Stoneham Golf Club Course Review

Stoneham Golf Club's fine heathland layout, created by Willie Park Junior in 1908, has benefited from major renovation work of late

Stoneham Golf Club - general view
Stoneham's heathland course was designed by Willie Park Junior
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)

Stoneham Golf Club Course Review

GF Round: £65-£100 Mon, Tues, Thurs only
Par 72, 6,375 yards
Slope 128
GM Verdict – An excellent Willie Park Junior heathland layout just to the north of Southampton boasting great variety with five par 5s and five par 3s.
Favourite Hole – The 13th is a very short par 4 to a blind green - classic risk-reward for those brave or foolish enough to take it on.

A journey south-west out of London down the A3 or M3 corridors through Surrey and Hampshire takes you past a number of England’s finest heathland layouts, among them the UK&I Top 100 courses at Sunningdale, The Berkshire and Hankley Common. One of the less widely known gems lies at the far end just north of Southampton where the M3 meets the M27. Stoneham, undoubtedly one of the best golf courses in Hampshire, is a Willie Park Junior creation that opened for play in 1908 with a challenge match between James Braid and J.H.Taylor

Stoneham Golf Club - 6th hole

The final approach to the par-5 6th

(Image credit: Kevin Murray)

Not only is this a great place to play golf, it is also one of a growing breed of clubs that have been taking great strides of late to improve their courses significantly while also seeking to reinstate elements of their original design philosophy and ‘feel’. In Stoneham’s case, this meant ‘Project 2020’, a five- to six-year programme overseen by busy golf course architect, Ken Moodie, to elevate Stoneham’s reputation, improve course conditioning and further enhance its Willie Park Junior credentials and heritage.

Stoneham Golf Club - 11th hole

The 11th is one of the toughest par 4s on the course

(Image credit: Kevin Murray)

Narrow heather- or tree-lined fairways will test your accuracy, while slopes and drop-aways around many greens mean it’s significantly easier to score if you find the target – unless you’re blessed with Seve’s short game. Five par 3s and five par 5s, the latter including the relatively gentle opener and the uphill finale, make Stoneham a very sporting layout that is essentially an anti-clockwise outer loop followed by a clockwise inner loop.

Stoneham Golf Club - 15th hole

Early morning light over the 15th green

(Image credit: Kevin Murray)

The par 3s offer great variety and beauty, ranging in length from 132 to 228 yards, but if you’re looking for a cracking back-to-back duo, the par-5 12th and par-4 13th take some beating, the latter barely half the former’s length. The 12th plays stirringly down to a green backed by a copse, while the 13th is the kind of hole every course should have – a teasingly tempting sub 300-yarder played blind to a long narrow green, where you’ll probably be unable to resist having a go.

Stoneham Golf Club - 16th hole

The 16th is the last and shortest of the five par 3s at 132 yards

(Image credit: Kevin Murray)

That closing par 5 plays uphill to a green flanked by three bunkers on the left and two on the right. Miss to the left and it may take a Phil Mickelson flop shot to coax it close!

 

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response