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The panel voted the Old Course #42 in the country and included our West Course in the next best 100 saying of it, "Like its sister a superb moorland-heathland with no bunkers. Some really excellent holes and, for some on the panel, should join its sister in the main list.?_?_?_
Set in the heart of the Ashdown Forest, one of the things that golf lovers most appreciate about playing here is that so little has changed over the club?_?_??s 125 year history. Heather, humps, hollows, pools and streams remain nature?_?_??s defence against shooting a low score.
Situated approximately 30 miles (48 km) south of London in East Sussex, there are only four other courses in East and West Sussex that make Golf World's top 100 and none, apart from Royal Ashdown, that can boast two in the top 200 courses in England.
This beautiful golf club was founded in 1888, and within a year had opened a designated ladies?_?_?? course set in mature heathland. Today both award winning courses are available to play in the same day. Without question this is the best 36-hole golf club in Sussex ?_?_̨ and not a sand bunker in sight!
Whereas the Old Course remains very much a classic heathland layout the West Course snakes its way through the heart of the Ashdown Forest, that spreads for over 20 square miles in this most beautiful part of Sussex, and has been named the best course under 6,000 yards in the UK by Golf World magazine.
What about after golf?
Each course has its own area of the clubhouse: The Old Course clubhouse may look somewhat austere perched half way up its hill but is a great place of fun. The West Course extension opened in 2004, with all the modern facilities, seating for up to 60 people and is open year-round.
Old Course
Describing Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club’s Old Course in 1934, Bernard Darwin wrote “two salient facts come to mind. It is not quite like any other of my acquaintance, and secondly, I never knew anyone who played on it and was not fond of it.” Over 80 years later and little has changed. Here is a course designed by nature yet still ranked as one of the top 100 courses in the British Isles. Famous for having no bunkers, its reputation as a true test of golf is undiminished thanks to uncontrived hazards of heather, narrow fairways, hollows and streams. Originally open heathland, trees from the forest have seeded, grown and matured to make accurate golf even more of a premium requirement as well as adding to its natural beauty. By comparison with some modern developments the course could be considered short, yet because of the exacting challenge it presents to even the best golfers, the Old Course has been selected by the R&A as an Open Championship Regional Qualifying venue. It also hosted the amateur international match between England and Spain in 2007 and the Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2011. In 2016 the Old Course will stage the McGregor Trophy (English Boy's Under 16 Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship) for the first time. So, what is it that makes the course so special that even famed architects such as Harry Colt were inspired by it? An example is the difficulty of the island 6th. Then there’s the 11th where you stand on an elevated tee with glorious views of the North Downs and stare down at a 249 yard par 3.
- Number of holes: 18
- Par: 72
- Yardage: 6537
West Course
The West was once the longest ladies’ golf club in England. It was originally founded as the Ashdown Forest & Tunbridge Wells Ladies Golf Club in 1889, barely six months after the formation of the main club and was only the second of its type to be formed in Great Britain, after Sunningdale Ladies. In 1932 the course was lengthened to 18 holes, the same year that the ladies’ club was awarded Royal status in own own right. Since then it has gone through a number of alterations and now welcomes players of both sexes yet still remains of sufficient quality to be awarded Golf World magazine’s prestigious accolade as the UK’s best course under 6,000 yards in 2013. Former Ashdown member, golf architect and writer, Frank Pennink wrote of the West Course, "There are some really splendid holes and not a single poor one. To find a green demands often an exacting accuracy, but a green missed, a ball is generally easy to find, though not necessarily easy to put close to the hole." Whereas banks of heather, gorse and thick rough help defend the Old Course in the absence of bunkers, the West is an altogether tighter challenge with narrow tree-lined fairways and small, often elevated greens with some fiendish run offs. Today the West Course is open to golfers and Societies of all handicaps. Its attraction is that tee time availability, even at weekends, is rarely a problem and there are a number of attractive promotional green fees on offer. Three and fourballs and Societies are all welcome even at weekends. Golf writer Frank Pennink's belief that the West Course could equal the reputation of the Old, in a different way, is now a reality as more discover its charm and true test of golf.
- Number of holes: 18
- Par: 68
- Yardage: 5606
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