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Walton Heath (New), England |
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Walton Heath Golf Club
Deans Lane
Walton on the Hill
Surrey
KT20 7TP
England |  | Herbert Fowler |  | Ken Macpherson |
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 | +44 (0) 1737 812380 |  | 2 miles N of M25 J8, 15 miles S of London |
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Golf Club Website
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 | Contact in advance |  | Mike Bawden |
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 Heather and Heaven by Phil Pilley - winner of the 2003 USGA International Book Award. It tells the fascinating and unique story of 100 years at Walton Heath... a colourful, absorbing read, probing into the people who began, fostered and developed the club.
| The New course at Walton Heath Golf Club was designed by Herbert Fowler and opened for play in 1907 as a nine-hole layout. Fowler extended it to 18 holes in 1913.
Both courses (Old and New) are intertwined and have a very similar look and feel. The Old is tougher and a marginally better test, although the New is a demanding course with memorable holes of great variety; taking the two courses together can only be described as a real treat.
After a gentle start (the first two holes being pleasant, but straightforward), the New course really starts to show its mettle. The heather comes into play and the holes progressively become more challenging. There are six par fours measuring over 400 yards in length; the stroke index 1 is a massive 469 yards from the white tees.
 It would be remiss not to mention James Braid when writing about Walton Heath. Braid loved the Heath; he was the club professional from 1904 to 1950. For much of his life, he lived at Walton on the Hill, close to his beloved golf courses. He proudly called his house Earlsferry after his birthplace in the Kingdom of Fife.
Bernard Darwin wrote the Biography of James Braid and nobody was better qualified to perform this task. After all, Darwin knew him for more than 50 years. In the early 20th century, Walton Heath had a decidedly political atmosphere. Lord Riddle was an authority at Walton Heath and probably introduced Lloyd George, Winston Churchill and Arthur Balfour to the Heath. In Braid’s Biography, Darwin refers to a speech made by Sir Fredrick Hamilton at Braid’s 80th birthday celebration. Hamilton, quoting Winston Churchill, is said to have declared that golf “seemed a good game for conversation”. Braid and Hamilton regarded Churchill as the inventor of “Greensomes”. The actual inventor of greensomes seems a mystery as Darwin commented: “I may add that whoever else did invent it, his name, like that of the last Laird of Ravenswood, is ‘lost for evermo’.” | |
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If the above course review article is not accurate, let us know by clicking here |
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In the section below, headed “Your Reviews”, are golf course reviews posted by visitors to the Top 100 website. There are no specific rules for reviewing a golf course except you MUST have played the golf course first. Merits of each course are left entirely to your discretion. Important factors, such as course location, condition (or presentation), course difficulty and historical importance are all left for you to judge and we have developed a simple rating system where you can allocate one score to each course. | |
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 |  | | Average Reviewers Score: |   | | Wallton Heath was sunny today, and that was very nice! Definitely a classy club. Strange though to have clubhouse and courses on either side of a dangerous road. Most of the greens had been hollow tined, so I guess the mark could be a 5 instead of a 4 ball. Anyway, this is a very pleasant course, deadly flat (which makes the course a bit bland in places) and incredibly open compared to the other heathland courses I've played in that area, with strategic and extensive bunkering. Open yes, but the rough and heather are deadly and will swallow your ball if you venture in there. I thought the routing was a little confusing sometimes, and a little quirky (drive on 18th over the 17th green from the back tees). As previously stated, the opening 4 holes are fairly easy.5th to 14th are quite tough. 12th is a 490 yds par 4!!! I'd love to return to play the Old Course, see how it compares...Cédric | | Monday, October 12, 2009
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| | Don't underestimate the New course at Walton Heath. Built only 4 years after it's more highly rated brother, this course is an outstanding test in it's own right. Although I agree with he rankings and I believe the Old is the better course, the New has a great deal of character and in my mind may have been even slightly more difficult to score on than the Old.
The first is definitely a very short par 4, but we turned into a stiff wind on 2 so the usually easy 2nd, 3rd and 4th were a stern test.
The 9th was a particularly difficult hole, some 450 yards, slight dogleg right dead into the wind.
Both the Old and New courses demand excellent driving to negotiate the gentle dogleg angles without going into the devilish heather that lines every fairway.
In my mind the only downside to the New was it's somewhat jumbled routing. The Old course flowed very naturally, but you always felt like you were skipping around trying to find the next hole on the New. That's a small price to pay to play a course that is a championship test in it's own right and serves as a proud companion to the outstanding Old course. If you make it to Walton Heath don't skip the New course.
Richard Smith, Knoxville, Tennessee | | Monday, August 04, 2008
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| | i played this course with my school friends, and i found it a quite fun course, but nothing outstanding, it is better than the old course in n the fact that the holes differ, but it is much easier than the old (especially the first, which i almost drove when i was 13).
so if you take a trip to Walton heath i would plat the old if you want a challenge, but if you are just looking for a nice course to play then the new is definitely for you
 | | Monday, June 30, 2008
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| | | Very similiar to the Old course, but not as long or as difficult, particularly the opening 4 holes, a bit of a let down compared to the other 32 here!! The fairway bunkers are not as deep either, which helps. Overall though another great course, would seem better if it was its own course witout the awesome Old course there. A great 36 holes of golf to be had, a super condition course. | | Sunday, May 18, 2008
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| | | Very similar to the old – not quite as good a design and easier. · Par 4 first is well driveable, as is the 4th – combined with easy par 3 second makes it an easy start. The officious welcome in the clubhouse made it a memorable day but for the wrong reasons. | | Saturday, September 10, 2005
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| Response: | | | marty | Thursday, January 10, 2008 | | We're in the US and are playing there late June. Just curious .... what surprises happened to disturb the experience? |
| | | Simply stunning and great fun.
After playing the New twice now I can recommend anybody to locate a member and join for a round. Some superb holes set in amongst stunning card wrecking heather. Stay straight and scoring isn't too difficult but the heather lines fairways and hides balls amazingly well. Superb golf club with great food and staff. Quintessentially English. Perfect. | | Sunday, September 04, 2005
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| | The name is a bit of a misnomer as in truth its only a handful of years younger than the Old course and as a consequence does not suffer from the 'new course totally different from the main course' feel that is evident at so many golf courses. The surroundings are amazing with heathland everywhere and a beautifully crafted course, intertwined with the Old and that is a great test. As for the courses condition, I felt it was in great shape, especially after a pretty wet winter. A perfect day is playing both courses, and in this day and age very good value for money! | | Friday, September 10, 2004
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| | | Much better than its current ranking. Should be in the top 100. | | Friday, August 27, 2004
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| | | Breaks you in gently and then it gets tough. Not far behind the Old. I reckon that Walton Heath could make the best composite 18 holes of heathland golf on the entire planet. | | Wednesday, April 14, 2004
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