The best golf courses in England
The fourth green at The Berkshire Golf Club's Red course, one of two Herbert Fowler designs that made our Best in England ranking.
David Cannon
We're guessing most North American golfers don't need much convincing about why a golf trip to England is worth it. You’re familiar with the great venues of the Open rota such as Royal St. George’s and Royal Liverpool, which are firmly in the top 100 of our World’s 100 Greatest Courses. Some of England’s best golf courses, though, might ones you don’t know much about. Visiting these layouts is worth the trip alone.
The strategic marvel that is Woking Golf Club, the work of two amateur Scottish architects, is still studied by veteran and aspiring golf architects alike. Anybody would marvel at Herbert Fowler’s tremendous routing of 36 holes at The Berkshire Golf Club, which includes some of the best par 3s in the United Kingdom (including six par 3s at the Red course). And Dr. Alister MacKenzie's first design wasn't in his native Scotland but at Alwoodley, which firmly makes our list of the Best in England. And though you might have Royal Birkdale on your bucket list, you might not be aware that many U.K. golfers consider its neighbor, Hillside Golf Club, just as much of a gem.
Whether you're a budding student of golf course architecture or just a list chaser, you will appreciate this list of the best golf courses in England. Each of them are worth playing for their own reasons.
Editor's Note: Our Best Courses in England ranking is part of our rollout of the Best Courses in Every Country. Check back over the next few weeks for more of our rankings of the best golf around the world.
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Courtesy of the club
Royal Devon Golf Club, one of the oldest proclaimed links courses in English golf, was founded in 1864 and is renowned for its natural, unaltered landscape. The club's history is deeply rooted with notable figures such as Horace Hutchinson, Harold Hilton and Herbert Fowler among its founders. One unique attribute of the course is its departure from conventional practices involving pesticides, fertilizers and excessive watering, resulting in hard, fast-running fairways and quicker greens. Instead of traditional methods, the course uses nitrogen, liquid seaweed and iron to maintain its greens. Golfers can also expect to share the course with livestock, including sheep and grazing horses. Although Herbert Fowler updated the course in 1908, it remained largely unchanged until recent coastal erosion required modifications to the seventh, eighth and ninth holes. Known for its minimalist approach, Royal Devon Golf Club offers a pure and historic golfing experience.
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Courtesy of the club
At the time, an unorthodox approach, Commander George Hillyard conceived of the idea of placing a golf course on sandy farmland that he believed had the potential to become a perfect natural course. The West Sussex Golf Club, located in Pulborough, was designed by Campbell and Hutchison and was ready for play by the fall of 1930. Initially known for its vast open layout, the course began planting pine and birch trees in the 1930s, giving it a distinctly woodland character, complemented by an abundance of heather flower. Golfers can expect bunkers with pristine, beach-like white sand meticulously placed throughout the course, where both aesthetic beauty and strategic challenge are vividly apparent.
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The West Course, the newer of the two courses at the club, opened in 1974, in contrast to the original course, which was established in the spring of 1897. The club has faced various challenges throughout its history, including labor shortages during World War I and damage during World War II when land was used as a battle training ground. Despite these setbacks, the club celebrated the opening of its new clubhouse in 1923 with an exhibition match featuring Harry Vardon, a six-time Open champion and U.S. Open winner, and J.H. Taylor, a five-time Open champion. This clubhouse, which still stands today and survived the war, has become a historic centerpiece of the club. Since then, the course has hosted a range of prestigious championships, including the R&A Boys Amateur Championship, the British Ladies' Championship and the English PGA Championships. Known for its challenging layout, the West Course demands clever and strategic ball placement off the tee and requires skillful play on its complex greens. The course will reward precision only with careful alignment, making it a compelling test even for experienced golfers.
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Tucked along the Bristol Channel's sandy shores, Burnham & Berrow Golf Club offers a unique experience with the first nine holes running parallel by the water before turning inland and south along the coast road through Berrow. Featuring some of the most breathtaking views, this course is a must-visit when exploring the Southwest coast of England. Established in 1891, the club originally featured a 2,300-yard, nine-hole course set among the sand dunes near Burnham Lighthouse. Five years later, Charles Gibson expanded it to an 18-hole layout extending toward the church at the course's upper end. Less than a decade later, the course was further extended beyond the church and officially reopened in 1901. Today, the course spans over 7,000 yards, having more than tripled in length since its original design. Renowned for its remarkable evolution and outstanding facilities, the club has hosted over 40 major Men’s and Ladies’ Amateur Championships, establishing itself as a premier golfing destination.
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Kevin Murray
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Courtesy of the club
A unique aspect of West Hill Golf Club’s origin is that its land was originally part of a 2,000-acre estate acquired in 1854 by the London Necropolis Company to address London's burial space shortage. Initially intended as a large cemetery, the land quickly proved to be more than needed. In 1893, J. B. Walker, a senior executive and avid golfer, acquired a portion of this surplus land and transformed it into a golf course, leading to the founding of West Hill Golf Club. Jack White, Cuthbert Butchart and Willie Park Jr. were put in charge of the design, and although some holes were lengthened after World War I, the course has remained essentially the same since then. West Hill is a classic heathland course renowned for its tall, majestic trees and short walks from tees to greens. It is also famous for its Father and Son Tournament, a four-day match play event that has been held since 1931 and attracts golfers from around the world.
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Courtesy of the club
Located less than nine miles from London, this course is an ideal destination for city folks seeking a round in a tranquil countryside setting. In 1913, many golfers in London were frustrated with the overcrowding of city courses. To address this, John Frederick Abercromby, an exceptional golfer, was tasked with building a new course on the outskirts of the city with the help of Harry Colt. Despite criticism of Abercromby’s choice of a heavily wooded site, which many felt was unsuitable, the project involved clearing 15,000 trees and moving 700 loads of stone. After a long delay due to the Great War, the club was officially ready for play in 1919, with J.F. Abercromby serving as chairman until his death. Recent green and bunker restoration efforts have successfully restored the course to preserve the original design intentions from Abercromby and Colt, making it one of the most sought-after courses in the London area.
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Courtesy of the club
Wallasey, on the coast of northwest England just outside Liverpool, was founded in 1891 and was designed by Old Tom Morris. In 1930, Bobby Jones advanced through Open Championship qualifying at Wallasey, before winning the championship at nearby Royal Liverpool en route to his Grand Slam year. The course is also the birthplace of the Stableford format, named after Dr. Frank Stableford who came up with the format while playing the second hole. The course has a combination of sheltered holes playing amongst dunes as well as others that are quite flat and exposed.
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Saunton’s East Course was first laid out in 1897, but Herbert Fowler, designer of Walton Heath, made extensive changes in 1919. In 1944 during World War II, the U.S. Army used the property on the coast in southwest England as a camping area. Today, the course winds through towering dunes in an area that has over 500 species of flora, making the links especially picturesque. Sergio Garcia won the 1997 British Boys Amateur at Saunton.
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Land once used for hunting parties organized by Queen Anne was repurposed by the Office of Crown Lands in 1928 to create two renowned golf courses, designed by the esteemed Herbert Fowler. The club has strong ties to amateur golf, having hosted prestigious events such as The English Amateur Championship, The British Seniors Open Championship and The English Ladies' Close Amateur Championship. It also hosts two annual tournaments: The Astor Salver for Ladies, first played in 1951, and The Berkshire Trophy for Gentlemen, which began in 1946. The fast-draining, springy soil provides some of the best golfing conditions in the country. While the Red Course's unconventional par distribution adds a distinctive challenge, the Blue Course adheres to traditional design principles with an intimidating opening par 3 with a long carry over a field of heather. Although some may rank the Red Course higher, members argue that the Blue Course's difficulty highlights the true success of Fowler's design.
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Sitting on the coast in Southport are three fabulous courses that are laid out almost continuously: Royal Birkdale, Hillside and Southport and Ainsdale. Birkdale gets the attention as the Open venue, but many consider Hillside to be the true gem of Southport—Nicklaus cited the back nine as some of his favorite holes in the U.K. Fred Hawtree, the premier architect in Europe in the 60s and 70s, refashioned Hillside in 1967, particularly the terrific inward nine Nicklaus raved about, after Hawtree worked at Royal Birkdale after the 1965 Open, the fifth time Peter Thomson lifted the claret jug. More recently, one of the best architects in Europe of our time, Martin Ebert, has worked at Hillside over the past few years to refresh the front nine.
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Herbert Fowler laid out two fabulous courses across 372 acres of rolling heathland in 1928, letting the land dictate the best 36 holes for his design. Each course endures today as an example of great minimalistic architecture. The Red Course sits on higher ground with a bit more dramatic elevation change. And Fowler delivered a unique layout for Red course’s 18 holes—six par 3s, six par 5s and six par 4s.
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Paul Severn/Courtesy of the club
Woking, one of golf’s great heathland layouts, remains a study in great strategic designs more than 100 years after two amateur Scottish architects, John Low and Stuart Paton, helped modify the course based on their intimate knowledge of the Old Course at St. Andrews. Lengthened over time to now sit over 6,600 yards, Woking’s putting surfaces remain a brilliant test with tremendous character. Woking, one of golf’s original heathland layouts, is accessible via train less than an hour from London.
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Courtesy of the club
One of the most remote of the great courses of England, Silloth-on-Solway is located on the Solway Firth, established in 1892 by the North British Railway Company as it was developing the town as a port. Prominent amateur golfers of the time, Willie Park Jr. and Willie Fernie, consulted on the course’s layout—and right before World War II, the club hired Dr. Alister Mackenzie to make alterations. A tight budget only saw the club utilize a few of his proposals, but Silloth-on-Solway, with its blind shots and brilliant strategic design, remains one of the true hidden gems among the best United Kingdom courses.
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Courtesy of Premier Golf
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Courtesy of Premier Golf
Formby Golf Club is nearly an hour north of Royal Liverpool, across the River Mersey and up the coast. Jose Maria Olazabal won the 1984 British Amateur Championship here. When it returned again in 2009, Matteo Manassero, 16, became the youngest to ever win the event.
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Courtesy of the club
Wille Park Jr. routed 18 holes within the Kirby Forest in North Nottinghamshire—the same year as his Old Course at Sunningdale opened. Park utilized gently rolling terrain at Notts Golf Club, aka Hollinwell, similar to his skillful inland design at Sunningdale. The course has been used for Open qualifying throughout the years as it now can tip out at 7,250 yards.
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Dave Shopland/Courtesy of the club
Alwoodley was the first course designed by Dr. Alister Mackenzie, who was born in nearby Normanton, just outside Leeds. Mackenzie was a founding member of the club in 1907, was Alwoodley’s first secretary and became the club’s captain in 1912. The heathland course is quite flat, but Mackenzie’s influence can be seen most clearly in the numerous large, tumbling greens that are reminiscent of those he would eventually create at Augusta National and Pasatiempo. Alwoodley has hosted numerous championships, including the English Amateur and Ladies British Amateur.
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Courtesy of the club
David McLay Kidd, best known for his work in creating the first course at Bandon Dunes, designed Queenwood in the early 2000s. The ultra-exclusive private club is situated about 30 miles outside central London. The course is a tumbling parkland layout with fescue-lipped bunkers and extensive heather. Both were intentional by Kidd, who wanted Queenwood to resemble a traditional heathland layout similar to nearby Sunningdale and Walton Heath.
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David Cannon
The East course was the first layout Harry Colt designed for Wentworth Club before he came back to design the now-host venue of the annual flagship event on the DP World Tour. The East course is a terrific walk through gently flowing topography with artful bunkering and green complexes. It’s a par 68 and just over 6,200 yards, way shorter than its sister course. But for appreciators of classic architecture—particularly stellar par 3s—this Colt design is a star.
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Courtesy of the club/Steve Carr
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Courtesy of the club/Steve Carr
The walk from the clubhouse to the first tee—through a gate out to the beach—sets the scene for one of the most serene settings in golf. Royal West Norfolk Golf Club, along the picturesque Brancaster coastline about 120 miles from London, is accessible via a road bridge that goes underwater during high tide, Royal West Norfolk Golf Club. The rising tide also affects play at the eighth and ninth holes; the club even links to a schedule of the timing of the tides, surely one of the only places in golf like it.
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The iconic layout on the outskirts of London was originally designed by Harry Colt but has undergone a complete facelift from four-time major champion Ernie Els in the last decade. If the roll call of past champions can be used as evidence of quality, Wentworth passes even the closest scrutiny. Since ’84, 10 major champions—Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal, Angel Cabrera, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Danny Willett and, last year, Shane Lowry—have inscribed their names on the trophy, as have eight-time European No. 1 Colin Montgomerie (three times in succession) and former World No. 1 Luke Donald (twice in succession).
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Jon Cavalier/@LinksGems
In his classic 1925 book, The Links, Robert Hunter raved about H.S. Colt's "bold hazards, well designed" at St. George's Hill. And while, nearly 100 years later, some are now tamer, with less ragged, jagged edges, their placements are still ideal. Towering fir trees and patches of heather add additional challenge and charm to what many consider to be Colt's finest heathland design, more stirring even than Swinley Forest. St. George's Hill's main 18, now the Blue & Red 9s, opened in 1913 as one of the first residential golf projects in the world.
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Nearly a decade after the Old Course opened, Herbert Fowler returned to Walton Heath to create the New Course, adding a nine holes to an extra nine he’d previously built. The New covers much of the same type of lovely heathlands terrain as the Old Course with tight, springy turf, low fairways and greens, and holes bordered by native grasses and flowering heather. The primary difference is the defense of the fairways where Fowler was much more aggressive positioning bunkers and cross hazards that cut into and choke off landing zones.
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Courtesy of Ganton Golf Club
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Courtesy of Ganton Golf Club
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Courtesy of Ganton Golf Club
Not everyone has been enamored with Ganton, the great Harry Vardon's home club. Back in 1949, American Ryder Cupper Jimmy Demaret described the course, still recovering from WWII, as "a sort of Pennsylvania Turnpike with trees." It's matured greatly since then. Situated on a pocket of sand in an otherwise inland landscape of clay and rock, Ganton plays firm and fast with holes hemmed in by blooming gorse. Among the course's difficult hazards include more than 110 vertical-edged bunkers, many deep enough to require wooden steps. Bernard Darwin famously said golfers playing Ganton suffer either sandy or prickly disaster.
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Jon Cavalier/@LinksGems
A great myth is that Rye hasn't changed in a century. In truth, during World War II the Royal Army built pillboxes and buried fuel storage tanks on the existing course. Architect Guy Campbell reclaimed the course in 1946, using a bulldozer to create new holes. To play such seemingly natural holes as the par-3 seventh on Rye's rolling links today, you'd never suspect it. Rye has long been considered the toughest par 68 on earth. This ranking confirms that, though it’s a mystery why its placement plummeted when nearly every other links jumped forward.
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Resting just three miles from Royal St. George's (No. 20), the Royal Cinque Ports links rolls over gentle oceanfront sand dunes with some holes playing off a single prominent ridge that runs the length of the property. Cinque (pronounced sank) Ports hosted two British Opens, in 1909 won by J.H. Taylor, and 1920 won by George Duncan. It was slated to host three others, in 1915, 1938 and 1949, but a combination of a World War and ocean storms forced officials to move the championship elsewhere each time. The present course is far different than Tom Dunn’s original design. Before the 1920 Open, James Braid rearranged the layout, adding several new holes, including all four of the present par 3s. In the process, he abandoned the beloved, blind par-3 fourth, called “Sandy Parlour,” but his replacement fourth, playing off a dune toward the ocean, has become beloved as well.
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Courtesy of the club
This is St. Enodoc’s second appearance on this list since the inaugural World’s 100 Greatest Courses ranking in 2014, when it came in at No. 99. The layout, located in Cornwall in the extreme southwest corner of England, traverses some of the most ideal natural golf land in the UK, bumping through sand hills on the banks of the River Carmel estuary. The routing takes full advantage of the land, turning, twisting and crossing as it works out to far fields, having too much fun to be in any hurry home. One of the world’s most famous hazards is located here, the Himalaya bunker on the short, blind par-4 sixth, a massive crater carved into a dune that was once over 70-feet high, though less so now due to wind and erosion.
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Herbert Fowler’s earliest design, done in 1904, is an out-and-back routing with rippling fairways, tight turf, cross bunkers, ground-hugging greens and fields of heather, all borrowed from coastal links. One writer has suggested Walton Heath ranks with Pine Valley as the best neophyte design in golf. It opens with a par 3, closes with five stern holes, including the par-5 16th, which is played as a long 4 for tournaments. Donald Steel altered holes and added length early in this century.
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Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Hoylake is a layout of stark contrasts—a series of splendid natural holes within coastal sand dunes (holes attributed to a 1930s H.S. Colt remodeling), with a less scenic start and finish inland on dead flat land. Still, the first hole, a stern dogleg-right around an internal out-of-bounds, is considered one of the most testing opening holes in links golf. Almost 20 years ago, our architecture editor emeritus Ron Whitten suggested that Royal Liverpool, which hadn't seen an Open since 1967, was past its prime as a championship venue. It has hosted three Opens since then, including two won by a pair of the modern era’s greatest players, Tiger Woods in 2006 and Rory McIlroy in 2014. It has had an uncanny knack for crowning the game’s best player of any given time, though we’re not yet sure of what to make of Brian Harman’s six-stroke victory in 2023.
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This par-73 layout is named for obscure architect S.V. Hotchkin, who purchased the club in the early 1920s and remodeled the course, which consisted of a 1905 nine by Harry Vardon and a 1912 nine by H.S. Colt. Hotchkin tinkered with the lovely, ground-hugging heathland layout until his death in 1953, producing what some call the most ferocious bunkers in Great Britain. Some are hidden from view, others are steep and deep and some are ringed with heather. American architect Tom Doak has rercently been involved with restoration work.
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Jon Cavalier/@LinksGems
H.S. Colt, who was the club's secretary from 1901 to 1913, laid out the New Course in 1923, well after he'd established his reputation as a grand golf architect. It's considered by most to be tougher than No. 15 Sunningdale Old, mainly because Colt's greens are smaller, with subtle contours that nudge balls toward bunkers hard along the collars. It's a toss-up as to which course is prettier. Both have fields of heather, gorse, Scotch broom and clusters of pine, oak and silver birch.
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Courtesy of the club
Perhaps the least dramatic-looking links in The Open rota, mainly because it's surrounded by houses and a rail line, with the seacoast hundreds of yards distant and never in sight. Lytham boasts more than 200 bunkers, most built a century ago, when the club was heralded as a pioneer of natural bunkering. Its par-3 first hole is unusual, while its finish, six straight par 4s, is a terrific challenge that was, in 2011, the downfall of Adam Scott and a triumph for Ernie Els. The club boasts one of the great rosters of champions including Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros (twice).
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Jon Cavalier
Due west of Sunningdale in London's heathland is Swinley Forest, which H.S. Colt described as the "least bad course" he ever designed. Much of its reputation is built around its five par 3s, each with its own personality and challenge. Colt supposedly located them first, then built around them, using an ideal balance of short and long par 4s on each nine. The par 3s are indeed outstanding; the 17th looks like it might have been the role model for A.W. Tillinghast's 10th at Winged Foot's West course.
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A view looking back to the tee of the par-3 sixth hole at Royal St. George's
David Cannon
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Photo by Stephen Szurlej
Royal St. George's, in dunes along the English Channel, is what writer Adam Lawrence calls the ideal mix of championship golf and gentle quirks. Its quirks include a duo of massive bunkers that howl at tee shots on the par-5 fourth. Once as tall as a six-story building, they've eroded over the years, and have been stabilized the past 20 years by the addition of 93 railroad ties along their top edges. An Open Championship venue since 1894, Royal St. George's is the most unpredictable in the rota, often kicking balls in mysterious directions and alternating between legendary champions like J.H. Taylor, Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen and Bobby Locke and surprise victors like Reg Whitcombe, Bill Rogers and Ben Curtis. Collin Morikawa won his second major championship here in 2021.
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Photo by Stephen Szurlej
Site of Jordan Spieth's remarkable Open victory in 2017, Royal Birkdale has also been the venue for past Women's British Opens, Ryder Cups, Walker and Curtis Cups. Three generations of the Hawtree design firm, oldest in the world, are responsible for Royal Birkdale. Patriarch Frederic G. did the present design, with its surprisingly flat fairways and docile greens between towering dunes, in 1931. Thirty years later, son Fred W. remodeled it, adding the now-classic par-3 12th. Forty years after that, grandson Martin revised the course for its ninth Open Championship, the one Spieth tried to throw away on the 13th before quickly rallying, going birdie-eagle on the next two holes to ultimately win by three. The Open will return to Birkdale in 2026.
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Jon Cavalier
A strong case can be made that Sunningdale’s Old Course was the first great inland design, and the course that was most successful in emulating the naturalness and strategies inherent in links courses when Willie Park Jr. built it in 1901. Chopped from a pine forest but routed like a links, with the ninth at the far end of the property, it plays like a links, too, for there's a sand base beneath the turf. The Old has big greens, as Park put a premium on approach putting, and artful bunkers, with both angled cross-bunkers and necklaces of sand hampering direct routes to some greens. Harry Colt’s remodel two decades later (he was Sunningdale's first club secretary) brought the Old into the new modern era and is responsible for the playability and ranking the course deserves today. To American visitors, the look of Sunningdale brings to mind Pine Valley or Pinehurst.
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