Summer’s here again, and it’s time to unpack the clubs, start doing some stretches and get busy working on your handicap!
If you are fortunate enough to be able to choose any course in England this summer on a July short break, we recommend the following as the top 5 golf courses in England. For golf accomodation and golf packages - Parkdean holidays have nearly 25 parks to choose from - some of which are located within driving distance of these great courses. Visit Parkdean for golf holiday in England and golf holiday in Scotland today!
#1 WENTWORTH
England’s #1 golf course is Wentworth Golf Club, a privately owned golf club and health resort in Virginia Water, Surrey on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The West course at the Wentworth Club is the most famous of the Surrey heath and heather courses.
The club was founded in 1926. The headquarters of the PGA European Tour are located at the club, and each year it hosts the Tour’s BMW PGA Championship and HSBC World Match Play Championship. It was also the venue for the fiercely contested 1953 Ryder Cup, resulting in a single point American victory 6 ½ to 5 1/2.
The club is surrounded by and entwined with the Wentworth Estate, one of the most expensive private estates in the London suburbs, which was built at the same time, where many top golfers and other celebrities have homes. One of them is Ernie Els, who became the club’s “world-wide touring professional” in 2005. Over the winter of 2005-06 Els, who is developing a golf course design practice, made alterations to the West Course, lengthening it by 310 yards (280 m) and adding 30 bunkers.
Wentworth also boasts a Tennis & Health Club. The Wentworth Tennis and Health Club consists of a gymnasium, dance studio, health spa, ozone swimming pool and jacuzzi, crèche facilities, changing rooms, and a café.
#2 ROYAL BIRKDALE
Royal Birkdale Golf Club in the town of Southport, England, is one of the clubs in the Open Championship rotation. The club has hosted the championship nine times since 1954, most recently in July 2008. Previous winners of the Open at Royal Birkdale are Pádraig Harrington, Mark O’Meara, Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer and Peter Thomson (on two separate occasions). Birkdale is the only course in the Open rotation that has never had a champion from the United Kingdom. The course is unique in that no two holes face in the same direction giving obvious problems on the notoriously windy days prevalent to any links.
Currently ranked 16th in the world, Royal Birkdale is a formidable challenge to a golfer of any level. The Birkdale (as it was originally called) was a nine-hole course located at Shaw Hills and opened for play in 1889. 5 years later the committee decided to expand to 18 holes and move to its current home in the Birkdale Hills.
#3 ROYAL ST. GEORGES
The Royal St George’s Golf Club is unquestionably one of the premier golf clubs in the United Kingdom, and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation. It has hosted 13 Open championships since 1894, when it became the first club outside Scotland to host the championship. Past champions include Ben Curtis, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Bill Rogers, Bobby Locke, Reg Whitcombe, Henry Cotton, Walter Hagen (on two different occasions), Harry Vardon (twice), Jack White and John Henry Taylor. It has also hosted The Amateur Championship on 13 occasions.
The club is located in Sandwich, Kent, England, and was founded in 1887 in a setting of wild duneland. Many holes feature blind or partially blind shots, although the unfairness element has been reduced somewhat, after several 20th century modifications. The club’s Challenge Trophy dates from 1888 and is one of the oldest trophies in golf; it has been contested annually except for war years. The course also possesses the deepest bunker in championship golf, located on its fourth hole.
#4 SUNNINGDALE
Sunningdale Golf Club was founded in 1900 on Chobham Common, on land owned by St. John’s College, Cambridge. Its first Secretary was Harold Shapland Colt who went on to design golf courses of international renown and was highly influential in the creation of the world’s #1 golf course, Pine Valley in New Jersey.
The original 18-hole course, set in a heathland area, with sandy subsoil amid mixed treed foliage, was designed by Willie Park, Jr., and was ready for play in 1901. It was also among the first successful courses located away from the seaside, as many people had thought at the time that turf would not grow well in such regions.
From the start, Sunningdale was well regarded, and has hosted many important events. Examples include News of the World Matchplay Championship in 1903, 1907 and 1912; several stagings of the British Masters in the 1940s and 1950s; the 1975 Colgate European Open (women’s); the 1987 Walker Cup; the 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1992 European Open and the 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2008 Women’s British Open.
The Open Championship, International Final Qualifying has been held annually over the Old and New Courses since 2004. It is also the venue of the 2009 Senior Open.
#5 WOODHALL SPA
Woodhall Spa Golf Club is a private golf club in England, that is located to the north of Woodhall Spa. The club was founded in 1891. In 1995 the club was purchased by the English Golf Union, who have since relocated their headquarters onto the site, which is now known as the National Golf Centre.
An oasis in the heart of Lincolnshire and a true delight to play, the course is set among glorious pine and birch trees. Woodhall Spa has two golf courses, the Hotchkin, which opened in 1905 and was originally laid out by Harry Vardon before being redesigned by Stafford Vere Hotchkin in the 1920s, and the Bracken, designed by Donald Steel and opened in 1998.
The club has hosted many prestigious amateur championships including the English Amateur and the Brabazon Trophy on several occasions.
