Best Heathland Golf in England’s Famed Sand Belt

Heathland golf lies at the curious intersection of links golf and parkland golf. Heathland courses like those in Surrey and Berkshire have trees—mainly tall Scots pines. But due to the sandy, acidic nature of the soil, the turf and design of the courses are more like what you’d expect to see on a links course. Features like firm, fast-running fairways; pot bunkers; greens with multiple tiers and swales; and quirky holes whose personalities were dictated by the lay of the land—these traits epitomize heathland golf. Then there’s the heather. Many links courses have heather—the sticky, low-lying, purplish shrubs from which escaping is something of a magic trick. It borders nearly every fairway on heathland courses, and unless you get lucky with your lie, it’s usually a pitch-out from the stuff. But it both adds and builds character, and unlike water hazards, you can usually advance your ball from it.

The region’s heathland courses date back to the end of the 19th century and include the thoughtful designs of many renowned golf course architects—names like Harry Colt, Herbert Fowler, James Braid, and Willie Park Jr. Let’s kick off our visit with two of the courses that Park gave to golfers there, which also happen to be two of the finest in the area.

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Sunningdale Old (photo by Kevin Murray)

Sunningdale Golf Club (Old & New Courses)

The sprawling oak tree that’s featured on the Sunningdale club logo didn’t exist when the Willie Park Jr.-designed Old Course debuted in 1901. Back then, the land was largely treeless, but it isn’t any longer. Oaks, pines, and even birches grace its rough lines today—along with generous portions of heather. Harry Colt served as Captain and Secretary of the club in its early years, and he redesigned the Old to be the course you play today. That course is a world top-100 layout featuring a wonderfully varied mix of holes; you’ll use every club in your bag on the par fours alone. It’s not a long course by modern standards, but trouble awaits wayward shots seemingly everywhere, and every hole’s an Instagram moment waiting to happen. You’ll find each one to be as strategic as it is beautiful. The terrain is hilly and undulating. Bunkers, mounds, forced carries over sand and heather, and occasional ponds like the one at the stellar par-four 5th hole get knees to knocking. And the greens are like glass. The long, downhill-then-uphill par-four 10th is a hole often cited as one of England’s finest. And the course’s cadre of par threes rank among the world’s best. There’s charm—and even wit—to be found everywhere, with the necklace of bunkers that lie just short of the 16th green being a prime example. Sunningdale starts and ends with eminently birdie-able par fives. In between lies heathland golf majesty.

The club’s New Course, a Colt design from the 1920s that occupies its own place in the world top-100, fights hard to measure up to the lofty standards set by its illustrious sibling. You’ll have fewer bunkers to contend with, and trees don’t encroach on its playing corridors quite as much, but scoring well on the New will require just as much precision and guile. Again here, so many holes etch themselves into memory, as at the par-three 5th hole, with its tabletop, two-tiered green, and the par-four 12th with its tight approach shot to a green that exacts a steep price if missed. Every tee shot asks for a different shot shape. Every green is nuanced and well defended. And if the wind kicks up, forget about playing to your handicap. Visitors are welcome (seasonally) at Sunningdale, and there are few 36-hole days in the world of golf that are its equal.

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Sunningdale New (photo by Kevin Murray)

Walton Heath Golf Club (Old & New Courses)

If there’s a Sand Belt club whose 36 holes might give Sunningdale’s a run for their money, it’s Walton Heath. The club’s Old Course, a Herbert Fowler creation, is arguably the toughest of the area’s eighteens—especially at its start and finish. Your round on the Old begins with a 236-yard par three to a broad, eminently three-puttable green. From there, four of the next five holes are par fours ranging in yardage from “just” 400 yards to over 480 yards from the tips, with a short par four and a 588-yard par five rounding out the nine. The terrain is flatter than you’ll find at Sunningdale and some of the area’s other top courses, but that doesn’t make scoring any easier. Sod-faced bunkers lurk in just the right (wrong) spots, and the greens, like the fairways, run hard and fast. The course’s finishing holes are just as demanding as its early ones. The sinuous, uphill, par-five 16th calls for three well-placed (and well-laced) shots; the 206-yard par-three 17th is all-carry between two cavernous bunkers to a devilish hilltop green; and the 404-yard 18th plays longer than its yardage over a wide cross-bunker to a deceptively deep green. It’s a demanding, thrilling course with memorable design nuances everywhere.

Walton Heath’s New Course is an even longer track (7,199 yards from the back tees), and one with a character all its own. You’ll need to negotiate nine cross-bunkers and stands of scorecard-wrecking heather that are as prevalent as the larks chirping their birdsong overhead. The par-37 back nine, with just one par three, is an exercise in determination. Six of its seven par fours tip out at over 410 yards, and the two par fives stretch to 570 and 607 yards, respectively. But if you drive the ball straight, drive it far, and bring a sparkling short game, you can score well.

Winston Churchill played his golf at Walton Heath for 55 years, which may, in part, explain his bulldog-like nature. And James Braid served as the club’s professional for more than 40 years. Did he owe his five Open Championship claret jugs to his mastery of the game at his demanding home club? Almost certainly.

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Walton Heath (photo by Kevin Murray)

Swinley Forest Golf Club

Harry Colt was at it again at Swinley Forest, which he humbly described as “his least bad work.” He’s probably the only person in history who associated that adjective with this course. Not an overly long course—just 6,400 from the tips with a par of 69—Swinley Forest is nonetheless a great test, a true shotmaker’s course. Its eclectic mix of 11 par fours, five par threes, and two par fives stand as testament to Colt’s determination to make the holes fit the land—land that, like its Sand Belt neighbors, features old growth trees, gnarly heather, and enough elevation change to make club selection tricky. On many holes, you’ll do well to leave your headcover on your driver. Great holes abound, with none grander than you’ll find in its matching set of par threes, beginning at the 198-yard 4th with its redan-style green and culminating at the 189-yard 17th, whose slippery putting surface has steep drop-offs to every side. You won’t need brawn but you will need a deft touch around to score well at Swinley, which welcomes prearranged visits by non-members on a limited basis, but only on weekdays.

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Swinley Forest (photo by L.C. Lambrecht)

St. George’s Hill Golf Club

Once a two-course club, three nines remain today at St. George’s Hill—all by Colt. The Blue and Red nines are the ones to play. Here, the land Colt had to work with was even hillier than at Swinley Forest and Sunningdale, enabling him to place tees on hilltops, route fairways through valleys, and station greens both high and low, making every approach shot an exercise in judgment. Many of its bold greens bear false fronts, and you’d do well to be paired with a member if you want any chance of successfully navigating the sweeping breaks that characterize its many-contoured putting surfaces. You’ll play just two par fives, both drivable; a drivable par four at the Blue’s 3rd hole, two very stout par fours (the Red’s 2nd hole and the Blue’s 4th), and four par threes highlighted by the Red nine’s picturesque downhill 8th and the Blue nine’s hit-to-a-hilltop 2nd hole. Both nines’ closing holes are fun tests, with the green of the Blue’s 9th hole sitting in the shadow of the stately, castle-like clubhouse being particularly grand.

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

The Berkshire (Red & Blue Courses)

Step onto the first tee of The Berkshire’s Blue Course and you’ll get an immediate idea of the kind of challenges that await you on its two, hilly Herbert Fowler designs. A 200-yard par three, it calls for a solid shot over a sea of heather to a green that’s sited on a mound and flanked by serious trouble short-left and long-right—the two places mishits are most likely to end up. The hole makes perfect use of the natural slopes and hills it’s sited on, and the club’s 35 other holes do, too. The rest of the front nine is tamer, with several short par fours that invite birdies. But on the Blue’s back nine, you’ll encounter a series of demanding par fours and just one par five.

The club’s Red Course ends with a tough par three—an uphill tester with a yawning bunker waiting to catch shots struck short-right and a merciless green. The higher-ranked of The Berkshire’s two sterling courses, it features six par threes, six par fours, and six par fives. The Red takes you over hillier terrain than its sibling and requires careful shotmaking of every kind. At 6,453 yards from the tips, it’s not long; only two par fours exceed 400 yards. But such is the cleverness of its design that it doesn’t need more length. Unless you’re on the short grass, you’re likely to be in heather, so accuracy is at a premium all day. And it’s the short holes that have the sharpest teeth here. From the short, uphill 2nd with its pulpit green ringed by bunkers, to the hit-over-a-valley 10th with its distant hilltop target, to the aforementioned 18th, the Red’s par threes are one-shotters in name only. The course may have gotten its name from the blood that it routinely draws.

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The Berkshire Red (photo by Kevin Murray)

Hankley Common Golf Club

Hankley Common’s club logo features a mischievous-looking fox, and you’ll need to be foxy to score well there. Acre for acre, it may have more heather than any course in the world, along with pines and other species of trees that come into play more than you may like. But in between, it’s heathland golf majesty, with lots of forced carries over gullies and fields of purple, deep bunkers, and quick greens endowed with the sort of slopes, swales, tiers, and shoulders that make putting the equal part of the game that it should be. Many of its holes are straight-ahead challenges, but there are notable exceptions, particularly on the back nine, where the 15th, 17th, and 18th holes each call for shot shaping off the tee to finish strong. The work primarily of James Braid (with a three-hole loop by Harry Colt), there’s nothing common about Hankley Common.

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Hankley Common (photo by Kevin Murray)

Worplesdon Golf Club

One of the famed “Three Ws”—the trio of strong heathland courses in Woking—Worplesdon dates to 1908, when it was laid out by J.F. Abercromby—with Willie Park Jr. contributing his construction expertise to the greens and bunkers. The bunkers give Worplesdon a unique character. Many are of the sinuous and even serpentine variety, much like those you’ll often find on Devereaux Emmet-designed courses. And they pop up in some unusual places, not just at the elbows of fairways and around greens. The course’s signature hole, the par-three 10th, includes something most heathland courses don’t: a pond fronting the green that will catch any ball left short. Its green, like the others at Worplesdon, runs fast and, in its case, from back to front. A bit tighter than other heathland tracks, it easily earns its 133 slope rating.

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Worplesdon (photo by Kevin Murray)

Woking Golf Club

Surrey’s first heathland course, dating to 1893, Woking set the early standard for heathland golf—and did a fine job of it. Risk/reward opportunities are many, and sound strategic decisions must be made during your round, as at the par-four 4th, where two centerline bunkers turn an otherwise straightforward tee shot into one requiring great care. Woking’s speedy and confounding greens are its greatest defense. Even if you’re hitting short irons into many holes, don’t expect to go on a birdie binge. Woking’s greens feature false fronts, runoffs, slopes, and ridges, and some of the trickiest contours in all of England. Venture not above the hole! Two-ball matches and foursomes are the usual games at Woking, renowned golf writer Bernard Darwin’s home club, and members appreciate (which is to say, insist on) speedy play. But four-ball visitors are welcome on certain days and at certain times.

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Woking (photo by Kevin Murray)

West Hill Golf Club

By now, you’ll have guessed that every Surrey and Berkshire heathland course features towering Scots pines and vast expanses of nettlesome purple heather—and West Hill is no exception. It also has Brookwood Brook, which comes into play on six of its 18 holes. Contrary to its name, West Hill isn’t much of an up-and-down affair—except on the greens. There, you’ll encounter the kinds of undulations that have been known to make players weep. You’ll play many memorable holes, including the stern, 458-yard dogleg-left 3rd hole, with a forced carry over gunch off the tee and the brook to contend with after. The par threes are all dangerous, testing holes. And the course’s heather-capped bunkers, like the gaggle fronting the wide green at the last hole, have a malevolence all their own.

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West Hill (photo courtesy West Hill Golf Club)

Wentworth Club

We can’t leave Surrey without mentioning Wentworth, an exclusive private club steeped in history—and one with a membership that’s a Who’s Who of Europe’s rich and famous. Harry Colt designed its East and West courses in the early ’20s, and a third course, The Edinburgh Course, was added in 1990. Every important champion in the game has done battle on Westworth’s famed West Course, which hosted the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship from 1972–74 and again from 1984 straight through to today. It’s also hosted the Ryder Cup Matches in 1953, when Lloyd Mangrum captained the U.S. squad to victory. More recently, Ernie Els has tweaked Colt’s design (twice), and if you have connections in high places, you should look to finagle an invitation. The club’s “castle” of a clubhouse is worth the visit alone. And who knows, you may get to exchange greetings with club member Rory McIlroy while you’re visiting.

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Wentworth (photo by Kevin Murray)

 


 

WHERE TO STAY: Pennyhill Park

From the pedestrian-packed sidewalks of Kensington High Street, it’s less than an hour to Pennyhill Park, where the bustle of urban London is gladly exchanged for the relaxed graciousness of an English country house hotel. And not just any English country house hotel—one that elevates the genre in seemingly every way. Our host for this visit, Premier Golf, chose Pennyhill Park because it’s the perfect place to bivouac during any kind of visit to Surrey and Berkshire Counties, but especially for a golf trip. The area’s absurdly rich in golf greatness, with no fewer than a dozen of England’s best heathland courses close by, including all of the ones mentioned in this piece.

An Exclusive Collection hotel located on a 120-acre estate in the quaint hamlet of Bagshot, ivy-clad Pennyhill Park dates back 600 years. It borders the Crown Estate’s Swinley Forest, where if your highness is royal enough you can cavort with the King’s stags. The hotel’s luxe accommodations are varied, with 124 rooms and suites that each have their own character and style—their own secret story to tell. Some are in the main house with views of the gardens. Others occupy the property’s old brick stables and sit just steps from the hotel’s expansive Mediterranean-style spa, where expert therapists dole out five-star treatments and the selection of relaxation experiences includes everything from soothing herbal saunas to purifying ice igloos. Wherever your room may be, you’re sure to feel the pull of the hotel’s acclaimed Latymer restaurant, a Michelin-Star fine dining destination where Head Chef Steve Smith assembles six-course menus from sustainably sourced, seasonal ingredients that take diners on culinary journeys that border on the spiritual. In short, it would be hard to imagine a better place than Pennyhill Park to come home to after a day of heathland golf exhilaration. And exhilarating it will be.

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Pennyhill Park (photo courtesy Pennyhill Park)
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Bob McTamaney
4 months ago

Sunningdale, Swinley Forest and the Burma Road at Wentworth are not easy tickets but are very worth the effort. Add Royal Ashdown Forest, the best course in England without sand bunkers, and you have designed a fabulous trip.

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