Foxhills Club & Resort (Longcross)

Located next to the village of Ottershaw, close to the junction of the M3 and M25, the Foxhills Country Club & Resort offers a number of outdoor sporting pursuits; from swimming to cycling and squash to tennis in addition to a 45-hole golf facility with two 18-hole courses and a 9-hole par three layout.

The estate was originally established as a country retreat for the notorious parliamentarian Charles James Fox in the second half of the 18th century, when it was known as “Fox’s Hills”. Airline Aer Lingus acquired the property in the 1960s and engaged Fred Hawtree to design the two 18-hole tracks in 1975.

Businessman Ian Hayton purchased the business eight years later and the family still run it to this day, operating a successful modern resort that has managed to keep pace with the changing times since it changed hands in 1983. There’s also a 4-star hotel on site, along with an award-winning health spa.

The tree-lined fairways of the Longcross course are configured as two returning nines, laid out across a natural woodland landscape. The “signature hole” is regarded as the par five 14th, starting from an elevated tee position, then the closing hole is another par five which doglegs up to a home green that’s shared with the 18th on the Bernard Hunt course.

In the first phase of a renovation project, holes 13 to 16 were upgraded in 2023 by Gary Johnston of European Golf Design, involving tree removal, expansion of green playing surfaces, installation of new irrigation and refurbishment of bunkers, using Ecobunker linings.