Surrey’s Heathland Trail
Three clubs in the heart of picturesque Surrey highlight Harry Colt’s underrated genius as one of England’s greatest course architects.
Three courses that underline the underrated genius of the late, great Harry Colt.
echnology, fashion, and music cannot help but change with the times. And so, it seems, has golf course design. The preference for layouts extending beyond 7,500 yards, with greens large enough to house a bungalow with its garage, and fairways wide enough to land a small aircraft have taken over the subtlety of designs past. But for purists, and many experts who understand what it takes to truly challenge a golfer, there are courses that not only withstand the test of time, but also remind us that sadly, like art masterpieces, they don’t make them the way they used to.
You'll enjoy the down-to-earth charm and cosy understated
DISPOSITION at Swinley Forest Golf Club
In the first place, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more ideal place for golf in all England. This region in the South-East of the country is filled with idyllic hamlets that offer a rustic, village-like atmosphere that feels like a million miles away from London – which, incidentally, is just a half-hour car ride away.
Given this perfect location, the private golf clubs in Surrey are highly sought after for their proximity to the City, and their high- end residential neighbourhoods. The excellence of the courses here is just icing on the cake.
Few discussions of what are the best courses in the country cannot come without mentioning the Old Course at Sunningdale Golf Club. Willie Park’s original design here has long been considered the best in the land. After then Club Secretary Harry Colt’s redesign of a few holes several years after the course opened in 1901, it elevated the course to the top of the list.
“The architecture, flow and mix of long and short holes are the perfect blend when playing the (Old) Course,” admits Tristan Hall, Sunningdale’s Secretary. “I believe that these are the key factors that ensure it continues to be ranked so highly.”
At just 6329 yards long, Sunnngdale’s Old Course is a far cry from today’s monstrous layouts. But it still pushes the boundary on challenges with clever use of heather and bunkering that provide movement through the holes. Sunningdale Old’s greens are modest – reflecting the style popular among British courses in the turn the century, the last one that is. And perhaps with the exception of the par-three 13th, most of the putting surfaces are hidden from the approach, appearing as mere thin lines in the horizon.
Golfers who enjoy a culinary break midround shouldn’t miss the quaint halfway house located after the 10th green. Although modest in stature, the small wooden hut serves hot sausage sandwiches that have earned legendary status. On a clear summer day, sitting at one of the alfresco tables, with one of these juicy babies in hand, the experience is hard to beat.
If you consider that the par-4 11th requires a tee shot to a downhill, blind fairway, you
just might want to let the flight behind pass as you linger a while longer at this nearperfect location.
Mid-summer is a perfect time to visit Sunningdale. The purple heather is in full bloom and more often than not, shapes the way you consider your drives from the tee boxes. Everybody walks at Sunningdale, and members can be seen to take their dogs along in their rounds. The place does give a sense of old money, and members are as well-heeled as any you’d come across in Britain. But as I witnessed throughout my visit in Surrey, they were as welcoming as can be, making visitors feel at home in every way.
Sunningdale also has a second course called New, designed by Colt in 1922, giving members and visitors an equally viable alternative (it, too, is ranked highly among England’s top courses). Incidentally, three holes on the New ( 7th to 9th) were completely redesigned and are now known as “Colt’s Lost holes”.
“There has been a number of tee and green alterations, both in size and location, over the years,” adds Hall. “The key changes for the coming year and certainly most significant investment is the irrigation system which is to be replaced and upgraded on both courses.”
But for the time being, the number one course in England as ranked by Golf Digest, Sunningdale’s Old Course continues to show that age is no encumbrance to its reputation.
Harry Colt attended Cambridge University and was captain of the university golf team Colt became a solicitor and was also a member of the R&A
He was the Secretary of Sunningdale Golf Club and his redesign on the holes of the Willie Park Old Course launched his career as a golf course architect
By the time of his death in 1951, Colt had designed over 300 courses in Europe, North and South America and Asia