Walton Heath Golf Club is where links golf meets inland golf. It is rated the hardest hole on the course.Six is a mid-length par 3 of 183/171 where there is a rise on the right side of the green but otherwise uninteresting.Seven is a short par 4 slight dogleg right with another cross-bunker, a few trees down the left, a tree nearer the slightly raised green, and ditch to the right. This is a serious golf course.Simon Peaford’s pro shop at Walton is an attractive blend of tradition and technology, warmth and professionalism. layout, you’ll need to tee it up on both the Old and New courses.On a beautiful summer's day, Walton Heath preened like a peacock and the New Course bore gifts. The new course keeps me awake with its direction changes, and it has my favorite bunker anywhere, front left on 10. The Old Course has many demands, but its greater length and generally smaller greens mean that more “Scottish shots” are likely to be needed in this Surrey haven.Walton Heath’s New Course shares the same open heathland setting as the Old and is a fine Championship course in its own right. There's lots of Ryder Cup and James Braid memorabilia on display throughout the clubhouse.However, if you do not drive the ball straight - then you will have major problems with the infamous bracken.
Without care, fiendish undulations mean regular three-putting can be a feature of any round.Big hitters will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of two par fours which are less than 300 yards in the first four holes and the course's three par fives provide other opportunities.But the complacent will certainly face their comeuppance with errant drives penalised by horrible lies or lost balls in the notorious heather.Nevertheless, as I egged on my playing partner to one of the games of his life, it was apparent that this gorgeous heathland course can be tamed with concentration. I do think Walton Heath New could rise in the rankings if the surfaces of the greens were more interesting as well as a few more bunkers added on the course.Whilst the Old is arguably the better course, I would rather play the New. Still that meant that the fairways were hard and fast which gave you more distance and often rolls into the rough, which was not as penal due to the lack of rain.
There is no loop. Fowler extended it to 18 holes in 1913. Golf at Walton Heath is as close to seaside links that you’ll get whilst playing inland, particularly surprising given its proximity to London, but seaside links offers all of the same positive features whilst providing that aroma of salty sea air, the sound of seagulls, dune landscapes and sea views. Great staff and very welcoming to this visitor.I played the New course under clear, but windy and fast conditions in April 2018. Michael Campbell, winner of the U.S. Open in 2005, qualified at Walton. I made a note of trees on both sides that can block a line to the green if one misses the fairway by more than ten yards. Taken in its entirety, the course is a proper test that tests you mentally as well as technically. The 'old school' nature of the clubhouse and facilities are a golf nerds dream. I liked the hole even though I manage to double bogey it after a bad lie against the back lip of a bunker. The green is flat and odd-shaped.Five is a long par 4 dogleg right of 468/461 that I thought to be one of the best holes on the golf course. When I played the New, it was the second round of the day and we played in a reasonable wind but with high gusts. I thought ten, the final par 3, had the best bunkering fronting the hole which I hope they have not changed. More often that not - there is no recovery shot and you can lose balls that run one yard off the fairway. Make time to play both courses on your visit.
Of the remaining holes my favorites were the fourteenth and sixteenth. The new is still fantastic and well deserving of its place in the UK Top 100.There are lots of good or really good holes on this course, and it is consistent throughout which I love (unlike the Old where the 1st hole is by far the worst on the course). It's true that due to the unusual summer heat that the course was not as picturesque as in the past. Added to this, the fairways here run firm and fast, they had a lovely scorched colour when I played here in July and were playing very links-like. There are six par fours measuring over 400 yards in length; the stroke index 1 is a massive 469 yards from the white tees.Walton Heath Golf Club has hosted a number of I played the New course too many years ago to give it a proper review based on the current condition of the course which has had the back nine considerably lengthened.On my next visit to Walton Heath I intend to play both again.In my notes when I played it I noted the New as being one of the most fun golf courses I have ever played. The heather topped bunkers are also excellent, very well positioned so that they enter your thought process for practically every shot. The New course at Walton Heath Golf Club was designed by Herbert Fowler and opened for play in 1907 as a nine-hole layout. Walton’s first Captain happened also to be King Edward VIII.