Walton Heath Golf Club is a

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, near

Walton-on-the-Hill Walton-on-the-Hill is a village in the Reigate and Banstead district, in the county of Surrey, England. It is midway between the market towns of Reigate and Epsom. The village is a dispersed cluster on the North Downs centred less than one m ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, southwest of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Founded in 1903, the club comprises two 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s, both of which are well known for having heather covering many of the areas of rough. The ''Old Course'' opened in 1904, and (as of 2009) has a championship length of . The ''New Course'' opened as a 9-hole course in 1907 and was extended to 18 holes in 1913; its championship length in 2009 was . Both were designed by Herbert Fowler, who later designed numerous courses in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Walton Heath has had a long association with royalty and politics, with Edward, Prince of Wales having been the club's first captain in 1935, and former United Kingdom Prime Ministers

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law (; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a Canadi ...

and

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

all having been members. The club has also only ever had four club professionals, including five time

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

champion James Braid who held the post from 1904 until 1950. Both courses at Walton Heath have been consistently rated in the UK's top 100 courses, with the Old Course also being rated as one of the top 100 in the world.

Tournaments

Walton Heath has been the venue of a number of national amateur tournaments and championships. It has also hosted several high profile professional events including the

1981 Ryder Cup The 24th Ryder Cup Matches were held 18–20 September 1981 at the Walton Heath Golf Club in Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, England, southwest of London. The United States team won the competition by a score of 18 to 9 points. It was the largest ...

, when it stepped in as a replacement venue after construction at

The Belfry The Belfry is a golf resort and hotel in Wishaw, Warwickshire, close to Sutton Coldfield, England, located approximately 8 miles from the centre of Birmingham. It was acquired by KSL Capital Partners in August 2012. The resort has three golf ...

had not been completed in time. The club also hosted five editions of the European Open, a

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

event, between 1978 and 1991. Since 2005, Walton Heath has been the venue for the U.S. Open European qualifying tournament. In the first year,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the ...

qualified at Walton Heath, and went on to win the Open at Pinehurst. Walton Heath hosted

The Senior Open Championship The Senior Open Championship, or simply The Senior Open (and originally known as the Senior British Open), is a professional golf tournament for players aged 50 and over. It is jointly owned and run by The R&A, the same body that organises The O ...

, one of the five majors recognised by the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

, the world's dominant tour for golfers 50 and older, from 21–24 July 2011.On this championship , 16 holes of the Old Course (except for 1st & 3rd hole) ; as the 1st - 11th , 14th - 18th , and 2 holes of the New Course (12th & 13th hole) were used. The 3 Par-5 holes (13th (the New Course's 13th hole) , 14th , and 16th hole) were changed to long Par 4 hole. The event was eventually won by

Russ Cochran Russell Earl Cochran (born October 31, 1958) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions, having previously been a member on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He is one of the few natural left-handed players to wi ...

. Walton Heath hosted the

British Masters The Betfred British Masters is a professional golf tournament. It was founded in 1946 as the Dunlop Masters and was held every year up to 2008, except for 1984. Dunlop's sponsorship ended in 1982, and the name sponsor changed frequently there ...

on the European Tour in October

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, won by

Eddie Pepperell Edward Louis Pepperell (born 22 January 1991) is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. In February 2018, he won his first European Tour event at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. In October 2018, he won his second Europe ...

and the

Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tou ...

in 2023, won by

Lilia Vu Lilia Kha-Tu Du Vu (born October 14, 1997) is an American professional golfer and LPGA Tour player. In 2023, she rose to number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings and became LPGA Tour Player of the Year after winning four titles, including t ...

Noted Incident

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series '' Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Hor ...

's 2004 biography of

Richard Murdoch Richard Bernard Murdoch (6 April 1907 – 9 October 1990) was an English actor and entertainer. After early professional experience in the chorus in musical comedy, Murdoch quickly moved on to increasingly prominent roles in musical comedy and ...

, (published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

) relates how the actor and comedian died there, in 1990.

Scorecard

*Old Course The 2nd & 4th hole are par 5 for ladies. *New Course The 5th & 9th hole are par 5 for ladies (except for Blue tee) .

References

External links

* {{Ryder Cup venues , state=collapsed Golf clubs and courses in Surrey Ryder Cup venues 1903 establishments in England Sports venues completed in 1903