The Hertfordshire Golf Union was established in 1924 with 10 member clubs. There are now 73 affiliated Herts clubs that play across a similar number of golf courses. Golf in Hertfordshire began at Berkhamsted in the 1870s but it wasn’t until 1890 that Berkhamsted Golf Club was founded.

Since those early beginnings, many fine golf courses sprung up in the county that takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon heort ford, meaning deer crossing. The ruminant deer appears prominently in many Hertfordshire county emblems, including the county flag, so it seems appropriate that Ashridge Golf Club, one of the finest courses in the county, is renowned for its deer, which surely have life membership at this enchanting club. Many Hertfordshire golfers consider Ashridge to be the best golf course in the county, but a number of excellent new courses have been laid out in recent years, including The Grove, host to the 2006 World Golf Championships, won by Tiger Woods.

Situated to the north of London, Hertfordshire is one of the prettiest Home Counties and the parkland courses that dominate the county represent perhaps the finest parkland collection in England.