XXXV: Walton Heath
As we cast our eyes over the various lists of the best courses on the planet (for whatever they’re worth), the layouts come in various forms and descriptions - Links, heathland, parkland and clifftop all jostling for position. There’s no doubt that their characteristics are endlessly different, each and every one of them, however digging deeper into their bones it becomes obvious that the overwhelming majority are laid out across dynamic and compelling plots of land – the genetic elixir for golf which delights, compels and inspires. A property boasting original and engaging natural terrain yields an obvious advantage - a much sought after head start for every architect, so what then for those properties slightly less inherently blessed?
Surely the greatest measure of an architect lies in how they are able to procure rousing golf from a more sedate site, and at this crossroads there are few finer examples than the genius of Herbert Fowler’s work at Walton Heath.
Flat terrain and golf as far as the eye can see
Walton Heath, England’s first 36-hole club, stretches across an enormous plot of gently undulating heathland terrain. Extensively open, the absence of trees opens up some of the game’s longest and finest inland views where any modicum of elevation unravels golf as far as the eye can see. Pairing up the grandeur of scale and the joys of an uncluttered playing arena with its firm, tight and springy turf, Walton Heath reveals itself as a fine inland embodiment of links golf – the lay of the land principles firmly at the forefront.
As many of the great London heathlands have crept closer and closer to crossing the border into parkland layouts, Walton Heath has separated itself as the poster child for how heathland golf is maximised in form and function.
Walton Heath screams heathland golf
With holes of the Old and the New interwoven throughout the grounds, there is little to distinguish one from the other- topographically the site is rather benign, fairways and greens relying on tilt to drive natural interest in the absence of bold contours and elevation change. This however, provided the canvas for Fowler’s unique artistry in bringing the land to life– rugged mounds and morbid trenches dressed in sand or draped in heather are sprinkled with intelligence and authority. These dramatic, unconventional hazards rise from the ground with an intensity and aggression, breathing life into Walton Heath’s chessboard and inject holes with just the right level of busy-ness. In combination with the sheets of heather straddling the fairways, and the ferocity of Fowler’s bunkers which rear their heads above fairways, these hazards which crowd landing areas are central to the strategy of both courses, asking questions and planting seeds of doubt.
With so little, Fowler’s hollows, dells and knolls transformed otherwise quite ordinary grounds for golf into one of the world’s most revered 36-hole venues.
Obscure trenches and rising pits - a familiar sight
The Old Course
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Walton Heath’s championship layout commences in famously curious fashion, opening with an isolated and non-descript one-shotter which fades quickly in the memory as golfers cross the road into the heart of the heathland. What elevates the Old above the New is it’s wider variety of holes, a trait pushed to the forefront early in the round with the stretch from 2-5. The second is sweeps right with grandeur to the bottom of a valley, leaving a towering uphill approach, while the driveable third hugs the boundary fence up the left side and injects an early thrill to the round – a layup perhaps the most fruitful play.
The muddled up fourth - note the mound in the middle of the fairway beyond
Laced with the curiosities and dilemmas of Fowler’s sharp features, the fourth and fifth make a dynamic and exacting pair, their routes jumbled up by broken ground, heather and the ramparts of mounds and bunkers. The complexities of the tee shot and a golfer’s ability to dodge the centreline features define the fourth, while navigating the heavily contoured putting surface of the fifth presents a test of its own as it rounds a corner left.
This early quartet concisely lays out the simple qualities of the Old and presents a series of completely different questions in quick succession, exacting earthworks at the heart of its predicaments.
The attractive downhill approach into the fifth
Whilst the front side is engaging and lively, the Old course takes a compelling leap as it reaches the 10th tee, beginning a three hole stretch which asks all the right questions- doglegs both ways and the par 3 11th smothered by heaving bunkers headlining the layout’s set of one-shotters. However, after cutting the corner of the brilliant dogleg 12th, it’s the precarious pitch shot over the greenside heather-clad bunker which speaks to the importance of angles at Walton Heath and just how its hazards define its strategy– holding the firm and narrow green a near impossible task from the left, but a shorter layup offering plenty of green to work with.
The attractive one-shot 11th
For the remaining half-dozen the Old slices through the heather with class and quality, the relentless series of strategic questions ongoing, punctuated by the 16th which steers left and climbs to an elevated putting surface – a handsome use of one of Walton Heath’s handful of elevation changes and a visual overload in navigating a rare tree on the inside of the dogleg and a pair of trademark bunkers enthusiastically raring their heads.
In many ways, the 16th embodies the best of the Old – elegant use of the landforms on offer, complemented by intelligent and unique hazards best avoided.
The New Course
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Truth be told, the New course stands as a more accurate reflection of Fowler’s work, having had far less revision work done over the years- it may also stand to reason that many view it as the better flowing and more consistent layout. Strategically, the principles of the New align with its older sibling, dictated by Fowler’s pits, trenches, pimples and heather, however a more prevalent feature on the New are the frequency of cross-bunkers bisecting fairways, causing quandaries and forcing decisions off a large number of tees, making it a more engaging first shot course than the Old.
In isolation, there are virtually no tells which would distinguish the New course’s holes from those of the New – a testament to its quality.
The eccentric hazards flow to the New
Headlined by its trio of one-shotters, the New course kicks into gear at the second tee with one of great appeal. Short and downhill presenting a long view which screams golf and a putting surface framed by bunkers and heath, the second makes for a charming slap in the face early in the round.
Whilst the second is friendly, the uphill sixth and tenth stretch to over 180 yards, bringing a little more brawn to the trifecta of par threes – a very fine set which many courses more renowned would hastily trade theirs in for.
Attractive and cheerful - the par 3 second
The shining light of the New is delivered at the three-hole run from four to six – a stretch which yields the peak of the property’s golf. Four and five make a brilliant contrasting pair of two-shotters, the drivable fourth unravelling some of Fowler’s most eccentric ground features and the splendid dogleg right fifth controlled by a couple of centreline bunkers, the suffocation of heather and a brilliantly angled green. Two-shotters don’t come much different, but both deliver exactly what Walton Heath wants from its golf – questions of decision making and execution. Followed up by the the New’s best short hole to round out this stretch, there can be no question in the golfer’s mind at this point that there is no excuse to miss the New Course.
A one of one landform flanks the fourth green
​The guts of the New arrives at the 10th at continues to the 16th green. Solid hole after solid hole, persistently presenting dilemmas with the simple pleasures of self-assured, fathomable architecture. In line with its ethos, the golf is subtle with doglegs and creeping heather dictating the shapes and Fowler’s brilliant earthworks junking up the playing corridors – what it lacks in splendour, Walton Heath more than makes up for in the captivating nature of its chess board.
Cross-bunkers frequently challenge tee shots across the New
Herbert Fowler’s work at Walton Heath is the perfect illustration of simple, understandable architecture which enlivens a decidedly unspectacular plot of land with imagination and intelligence. Walton Heath’s style and presentation of hazards is unique, but its principles and playing characteristics embody exactly what heathland golf should be – firm, fast, strategic and free of clutter.
With a handful of Fowler’s features still buried in rough, there is still magic to be realised, but at the moment Walton Heath’s two compelling designs show just how engaging of a puzzle can be forged from a flatter inland site – that’s golf course architecture.