Hidden GemBucket List

Swinley Forest Golf Club

Ascot, Berkshire · Designed by Harry Colt (1909) · Est. 1909

Swinley Forest is the most private and, to many, the most purely beautiful of all the heathland courses — the one Harry Colt himself is said to have called "the least bad course I ever built," which from the greatest of all golf architects is high praise indeed. Laid out in 1909 on Crown land near Ascot, it is hidden away among pine, heather and, in late spring, great banks of flowering rhododendron.

It is short by modern measures — around 6,400 yards, par 68 — and gentle in reputation, but its glory is its collection of par-3s, five of them, each a small masterpiece of angle and elevation and widely held to be the finest set of short holes in England. There is no championship history and no wish for any; Swinley exists to be a beautiful, understated members' retreat, and it plays like one.

Visiting is possible on weekdays but strictly by prior arrangement — this is not a course you turn up to. For those who arrange it, a round at Swinley is one of the quiet privileges of English golf.

Holes worth knowing

1The five par-3s — Colt's short holes are the soul of Swinley; varied in length and angle, they are widely rated the best collection in the country.
24th (par-3) — a long one-shotter to a green set beautifully into the heather and pines, the emblematic Swinley short hole.

Highlights

Harry Colt's own favourite design (1909)
The finest set of par-3s in England
Pine, heather and late-spring rhododendron
Utterly private — a hidden gem near Ascot

Good to know

→Harry Colt, the father of modern golf architecture, reputedly rated Swinley his own favourite — "the least bad course I ever built."
→Visiting is by prior arrangement only, weekdays — call or email the office well ahead; this is not a walk-up course, and that seclusion is the point.
→Come in late May and early June if you can: the rhododendrons through the course are spectacular.
→It sits among the Ascot heaths beside The Berkshire and Swinley Forest's neighbours — pair it with Sunningdale, Wentworth and The Berkshire for a dream heathland trip.
→It is short and about placement, not power: position off the tee and revel in the par-3s rather than chasing length.