West Herts Golf Club

“It would scarcely be possible, in point of sheer beauty, to beat Cassiobury Park, near Watford in Hertfordshire,” wrote Bernard Darwin in The Golf Courses of Great Britain. “Neither by laying too much emphasis on its beauty do I mean to cast an oblique slur upon the golf itself, a great deal of which is very good. Of course you will not think it good if you hate trees, because there are a great many trees; and you will probably be at least once or twice hopelessly stymied by them in the course of the round. Even the most confirmed tree-hater, however, might find his heart softening, because the particular trees are so very lovely. There are the most glorious avenues, elms and limes and chestnuts and beeches, that stretch across the park, and a fine day at Cassiobury comes within measurable distance of heaven.”

Established in 1890, West Herts Golf Club is one of Hertfordshire’s oldest clubs, which was originally sited at Bushey Hall. In 1897, the club moved to Cassiobury Park, the ancestral seat of the Earls of Essex, having commissioned Old Tom Morris to design a new course for the members. Harry Vardon made modifications to the layout in 1910 before the course was completely refashioned by Alister MacKenzie in 1922.

According to Frank Pennink’s Choice of Golf Courses, West Herts is “certainly one of London’s finest, driest courses, on its gravel base, and one of the most beautiful wooded ones also. It is laid out on a rolling plateau above the Grand Union Canal and the River Gade, which run along its eastern boundary to provide a pleasant addition to the beauty of the finishing holes.”