Upavon

Uphaven Golf Club owes its existence to the nearby airfield, and the establishment of a base for the Royal Flying Corps in 1912. A 9-hole golf course was quickly brought into use back then, along with facilities for cricket, tennis, football and a few other outdoor sports.

The golf club became a civilian members’ club in 1993 and within four years the course was extended to an 18-hole layout. It’s reckoned this work was done for the bargain sum of around £120,000, with almost half this sum spent on an irrigation system.

Richard Blake, the eager young 22-year-old appointed as the club's professionalback then, oversaw the expansion of the course and he's gone on to provide morethan 30 years of service to the club since that time.

Today, only the 3rd, 7th, 17th and 18th holes remain from the original layout. The present 2nd green (originally the 4th) and 16th green (previously the 7th) also endure but they now belong to completely different holes.

In 2023, eight trees were removed from around the 18th green during an expansion of the putting surface, allowing golfers in the clubhouse to have a better look at what’s going on around the home green as players finish their round.

The 18-hole layout extends to 6,415 yards from the back tees, with holes arranged as two returning nines. Highlight holes on the outward half include the difficult par four 4th and the longest of the par threes at the 229-yard 6th, which plays to a split green.

The par five 13th is a monster par five (measuring more than 600 yards); the long, downhill par four 16th is another difficult hole (rated stroke index 6); and the par three closing hole is a testing finisher, with a gully in front of the home green to catch under hit tee shots.