Berkhamsted Golf Club Course Review

Berkhamsted Golf Club Course Review

GF £60-£75wd; £85we after 11.30am
Par 71, 6,587 yards
Slope 128
GM Verdict – There are no bunkers but the distinctive humps and hollows around the greens form a worthy alternative defence.
Favourite Hole – The shortish par-4 18th back up the hill, which can defend itself much better than its modest yardage might suggest.

Bunkers may now have their own Rule in the book, but that is of little consequence at Berkhamsted, one of the best golf courses in Hertfordshire, for the beautiful heathland layout here is one of a select few bunkerless courses within these shores. The club started out on a nine-holer created by two-time Open champion, Willie Park Junior, in 1890 before growing to 18 and going from strength to strength in the 20th century. 

Related: 45 of the best heathland courses in the UK

What it lacks in bunkers, it makes up for with abundant gorse, heather (a major regeneration project has been taking place in recent years), mature trees and a string of intriguing greenside grass mounds that, in many instances, present just as confounding a challenge as the more traditional sand traps. Add in the unique challenge of Grim’s Dyke – a Bronze Age earthwork that makes its presence felt on six holes – and it's little wonder that competitors in the prestigious Berkhamsted Trophy rarely bring the course to its knees, despite its modest length.

The par 3s are all strong right from the off as the course now starts on a daunting, long one-shotter over a pond and large bank of gorse following a switching of the two nines in recent years. Perhaps the best stretch of all now comes right at the end starting with the 16th a long par 5 where you must safely negotiate Grim’s Dyke and a large hollow short of the green.

The mid-length par-4 17th is a dogleg to the right featuring a downhill approach to a green encircled by several of those grassy greenside mounds. The 18th is then a modest par 4 played over a road back towards the clubhouse, which doglegs left late up to a two-tiered green. It’s tempting to want to attack this hole, but if you get out of position, you may well pay the price for over-ambition right at the end.

The Berkhamsted Trophy was the brainchild of Berkhamsted member, and proficient amateur golfer, Harold Rance, who was keen to raise the club’s status. It now serves as the domestic curtain-raiser to England Golf’s Men’s Order of Merit and is a World Amateur Golf Rankings qualifying event. The illustrious roll call of champions includes double Major winner Sandy Lyle and former World No.1 Luke Donald. Other notable past champions are Peter McEvoy, Gary Wolstenholme, Andy Sullivan, Tom Lewis and Graeme Storm, several of whom have talked about the test Berkhamsted still poses, despite hardly changing for 100 years.

This is testament to the design expertise of Harry Colt, who masterminded the extension of Park’s course to 18 holes, and James Braid who was brought in to redesign seven holes in the mid-1920s.