Remarkable Golf Courses by Iain T. Spragg

Author:Iain T. Spragg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pavilion Books

Hertfordshire, England

Moor Park was a familiar venue for competitions in the 1930s. This photo from 1934.

The venue has changed little in the intervening years, but the vehicles have changed a lot.

The architecture of a golf course should rarely be eclipsed by the clubhouse which stands within its grounds but Moor Park’s seventeenth century, Grade One listed Palladian mansion is one stunning exception to the rule which towers unapologetically above its sporting surroundings.

Built in around 1617 for the Third Earl of Bedford, Moor Park mansion was significantly remodelled in the 1720s when its signature Portland stone Corinthian portico was added to the south frontage of the house.

During the Second World War the building was requisitioned by the Army, serving as the headquarters of the 1st Airborne Corps. It was here that Operation Market Garden, the abortive mission to capture the bridges of the Lower Rhine in Germany in 1944, was planned. The room in which the operation was devised is now called ‘The Arnhem Room’.

The Moor Park Golf Club bought the freehold to the mansion from the local district council in 1994 and have since undertaken a complete refurbishment of the historic building under the auspices of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies.

Set amidst 300 acres of mature woodland, the club’s High and West Courses were both designed by Harry Colt on the instruction of the industrialist and politician Lord Leverhulme after his acquisition of the estate. They opened in 1923.

The High Course is the more prestigious of the two courses and in 1935 was the scene for the inaugural Carris Trophy competition, the annual English Boys’ Open Stroke Play Championship which has been won over the years by the likes of Sandy Lyle and Justin Rose. The tournament is now staged on a rotational basis across the country but returns to Moor Park every so often in recognition of its founding.

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