Championship VenueBucket List

Sunningdale Golf Club — Old Course

Sunningdale, Berkshire · Designed by Willie Park Jr (1901); refined by Harry Colt · Est. 1901

Sunningdale is the archetype of the great English heathland course — the template that Harry Colt, its first secretary, would carry to golf courses all over the world. Founded in 1900, the Old Course was laid out by Willie Park Jr on sandy, heather-clad ground amid pine and birch, and was ready for play in 1901; Colt refined it and, in 1923, added the equally admired New Course alongside.

It is not long — around 6,600 yards, par 70 — but it is a masterclass of strategy and charm, played over springy heathland turf between banks of heather, with one of the most famous halfway huts in golf and, by the 18th green, a great spreading oak that has become the club's emblem. Together the Old and New make 36 holes that many rank as the finest inland day in golf.

The Old Course has staged Europe's Open International Final Qualifying and countless amateur championships, but its most storied moment came in 1926, when Bobby Jones shot a 66 in Open qualifying — 33 shots and 33 putts, every hole played in three or four — a round long described as the closest anyone has come to perfect. Visitors are welcome midweek.

Holes worth knowing

118th (par-4) — plays home to the clubhouse past the great spreading oak, one of the most famous trees in golf and the emblem of the club.
210th (par-4) — a glorious downhill drive from an elevated tee across the heather, the shot that sells everyone on Sunningdale.

Highlights

The archetypal English heathland course
Bobby Jones's near-perfect 66 (1926 Open qualifying)
36 holes with the equally great New Course
The famous oak by the 18th and the halfway hut

Good to know

→Bobby Jones's 1926 “perfect round” — a 66 of 33 shots and 33 putts — is one of golf's hallowed feats, played right here.
→The Sunningdale halfway hut and its famous sausages are an institution — do not skip it; it sits between the 10th green and the 11th tee.
→It is not about length but position and touch: use the ground on the springy heathland turf, stay out of the heather, and take on the elevated tee shots with confidence.
→It sits in the heart of the Surrey–Berkshire heathland — Wentworth, Swinley Forest, The Berkshire and Worplesdon are all close for a multi-round heath trip.
→Ascot racecourse is minutes away (Royal Ascot in June is a spectacle), and Windsor Castle and Legoland are 20 minutes for a family day; Heathrow is 35 minutes.