Championship VenueBucket List

Notts Golf Club (Hollinwell)

Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire · Designed by Willie Park Jr (1901) · Est. 1901

Notts Golf Club — known to everyone as Hollinwell, after the "holy well" spring that bubbles up beside the first fairway — is the finest inland course in the East Midlands and one of the great heathland tests in England. Laid out by Willie Park Jr in 1901 in a secluded valley of heather, bracken and gorse near Kirkby-in-Ashfield, it feels a world away from the surrounding country: big, bold and beautifully natural.

Stretching to around 7,100 yards, par 72, from the championship tees, it is a substantial examination, with rippling fairways rising and falling through the heather, superb greens and rock outcrops that add drama found on few inland courses. Its quality has long been recognised by the game's governors: Hollinwell is a regular venue for Final Open Qualifying and has hosted the Brabazon Trophy, the English Amateur and countless elite events.

Welcoming to visitors on weekdays, it is the sort of course that surprises those expecting the Midlands to be all flat parkland — a wild, heather-clad heath of genuine championship pedigree.

Holes worth knowing

113th (par-3) — a long, beautiful short hole across the heather that is one of the most photographed on the course.
2The valley holes — rippling heather fairways rise and fall through a secluded valley, with rock outcrops giving drama rare on an inland course.

Highlights

The best inland course in the East Midlands
Willie Park Jr heathland design (1901)
Regular Final Open Qualifying venue
Wild heather, bracken and rock outcrops

Good to know

→The name "Hollinwell" comes from the holy well spring beside the opening holes — the club is Notts Golf Club, but nobody calls it that.
→It is a regular Final Open Qualifying venue and a past Brabazon Trophy host — championship golf that surprises anyone expecting flat Midlands parkland.
→Play it off a sensible tee: from the back it is over 7,000 yards through heather, and the wayward shot is severely punished.
→It sits on the edge of Sherwood Forest — the Major Oak, Newstead Abbey (Byron's home) and Nottingham are all close for a rest day.
→East Midlands Airport is 25 minutes; it pairs well with Woodhall Spa and The Belfry for a Midlands heath-and-championship trip.