It’s not a name a lot of golfers will be familiar with, but mention ‘Burma Road’ to some and they’ll immediately know that you’re referring to the famous West Course at Wentworth, one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the UK.
Wentworth Golf Club, which was established in 1922, boasts a long and storied history. In 1953, the Surrey venue played host to the 1953 Ryder Cup matches between America and Great Britain. Go back a little further, and you’ll discover exactly how and why it gained the name ‘Burma Road’.
Don’t bother checking Google Maps for a ‘Burma Road’ skirting the borders of the Harry Colt layout, for this is not how the nickname came about.
At the beginning of World War II, the Army requisitioned the clubhouse and a network of underground bunkers was constructed.
It’s hard to imagine now when you look at the pristine West, home to the DP World Tour’s flagship tournament, the BMW PGA Championship, but at that time the fairways were allowed to grow wild because it was feared that enemy aircraft might land on the fairways.
Towards the end of the war, German prisoners were brought in from a camp nearby in Egham to clear the overgrown vegetation. A British officer overseeing the clearance reputedly remarked that it was like clearing the “Burma Road” – a task that around 200,000 Chinese labourers set about doing whilst trying to cut a 700-mile (1,127km) inland road from Kunming in China to Lashio in Burma, now Myanmar, during the Sino-Japanese War in 1937.
There is still plenty of vegetation around the West, but the fairways that wind their way through this lush parkland are always immaculate and beautifully framed with heather, rhododendrons and a huge variety of trees including pine, birch and oak.
Most of the game's greats have played the historic West Course at Wentworth
The West Course has changed significantly in recent years thanks to Ernie Els, first in 2010, when he lengthened it, recontoured putting surfaces and added bunkers while deepening others.
That renovation work was poorly received by some, but Els was again at the helm in 2016 for another extensive redesign, this time involving five of the greens and the removal of some bunkers to offer a challenge worthy of the prestigious BMW PGA Championship the course has hosted annually since 1984.
The course may well continue to evolve and undergo tweaks, but the nickname 'Burma Road' will always be associated with the historic venue.
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