Remedy Oak Golf Club

Remedy Oak opened for play in November 2005 and former Ryder Cup Captain John Jacobs designed the golf course, or at least made a few visits during the construction phase. Set in more than 250 acres of ancient woodland near Horton in Dorset, Remedy Oak immediately appears mature beyond its tender years. John Jacobs commented: “When I first saw the location for Remedy Oak, I knew it had the potential to be one of the best courses in the UK. To see it now, I feel that potential has been realised.”

With a girth of more than six metres, the Remedy Oak tree, which is located a couple of miles from the course, is legendary. Apparently the nine-year-old Boy King, King Edward VI sat under the oak tree and “touched for Kings Evil”. Kings Evil was a medieval custom whereby the King could touch and heal people with skin diseases.

Miracles cannot be guaranteed at Remedy Oak Golf Club but we can vouch for the fact that it’s perhaps the most exclusive golf club south of the M25 and the course is highly polished with immaculate tee to green grooming. Remedy Oak was also home to the Legends Charity Golf Classic, where cricketer Sir Ian Botham hosted an annual charity event in aid of Leukaemia Research.

Many people in the know reckon Remedy Oak is one of the finest inland golf courses in Britain but few people had the chance to experience the course when it first opened. Thankfully the club now welcomes visitors and the word on the street is that the rather expensive green fee is worth every penny.

Jonathan Gaunt prepared the original masterplan for Remedy Oak and obtained planning permission for the owner, Bill Riddle. Although the course was built in-house, Jonathan told us he “did spend a long time on site inspecting the land in detail – it was not easy to get about because some of the woodland was over 100 years old and was really dense. It was fun, though.”

In June 2017 we asked Jonathan if he had any interesting snippets regarding the challenge of designing a course on such a vast scale. He commented as follows:

“It was particularly difficult because of the restrictions of the local authority in relation to ecology, etc. We had to preserve certain trees and water bodies. In particular, we designed the bunkers on some holes so they were south-facing – to attract adders and grass snakes to “bask” in them! Makes a new meaning of a sand hazard! We also proposed significant areas of tree clearance to create new heathland – I enjoyed this and it has stood me in good stead for the work I’m currently doing at Whittington Heath in Lichfield – where we are creating 25 acres of new heathland within the new course extension (as a result of the HS2 railway line).”