Parkstone Golf Club

We’ve classified Parkstone Golf Club as a seaside heathland course. It’s certainly not a traditional links and neither is it very far inland. It's an unusual and unique course, located on a beautiful sandy tract of undulating heathland, affording magnificent views across Poole Bay and Poole Harbour. The fairways are lined with the delights of pine and heather and the picture in spring is an especially pretty one when the rhododendrons are in full bloom.

The land was originally part of Lord Wimborne’s Canford Estate that stretched all the way from Wimbourne to Sandbanks, a natural peninsula, jutting into the sea at the entrance to Poole Harbour. The Water Company built two reservoirs and a pump house. Little did they know the water would come in handy to irrigate the new golf course that Willie Park Junior laid out in 1909. The great revisionist, James Braid, appeared on the scene in 1932 and Parkstone was subsequently lengthened and altered.

Little has changed since Braid’s alterations. The course presents a delightfully tranquil and varied challenge amongst the heather and pine. Parkstone is not overly long, measuring 6,300 yards from the back tees, but it’s sufficiently challenging for golfers of all levels. You cannot help but be taken in by the charms of Parkstone and the mesmerising experience.

This is ‘Alliss’ country. Peter Alliss learned his trade down the road at Ferndown where his dad, Percy, was the professional for 25 years. Peter became the professional at Parkstone in 1957 and remained at the club until 1970. Percy and Peter Alliss became the first family on either side to have father and son representation in the Ryder Cup. The Garrido family joined the Alliss family in the father and son record books in 1997 when Ignacio was a member of the winning 1997 Ryder Cup Team at Valderrama.

We thoroughly recommend a trip to Parkstone. It is a gorgeous place to play golf and it’s an interesting and varied course to boot.