Perhaps one of the country's most underrated counties, Dorset has some of the best golf you'll find...
The Best Golf Courses In Dorset
There are few counties where you will find a more varied topography than Dorset.
The combination of low-lying heathland and woodland, magnificent open countryside and established seaside resorts such as Bournemouth make this a popular destination for golfers.
Related: Top 100 Courses UK and Ireland
The heathland courses in and around Bournemouth are not as well known as those in Surrey and Berkshire, but you still are spoilt for choice.
Below we list Dorset’s five best golf courses…
Broadstone
The 14th at Broadstone
Just to the north of Poole, Broadstone Golf Club was founded in 1898. Set in beautiful rolling countryside, it has superb views of Poole Harbour and the Purbeck Hills. In his 1910 book The Golf Courses of the British Isles, Bernard Darwin commented of Broadstone: “It is, I think, rather an easy course to remember. Sure enough, the holes are extremely distinctive and stick in the mind long after you’ve left the club.”
Broadstone is not particularly long, but clever design combined with heather and gorse make it challenging nonetheless. The course is kept in perfect condition, with greens that are fast and true. First-time visitors will find club selection difficult, but where the thickest of gorse is concerned, getting the ball in play should be the main priority.
Ferndown
The 5th green
Fans of golf on the BBC will know Ferndown as the course where Peter Alliss was brought up with game. His father Percy was head professional and any airtime which is given to the course by the legendary commentator is thoroughly deserved. Golf has been played at Ferndown since 1912 and the Old Course, as it is today, opened in 1921.
Featuring heather and pine forest, Ferndown offers beautiful scenery with a golf course to match. It isnt the most challenging but provides a test that offers the opportunity to hit all manor of shots. Well-placed bunkers require players to shape the ball both ways if they are to score low. And visitors will be given the warmest of welcomes by members and staff alike.
Parkstone
The final of Bournemouth’s ‘Big Three’, with all three the only Dorset courses ranking inside the Golf Monthly Top 100, the beautiful Parkstone has come on leaps and bounds in recent years.
Just like its neighbouring Broadstone and Ferndown, it is a delightful heathland course lined with heather and pines.
Willie Park Junior designed the original course here in 1909, and James Braid made substantial modifications in 1937, which are now being refined and remodelled.
The five excellent short holes are balanced perfectly by five very varied par 5s, each of which is progressively longer than the last.
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Isle of Purbeck
The moorland/heathland course is set high up in the Dorset hills overlooking some of the most beautiful countryside you are likely to encounter.
It has many defences, including the wind and well-positioned fairway and greenside bunkers which will catch the misjudged shot.
Heather and bracken are in abundance and the greens are undulating.
The view from the 5th tee is one of the loveliest and most photographed in golf, offering a magnificent, panoramic vista over Poole Bay.
Remedy Oak
Remedy Oak is the brainchild of Bill Riddle, who employed a team led by the legendary John Jacobs to create a course in his 256 acres of woodland in Wimborne.
The course has one of the finest tree-lined layouts you are ever likely to see. This is the ultimate in risk-reward golf, where well-placed water hazards and manicured greens make it a pleasure to play for any standard of golfer.
After playing it when it first opened, Ewan Murray said, ”Truly magnificent. When it matures it will be Englands finest inland course. With a strict limit on both visitors and members, Remedy Oak has created a special golfing experience.”
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