Sunningdale Golf Club *****

Rating: 9.3

History

Sunningdale’s Old Course was designed by twice winner of The Open Championship, Willie Park Junior and opened in 1901. The land on which it was constructed belonged to St. John’s College, Cambridge and mainly consisted of heather, gorse and pine trees. There were no shops, no railway station, and no Ridgemount Road, merely a bridle path over the property running, as it still does, across the 2nd of the Old and continuing across to the 9th green of the New Course.

Many further amateur and professional events have been played across the Old Course including the News of the 1903 World Professional Match Play, The European Open, Ladies Open Championship, The Walker Cup, The Open Championship International Final Qualifying, The Senior Open Championship and in 2024 it will host The Curtis Cup.

The Old Course is today considered one of the greatest courses in the World and is regularly found in the top 30 of the world’s rankings.

Playing at Sunningdale

During my first visit I could not play as I was recovering from a broken leg due my jetski accident in Mexico (see Cabo San Lucas blogs). I did however joined my business team that we were sponsoring a the Reckitt Benckiser corporate event and invited by Tony Gallagher who was the CIO at the time.

Later on I played the course and can only say it is one of the best courses I ever played. Just beautiful. There is limited play for visitors and basically only two days per week from April to August and from September to mid-October. Playing will set you down 350 pound.

SUNNINGDALE, BERKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM