itself to social golf and fun playing formats while featuring a number of memorable golf holes. I always like to pick standout holes and the 8th, a short par 3 encircled by water was just that. It is both attractive and fun to play and not quite as menacing as it may appear from the tee. My other favourite was the 17th, a par 4 that is all about getting your tee shot in to play and avoiding the ominous looking water feature down the left side.
In terms of conditioning, I felt the New was marginally less impressive than the Old course, mainly in respect to the bunkering and surrounds of the playing surfaces being ever so slightly less manicured. This is a big property and I understand that there will be areas for development so I wouldn’t take too much from this comment other than to set your expectations appropriately. The greens were again in sound condition and the course played well. In terms of a comparison between the two courses, it will depend what you want from a golf course. If it’s excitement and fun, the New course is the one for you. If it is subtlety of design and a sterner test to par, the Old course should be your go to course at Essendon. If I could only play one course again, it would be the Old but it’s a close run thing.
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Played the Old course in the morning and was yet sure whether to play the New after or not but was talked into it. Glad I was.
Despite the rankings I personally feel the New is the better of the two 18’s…. It was certainly in better condition and dealt with the rain far better than the Old (guessing from the names, the “new” has more modern effective drainage ?).
More interesting and challenging holes with more water in play and for me the pick of the course would be the closing 4 holes.
Would be much more inclined to return and play the New than the Old - although when in better (dry and maintained) condition I suspect the Old may be better than I found it yesterday ?
Personal 322nd course played in England and 463rd worldwide
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If the weather has been good, then get out and play this course. There is a really nice selection of holes around a few water features to keep you on your toes, no less than the 9th which, directly in front of the clubhouse, has a nasty habit of rejecting approach shots into the water on the left if you are coming in from the right. Being left here is a lot safer.
The clubhouse is spectacular and the food top notch, even though we visited during COVID and therefore they were running a limited menu.
I'd come back here, but having played when it was slightly wet, drainage is a big issue and so I'd be checking out the weather forecast first
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Superb location with two fantastic courses on site, the new is longer and slightly wider. Really good value for such a classy venue.
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I liked both courses here, the new I found tougher than the old, but other people say they think the old is tougher.
We play here every year on a 36 hole society and get to do both courses on the same day late summertime, I would recommend this venue, the clubhouse is great, both courses are great, and different too which is nice to have.
main negative for me was I didn't get to use driver much as the holes don't really require it, didn't suit my long game at all. But the shorter hitters I played against loved that it made it more even of a game. Your iron game has to be on point to score well here.
CLUBHOUSE 8
FACILITIES 8
TEE BOXES 8
FAIRWAYS 8
ROUGH 6
GREEN CONDITION 8
GREEN SPEED 8
LAYOUT 7
VIEWS 7
VALUE FOR MONEY 7
OVERALL FEEL 7
TIME OF THE YEAR PLAYED - AUGUST
FAVOURITE HOLE - 4th - long par 5 - approach over water
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