Penrith

Situated above the picturesque Lake District town of Penrith, this wonderful old moorland layout dates back to 1890 when members of Penrith Golf Club set out the original nine holes around an oval racecourse. Traces of the old race track can still be made out on several of the fairways during the modern day back nine.

The course was doubled in size to an 18-hole layout in 1913 but, with World War I intervening soon after, many of the fairways were ploughed up for crop production. Indeed, it would take almost a decade before golf resumed on the course. Further improvements were made to the layout when the clubhouse was modernised in the 1970s.

Today’s course extends to just over 6,000 yards and this shortage of overall length is thanks mainly to a configuration containing five par threes – two of which play back to back at holes 9 and 10 – and only two par fives. The signature hole is the 365-yard left doglegged 12th, where the approach is played uphill to a green flanked by sand on either side.