Silloth on Solway Golf Club: Course Review, Green Fees, Tee Times and Key Info
Silloth on Solway offers an idyllic and unspoilt outpost of wonderful links that will more than reward any effort made to get there
Silloth on Solway Golf Club Key Information
Header Cell - Column 0 | Header Cell - Column 1 |
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Address | Station Road, Silloth, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 4BL |
Phone | 016973 31304 |
Website | sillothgolfclub.co.uk |
office@sillothgolfclub.co.uk | |
GFs | £80 Mon-Fri, £90 Weekends |
Visitor Times | Welcome all week subject to availability |
Par | Men 72, Women 75 |
Slope | White/M 133, Red/W 132 |
Opened | 1892 |
Architect | Davy Grant |
Golf Monthly Verdict
Resplendent along a wonderfully remote coastline, this classy and peaceful links offers hands-down the best value of any course in the Top 100. It is packed with challenging but interesting holes, especially on the front nine which are closer to the Solway Firth. If the wind is from the south, you may be able to salvage a score on the closing eight.
Reasons To Play Silloth On Solway
– A wonderful, remote links that rewards any effort made to get here
– Outstanding value for a course of this quality and stature
– See if you can avoid the magnificent seven bunkers on the short 9th
Rankings
UK & Ireland Top 100 Golf Courses 2023/24 - 51
Silloth on Solway Golf Club is set in a beautiful county and heads the list of the best golf courses in Cumbria. This superb links would be far better-known if it were not quite so remote.
There are plenty of keen golfers who haven’t really heard of Silloth on Solway or who know little about it, and this is their loss as it’s a fabulous course that is more than worth any effort made to get here. It is also a course about which you will rarely if ever hear a bad word.
Its rumpled fairways run serenely back and forth over a dreamy, idyllic, pastoral setting. Apart from the par-3 9th, it is not particularly heavily bunkered. However, all those that do exist are perfectly placed and can cause a great deal of trouble!
You will also need to avoid the abundant gorse and heather. These, and whatever wind is present (there is never none!), will test every department of your game.
Golf has been played here on the wild west coast of Cumbria since 1892 with Davy Grant responsible for designing this very strong links. It was one of the first to feature blind holes and sandy waste areas, and some changes were made later by Willie Park Junior.
As is the case at some other Top 100 courses such as Royal Dornoch and Woodhall Spa, the club’s relative inaccessibility serves both as a blessing and a curse. For those who do make the effort, it is extremely rare for a golfer to leave with anything but positive memories of what is certainly one of the best links courses in the UK.
The views alone are magnificent, over to the Galloway Hills to the north and across the Solway Firth, over the sea to the Isle of Man, and even inland to the lakeland fells to the south-east.
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Highlights include the par-3 9th - Silloth’s own Postage Stamp - which plays from a raised tee down to a heavily-bunkered green. While it may not look too tricky, the green will shrink before your eyes, especially if the wind means a longer club is required.
The par-5 13th also asks a number of questions. There is a tight second shot through a gully, and then a pitch to a raised green that is cleverly shaped to reject all but the most precise approach.
Silloth on Solway regularly heads the list of the best value courses in the Top 100, and is actually one of the best value courses anywhere, especially for golf of such quality. It may be remote, but whatever effort you make getting here will be more than offset by a brilliant day out on the links.
What The Top 100 Panel Said
Some beautiful views on the front 9, back 9 less scenic though the holes themselves were still things of beauty. You will need to think on most tees and you’ll need every club in your bag. A lovely day of links golf for a very reasonable green fee.
It had been several years since my last visit and I hadn’t quite appreciated just how good it was, and is. A front nine to challenge the very best links in the Top 100. I’d love to see what it could become with a bigger budget but I’d also be fearful the experience might change and I would hate to lose that.
Silloth on Solway Location
Silloth on Solway Green Fees
18 holes | £80 | Mon to Fri, British Summer Time |
18 holes | £90 | Weekend |
18 holes | £45 | Mon to Fri, Winter |
18 holes | £55 | Weekend |
Silloth on Solway Scorecard
Best Courses Near To Silloth on Solway
This beautifully-sited course sits on tranquil linksland between the sea and some brooding fells. It is a stern test with eight par 4s over 400 yards, the loveliest of which is the 12th which works its way from left to right down to the shore.
The unusual links at Seascale occupies a relatively small plot of land and is a real gem. Standout holes include the scary left-to-right 3rd with OOB hugging the right, the par-4 9th which plays downhill to a green bordered by a stream, and the super-tough 16th which is played up to a blind green.
Best Places To Stay Near Silloth on Solway
The Golf Hotel, Silloth - Book now via Booking.com
A short walk from the club, this award-winning hotel offers en suite rooms with digital TV and modern décor. The restaurant offers a cooked breakfast, evening meals and packed lunches on request. The bar and lounge serve local beers and malt whiskies as well as afternoon tea and light meals.
Wheyrigg Hall Hotel, Wheyrigg - Book now via Booking.com
A few minutes drive away, this award-winning, family-run hotel is an old converted farmhouse with a garden, a bar and a restaurant. A full English breakfast is served in the large dining room and guests can enjoy frequently changing lunch, tea and dinner menus.
Silloth on Solway Gallery
Historical Top 100 Rankings UK&I
- 2023/24 - 51
- 2021/22 - 51
- 2019/20 - 47
- 2017/18 - 46
- 2015/16 - 51
- 2013/14 - 53
- 2011/12 - 55
- 2009/10 - 49
Frequently Asked Questions
Where else should I play around Silloth on Solway?
There are no other Top 100 courses nearby, but Southerness is in the Next 100 and Seascale joined them this time round. There are also plenty of less famous beauties in Cumbria such as Cockermouth, Appleby, Carlisle and Penrith.
Why is Silloth on Solway such great value?
It would appear to be a simple question of supply and demand. This is a wonderful course but a long way from most others. Were it in, say Kent, or closer to more chimney pots, it would command a far higher green fee.
How tough is Silloth on Solway?
This will partly depend on the wind and how far up the rough is, but if you can avoid the bunkering, you can score well. Go into them, however, and some can take a real toll!
Rob Smith has been playing golf for over 45 years and been a contributing editor for Golf Monthly since 2012. He specialises in course reviews and travel, and has played well over 1,200 courses in almost 50 countries. In 2021, he played all 21 courses in East Lothian in 13 days. Last year, his tally was 81, 32 of them for the first time. One of Rob's primary roles is helping to prepare the Top 100 Courses of the UK&I, of which he has played all, as well as the Next 100 where his count is now on 96. He has been a member of Tandridge for 30 years where his handicap hovers around 15. You can contact him at r.smith896@btinternet.com.
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