Top 10 Golf Courses in London, England

With the eyes of the tennis world on Wimbledon, it’s worth noting that golf in London is nearly its equal. Among the greatest inland courses in the world are the heathland layouts in the suburbs of London. For The LINKS 100 project to identify the 100 best courses in the world, we polled the architects of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), the European Institute of Golf Course Architects (EIGCA), and the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects (SAGCA).

From the data we mined after the architects voted, here are the top 10 courses around London.

 

1. Swinley Forest—Ascot

LINKS 100 Ranking: 38

England’s Harry Colt, one of the giants of early 20th century architecture, called this 1910 design “the least bad course” he had ever built, proving as Tom Doak memorably put it, he “was no Muhammed Ali when it came to self-promotion.” One of the most lightly played private clubs in Britain, this quiet enclave features wide, wooded fairways, gigantic bursts of rhododendrons in springtime, and a back tee yardage of 6,431. Yet, par is only 69 and matching it requires excellent ball-striking, due primarily to a series of meaty par fours.

london england golf courses
Swinley Forest (photo by L.C. Lambrecht)

 

2. Sunningdale (Old)—Sunningdale

LINKS 100 Ranking: 40

Perhaps the noblest of the London-area heathland courses, this charming, tree-lined track is dotted with heather patches and ingeniously placed bunkers. Willie Park Jr. crafted the 6,660-yard par-70 layout in 1901; later, club secretary-turned-architect Harry Colt made further refinements. Architecture buffs will appreciate the par-four 5th hole where the first man-made water hazard in golf design appears in the form of a pond on the right side of the fairway. Amid the enchanting sand-based fairways, pines, birches, and oaks, Ernie Els calls Sunningdale Old, “arguably the greatest walk in golf.” Els will likely take that walk again when the Old hosts the 2025 Senior Open for the fourth time in late July.

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Sunningdale (Old) (photo by Kevin Murray)

 

3. St. George’s Hill (Red/Blue)—Weybridge

LINKS 100 Ranking: 55

Located in Surrey, southwest of London, St. George’s Hill is considered the first-ever example of a golf residential development. Carved from dense forest by Harry Colt in 1912, the planned 36 holes emerged as a 27-hole layout in 1913. In an early edition of The Confidential Guide, Tom Doak called it the finest of all the London heathland courses. Today, critics rate the front nine of the championship layout (Red and Blue nines) as among the best in golf, thanks to dramatic, testing holes such as the uphill, 382-yard par-four opener and the 179-yard par-three 8th, which plays from an upper ridge to a lower ridge, with a deep hollow in between, filled with heathery scrub and pitiless formal bunkers.

heathland golf
St. George’s Hill (Red) (photo by Kevin Murray)

 

4. Walton Heath (Old)—Walton-on-the-Hill

LINKS 100 Ranking: 62

Its bleak, heathland setting won’t set anyone aglow, but as a test of character and shotmaking, Walton Heath has few peers. A superb, strategic delight, Herbert Fowler’s 1904 design is stern but fair, with heather, gorse, rough, and bunkers that must be avoided at all costs. Yet, the chalk beneath the sandy subsoil allows for firm fairways that yield plenty of links-like run. Host to many important tournaments, Walton Heath was the venue of the 1981 Ryder Cup, when arguably the strongest American side of all time—featuring Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Ben Crenshaw, and Tom Kite to name eight—demolished the Europeans, 18 ½ to 9 ½.

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Walton Heath (Old) (photo by Kevin Murray)

 

5. Sunningdale (New)—Sunningdale

LINKS 100 Ranking: 79

At 6,738 yards, par 70, the New is narrower than the Old and traverses higher ground. Opened in 1923, it’s also stronger, with lengthy carries over heather and sharper drop-offs around the elevated greens, putting a premium on well-struck approaches. Moreover, it’s truer to its heathland setting, with fewer trees and deeper bunkers. Harry Colt’s 183-yard 5th hole is the best par three on the property, an uphill thrust through the trees over a heathery, sandy gully to an exposed green framed by bunkers. The dogleg par-five 6th of 525 yards, a 1930s replacement hole from Colt’s original design, offers superb risk/reward on the second shot and a perched green that rejects all but the surest shots. Jack Nicklaus helped shine some well-deserved spotlight on the New in a 2000 Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf Match when he downed Gary Player, 67 to 71.

heathland golf
Sunningdale (New) (photo by Kevin Murray)

 

6. Wentworth (West)—Virginia Water

LINKS 100 Ranking: Unranked

Situated slightly to the southeast of Sunningdale and Swinley Forest, Wentworth West has been considered England’s premier inland championship course practically since Harry Colt designed it in 1926. A Hall of Fame cast has competed and won here in tournaments such as the 1956 Ryder Cup, the World Match Play Championship (1964–2007), and the British (now BMW) PGA Championship (1984–present). Yet, its appeal was always tied more to its relentless challenge than it was for its charm or memorable holes. Area resident Ernie Els overhauled the layout in 2006 to decidedly mixed reviews and reworked it several times since. A round ends in unusual fashion with back-to-back par fives, a la Baltusrol Lower. The bunkerless 610-yard 17th swings hard to the left amid dense woodland, and the 521-yard 18th arcs hard right, its fairway and green closely guarded by water.

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Wentworth (West) (photo by Kevin Murray)

 

7. The Berkshire (Red)—Ascot

LINKS 100 Ranking: Unranked

Tucked in between Sunningdale and Swinley are The Berkshire’s Red and Blue courses, designed by Herbert Fowler and Tom Simpson in 1928. Both courses tumble over lovely, rolling terrain, with fairways framed by pines, silver birches, and chestnuts. The Red’s scorecard won’t strike terror into anyone, at 6,452 yards and par 72, yet perhaps it’s of historical interest as one of the earliest examples of a layout with six par threes, six par fours, and six par fives. The par threes are the class of the course and the best of these is the 188-yard 10th. Reminiscent of the “Calamity” 16th at Royal Portrush’s Dunluce Links, the magnificently sited green, in the words of writer Jim Finegan, “perches at the edge of a precipice that plunges to the right, some twenty-five feet below the level of the putting surface, into heather and tall rough.”

london golf courses
The Berkshire (Red) (photo by Kevin Murray)

 

8. Queenwood—Ottershaw

LINKS 100 Ranking: Unranked

Situated just south and east from Wentworth, this south of London layout bears the design imprint of David McLay Kidd. Queenwood, opened in 2001, was initially renowned for its exclusivity and its celebrity-laden membership, including Hugh Grant, Michael Douglas, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as well as Tour pros Ernie Els, Adam Scott, and Darren Clarke. Kidd created an inland links—a modern version of London’s Harry Colt heathland classics. In his words, he crafted “gnarly bunkers, the heathery grasses oozing out of the bunkers faces. This became my home club and I was thrilled with the results.” Between the opening and closing par fives, one encounters exceptional conditioning, American-style ponds, and large, undulating greens.

london golf top 10
Queenwood (photo by L.C. Lambrecht)

 

9. Woking—Woking

LINKS 100 Ranking: Unranked

The oldest of the Surrey heathland layouts south of London, Woking was designed by Tom Dunn in 1893. However, the architectural magic happened via alterations from 1901–15 by two green committee members, John Low and Stuart Paton. Borrowing the strategic concepts and green intricacies from the best they had seen, Low and Paton established Woking as a proving ground of design principles. They infused simple, yet groundbreaking risk/reward strategies as at the par-four 4th when they bunkered the center of the fairway landing area and installed another bunker front-left of the green. The choice was an easier approach from the right side, but risk flirting with an active railway line on the tee shot; or a safer drive to the left, though one that would demand a bunker carry to reach the putting surface. Today’s version measures 6,606 yards and its par of 70 has a peculiar arrangement with not a single par five until hole 14—and the only other par five on the very next hole.

woking
Woking (photo by Kevin Murray)

 

10. Hankley Common—Farnham

LINKS 100 Ranking: Unranked

The southernmost of Surrey’s outstanding heathland courses, approximately 18 miles south of Sunningdale sits this 1922 James Braid creation. At slightly less than 40 miles from London, this might be stretching the bounds for qualification as a “London” course, but Hankley Common’s uncommon spaciousness and tranquility is unmatched in the region. Benefitting from springy turf that plays firm due to the site’s sandy subsoil, Hankley Common is a formidable challenge at 6,909 yards, par 71, highlighted by the 183-yard par-three 7th, which demands a carry over a heather-cloaked valley. The course’s status improved significantly following a recent bunker renovation by Mackenzie & Ebert.

hankley
Hankley Common (photo by Kevin Murray)

 

What is your favorite course in the London area? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section.

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