England Golf Trip

[monty09]

Swinley Forest Golf Club

St Andrews

Rye

Woodhall Spa Golf Club

Royal Cinque Ports/Royal St. George's Golf Club

St George's Hill Golf Club

 

 

 

Have 2 open days.. what else should I look at playing? 

[sabram]

St Andrews is not in England  and it's not close to the other courses on your itinerary. I'd suggest either doing a Scotland trip based around St Andrews  and the other great options in Fife or nearby East Lothian and/or Dundee (skipping England this time) , or save St Andrews for a separate trip and keeping this one focused on the south of England. I'd also save Woodhall Spa for a separate trip as it would add a lot of time in a car when there are so many outstanding courses close to all the other ones on your list.

 

Here's what I would do for a fantastic eight day trip:

 

Fly into Heathrow

Day 1 Play Swinley Forest  - stay in Surrey

Day 2 Play Sunningdale Old and New, which is only a few minutes from Swinley

Day 3 Play St Georges Hill, then drive to Pulborough (The Labouring Man Country Inn is a nice little family owned inn with a good restaurant and pub on site, just a few minutes form West Sussex Golf Club)

Day 4 Play West Sussex (a/k/a Pulborough), then drive to Rye (The Hope Anchor Hotel is a quaint old Inn that includes breakfast in the heart of the Village of Rye, just a few minutes from Rye Golf Club)

Day 5 Play Rye, then drive to Deal

Day 6 Play Royal St Georges (a/k/a Sandwich} and Royal Cinque Ports (a/k/a Deal), stay over in Deal or Sandwich and drive to The Addington the next morning

Day 7  Play PM round at The Addington

Day 8 - Play Walton Heath Old and New,  then fly home from Heathrow

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2024 by sabram

[sabram]

 

 

 

Swinley Forest

 

Sunningdale Old

 

 

Sunningdale New

 

Walton Heath New

 

 

Walton Heath Old

 

 

Royal Cinque Ports

 

 

Rye

 

West Sussex 

 

 

 

 

The Addington

 

St Georges Hill

Edited December 17, 2024 by sabram
add captions

[monty09]

40 minutes ago, sabram said:

St Andrews is not in England  and it's not close to the other courses on your itinerary. I'd suggest either doing a Scotland trip based around St Andrews  and the other great options in Fife or nearby East Lothian and/or Dundee (skipping England this time) , or save St Andrews for a separate trip and keeping this one focused on the south of England. I'd also save Woodhall Spa for a separate trip as it would add a lot of time in a car when there are so many outstanding courses close to all the other ones on your list.

 

Here's what I would do for a fantastic eight day trip:

 

Fly into Heathrow

Day 1 Play Swinley Forest  - stay in Surrey

Day 2 Play Sunningdale Old and New, which is only a few minutes from Swinley

Day 3 Play St Georges Hill, then drive to Pulborough (The Labouring Man Country Inn is a nice little family owned inn with a good restaurant and pub on site, just a few minutes form West Sussex Golf Club)

Day 4 Play West Sussex (a/k/a Pulborough), then drive to Rye (The Hope Anchor Hotel is a quaint old Inn that includes breakfast in the heart of the Village of Rye, just a few minutes from Rye Golf Club)

Day 5 Play Rye, then drive to Deal

Day 6 Play Royal St Georges (a/k/a Sandwich} and Royal Cinque Ports (a/k/a Deal), stay over in Deal or Sandwich and drive to The Addington the next morning

Day 7  Play PM round at The Addington

Day 8 - Play Walton Heath Old and New,  then fly home from Heathrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thank you

[cardoustie]

Nice, I enjoyed SW England last summer ..likely St Enodoc and Burnham & Berrow are too out of the way likely

 

@sabram … doing Walton Heath in July for British Senior, what other 2 or 3courses hard in that area would you play?

[Schley]

You won't have to go far IMO.  WH is just south of London, so stay there.

 

• Sunningdale Old/New is the best 36 hole day available in the world.
• St. George's Hill would be next
• Swinley Forest added if you want a 4th course.
• West Sussex perhaps as well.

 

The only regret is that you aren't playing any links, these are heathland courses. If you want something close, play them.  If you want links then you have to make your way to Rye and then Deal. Really should get a different experience while you are there and that to most mean links golf.

 

 

[sabram]

27 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

bram … doing Walton Heath in July for British Senior, what other 2 or 3courses hard in that area would you play?

 There are so many excellent heathland courses close to Walton Heath.

These are among the closest, and each one is really fun to play:

The Addington

New Zealand

Woking

Worplesdon

St Georges Hill

Hankley Common

 

[mci711]

Sunningdale Old/New is the best accessible 36 holes of golf experience maybe in the world. 

[mci711]

21 minutes ago, Schley said:

You won't have to go far IMO.  WH is just south of London, so stay there.

 

• Sunningdale Old/New is the best 36 hole day available in the world.
• St. George's Hill would be next
• Swinley Forest added if you want a 4th course.
• West Sussex perhaps as well.

 

The only regret is that you aren't playing any links, these are heathland courses. If you want something close, play them.  If you want links then you have to make your way to Rye and then Deal. Really should get a different experience while you are there and that to most mean links golf.

 

 

 

Ha, I said the same thing about Sunningdale before even seeing your response. I thought it was a pretty hot take, but we agree. 

[monty09]

11 minutes ago, mci711 said:

Sunningdale Old/New is the best accessible 36 holes of golf experience maybe in the world. 

 

I am there one week before season opens

[StoutKing]

I played all the heathland courses and the Addington blew me away.  Love the views to London and there are some heroic shots out there.

[Mullenboy]

I'd say there's a ton of great advice in here.  I love the route sabram provided.  Do that!  Just if you have any way to add Wentworth it is a must.  It truly is the Augusta of England.  It's damn near as hard to access also though... thus the problem.  I got crazily lucky to get invited to spend a day there and it truly was fantastic in all aspects.

[Ty_Webb]

1 hour ago, sabram said:

 There are so many excellent heathland courses close to Walton Heath.

These are among the closest, and each one is really fun to play:

The Addington

New Zealand

Woking

Worplesdon

St Georges Hill

Hankley Common

 

 

Add Royal Ashdown Forest to that list. West Hill also not bad, especially if you're over at Woking or Worplesdon. If you can spare the hour and a half it takes to get there, Deal and RSG I would probably put above all of these except maybe St George's Hill. I have a feeling that the Addington is being renovated too, so bear that in mind.

[mubob1977]

10 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

 

Add Royal Ashdown Forest to that list. West Hill also not bad, especially if you're over at Woking or Worplesdon. If you can spare the hour and a half it takes to get there, Deal and RSG I would probably put above all of these except maybe St George's Hill. I have a feeling that the Addington is being renovated too, so bear that in mind.

I would say West Hill is infinitely better than “also not bad.” I played West Hill and Woking on a day in September 2019. I had high expectations for Woking and was not disappointed. I did not know what to expect from West Hill and was completely blown away by how much I loved it. I would absolutely schedule a day at two of the three of Woking, West Hill, and Worplesdon. They are next to each other, so it is easily doable to play two of them in a day. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[cardoustie]

Thoughts on Wentworth?  House rental is right there

 

i may have an in at Sunningdale

[Ty_Webb]

4 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

Thoughts on Wentworth?  House rental is right there

 

i may have an in at Sunningdale

Overpriced. It's not bad or anything like that, but there's better golf around at lower cost. If you do go, the East is decent and more reasonable (or it was last time I heard about it). Sunningdale is leaps and bounds better. Swinley too.

[StoutKing]

10 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

Thoughts on Wentworth?  House rental is right there

 

i may have an in at Sunningdale

Sunningdale was awesome.  Everything from the 36 holes of golf to the halfway house to the clubhouse were excellent.

[Mullenboy]

Wow I posted above that Wentworth is a must.  BUT... I didn't consider cost... I was hosted /comped so to speak.  It would be a great time but if it is a lot more than the others... could be missed.

 

 

[Chanceman]

The London heathlands are superb. But a complex network of roads to navigate. 
 

Sabram’s route is really good although it’s plenty of drive time.
 

Back in London you could also consider 36 at The Berkshire (2 courses Red&Blue) as another classy if expensive option.

And I would play at least one of the 3 W’s like Woking which is great fun.

 

 

 

[Ty_Webb]

20 minutes ago, Chanceman said:

The London heathlands are superb. But a complex network of roads to navigate. 
 

Sabram’s route is really good although it’s plenty of drive time.
 

Back in London you could also consider 36 at The Berkshire (2 courses Red&Blue) as another classy if expensive option.

And I would play at least one of the 3 W’s like Woking which is great fun.

 

 

 

 

If you do go to the Berkshire try to get in on the carvery lunch. It's legendary (certainly used to be)

[act0fgod]

18 hours ago, sabram said:

St Andrews is not in England  and it's not close to the other courses on your itinerary. I'd suggest either doing a Scotland trip based around St Andrews  and the other great options in Fife or nearby East Lothian and/or Dundee (skipping England this time) , or save St Andrews for a separate trip and keeping this one focused on the south of England. I'd also save Woodhall Spa for a separate trip as it would add a lot of time in a car when there are so many outstanding courses close to all the other ones on your list.

 

Here's what I would do for a fantastic eight day trip:

 

Fly into Heathrow

Day 1 Play Swinley Forest  - stay in Surrey

Day 2 Play Sunningdale Old and New, which is only a few minutes from Swinley

Day 3 Play St Georges Hill, then drive to Pulborough (The Labouring Man Country Inn is a nice little family owned inn with a good restaurant and pub on site, just a few minutes form West Sussex Golf Club)

Day 4 Play West Sussex (a/k/a Pulborough), then drive to Rye (The Hope Anchor Hotel is a quaint old Inn that includes breakfast in the heart of the Village of Rye, just a few minutes from Rye Golf Club)

Day 5 Play Rye, then drive to Deal

Day 6 Play Royal St Georges (a/k/a Sandwich} and Royal Cinque Ports (a/k/a Deal), stay over in Deal or Sandwich and drive to The Addington the next morning

Day 7  Play PM round at The Addington

Day 8 - Play Walton Heath Old and New,  then fly home from Heathrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's a pretty great itinerary.  That being said links golf is the reason I go to UK and Ireland and the above itinerary only has 3 rounds on links courses.  If you want to add another Princes is pretty good.

[Schley]

17 hours ago, Mullenboy said:

Wow I posted above that Wentworth is a must.  BUT... I didn't consider cost... I was hosted /comped so to speak.  It would be a great time but if it is a lot more than the others... could be missed.

 

 

I know the DP tour headquarters is there and another possible in for anyone who works there. I got to in a charity auction like most of my rounds. Played the West and while certainly immaculate, i would prefer those other listed above. Clubhouse is quite impressive.

[Ty_Webb]

2 hours ago, act0fgod said:

 

That's a pretty great itinerary.  That being said links golf is the reason I go to UK and Ireland and the above itinerary only has 3 rounds on links courses.  If you want to add another Princes is pretty good.

 

I do quite enjoy Princes and it's very convenient for Deal and Sandwich. Deal and Sandwich are also fun towns to stay in. Depending on budget, I'd probably suggest the King's Head in Deal if you're looking for lower end or Dunkerley's if you want a little higher. The Bell in Sandwich is probably the premium hotel around and it's right in the town. Rye and Littlestone are both close by too and both are I think better than Princes. 

 

Money no object, access no object and a trip to London, I would probably go with a couple of days staying around Sunningdale, play the two Sunningdale courses and Swinley, then go to Woking and play Woking and West Hill or Worplesdon, then over to Walton Heath and play the two courses there, then drive down in the morning, play Rye in the afternoon, 36 at RSG with lunch the next day and then a day at Deal and head back. That's 8 days and playing 36 holes three times. 

[Mullenboy]

1 hour ago, Schley said:

I know the DP tour headquarters is there and another possible in for anyone who works there. I got to in a charity auction like most of my rounds. Played the West and while certainly immaculate, i would prefer those other listed above. Clubhouse is quite impressive.

Makes sense.  For me the overall experience was incredible... clubhouse, meals, comraderie... it was just a great day.  Taking it just for the golf course and factoring cost... yes those others are likely quite better.

 

So I did not think this through.

 

Never mind.  🙂

[monty09]

20 hours ago, Mullenboy said:

I'd say there's a ton of great advice in here.  I love the route sabram provided.  Do that!  Just if you have any way to add Wentworth it is a must.  It truly is the Augusta of England.  It's damn near as hard to access also though... thus the problem.  I got crazily lucky to get invited to spend a day there and it truly was fantastic in all aspects.

 

 

few courses have proven tough to access to europe... 

[monty09]

thank you to all who have shared advice.... my first rounds in England and I am excited 

[Schley]

1 hour ago, monty09 said:

 

 

few courses have proven tough to access to europe... 

Maybe you aren't setting your sights high enough.😉

[monty09]

41 minutes ago, Schley said:

Maybe you aren't setting your sights high enough.😉

 

good point lol

[sabram]

7 hours ago, act0fgod said:

That being said links golf is the reason I go to UK and Ireland and the above itinerary only has 3 rounds on links courses.  If you want to add another Princes is pretty good.

I love true links, but I also love heathland courses. Princes is good, but IMO not in the same league as Deal, Sandwich and Rye. Princes does have a great stay and play option. Their lodging is very good. In any event, I was trying to limit the itinerary to 8 days and I'd play Walton Heath, Sunningdale, Pulborough, St Georges Hill, the Addington and the three W's before Princes.

[sabram]

3 hours ago, Mullenboy said:

Taking it [Wentworth] just for the golf course and factoring cost... yes those others are likely quite better.

+1