Walton Heath Golf Club Old Course Review

Nov 28, 2018

Walton Heath Golf Club Old Course Review - Venue for the 1981 Ryder Cup, the Old at Walton Heath is a testing, classic heathland course that demands the very best from your game

Walton Heath Golf Club Old Course Review

Green Fee Range: £190-£215

Medal Tee: Par 72 – 6,786 Yards

Visitor Times: After 9.30am midweek and after 12pm weekends

Website: www.waltonheath.com

Walton Heath Golf Club Old Course Review

Walton Heath has an illustrious history, with the great James Braid as professional for some 50 years and past members including Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George. Host to numerous competitions, Walton Heath was recently venue for the British Masters. Out on the Herbert Fowler designed Old Course sandy fairways protected by heather, gorse, pines and the ever-changeable wind, become fast-running in the summer. Excellent ball striking is required throughout the round if you’re to score well. The greens are large and many appear flat, but there are some subtle borrows that confuse even the best players.

Host of the 1981 Ryder Cup, Walton Heath is now home to International Qualifying for the US Open and is first class in every respect, with history lining the clubhouse walls.

Related: Top 100 Courses UK and Ireland

Walton Heath Golf Club Old Course Review

Both courses are kept in tip-top order throughout the year and from the purple tees are dauntingly long, with huge carries across the abundant and menacing heather.

Strategic bunkering along the fairways and eating into the greens places a premium on straight hitting. The greens, which are usually fast and always true, have subtle breaks.

The Old is very links-like with fine, crisp turf, and true, hard, fast-rolling greens. There is often the need to bump and run rather than pitch, and as well as the need for length, there is a premium on playing strategically.

Following the long par-3 opener, you cross the road and play the excellent 2nd, down into the valley and up the other side.

Thereafter you encounter hole after hole of beautifully framed heathland golf. Depending on the wind, three par 5s in the closing six holes can offer the chance to recover your score. A new green at the closing hole has eased drainage problems and restored its final challenge.

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