Tadmarton Heath Golf Club

Tadmarton Heath Golf Club is a pretty little course sited close to the small market town of Banbury and its charming old Cotswold stone clubhouse (converted from a farmhouse) is very much in keeping with its rustic surroundings. You could say that it’s a course for the connoisseur who appreciates traditional golfing challenges.

According to Frank Pennink's Choice of Golf Courses: "One of the most delightful of the smaller, more remote clubs to be found anywhere in England – moreover, situated in an area sparsely provided with golf courses. It is one of the favourite courses of Roger Wethered, who used to return to it year after year when the Oxford University Divots played against the club – an outing which they enjoyed as much as any, as I can vouch."

Donald Steel is also an admirer of the course, opining that “it has what may conveniently be described as a split personality, the first nine holes being fairly open and the second nine possessing a characteristic commonly associated with heathland golf – a profusion of gorse which makes some of the fairways alarmingly narrow.”

With only one par five – the 484-yard 5th – on the scorecard, Tadmarton Heath’s 6,043-yard length may be short by modern standards but discerning golfers know only too well what a delightful 18-hole layout it is to play.

The 139-yard 7th is probably the pick of the four par three holes here, with the tee shot played across Holy Well on its way to the green. The short par four 15th is another interesting hole on the inward half but visitors should take note that both nines end with lengthy two-shotters that might just catch them unawares.

In 2013, as the club nears its centenary in 2022, Ken Moodie was commissioned as part of a 5-year plan to oversee a renovation programme, which included the remodelling of all 69 bunkers and the rebuilding of greens – the project completed in early 2018. The club is now concentrating on restoring the layout's heathland characteristics by removing trees, managing gorse and introducing finer grasses.