The Berkshire Golf Club

Founded in 1928, The Berkshire Golf Club (pronounced Bark-shire), has two superb Herbert Fowler-designed classics, the Red and the Blue. Joining the unique fraternity of London golf clubs that have the distinctive honor of having two courses listed in the Top 100 of England Golf Courses.

While Sunningdale, Walton Heath, and Wentworth may garner more press, the courses at The Berkshire are among the favorites of most prestigious amateurs through the ages.

The club has hosted many prestigious men’s and women’s amateur tournaments including the St Andrew’s Trophy, The Amateur, Women’s Home Internationals, English Men’s and Women’s Amateur, the Senior Men’s Amateur, and the most coveted trophy in Berkshire golf the annual Berkshire Trophy.

It is a testament to the quality of the courses that the winners of The Amateur here include; Sir Michael Bonallack, Peter Oosterhuis, Sandy Lyle, and Sir Nick Faldo.

The Red Course is generally regarded as being slightly the better design of the two, but The Blue is harder to score well as it is tighter and opens on a terrifying 213-yard par 3.

Lest you think the forward tee gets a break, it is 209 yards over a sea of heather from there in full view of the clubhouse. Like a black diamond ski slope, it is recommended that only proficient visitors play here with handicap guidelines of 20 for men and 24 for women.

The Red has the unusual routing of 666 – six par 5s, six par 4s, and 6 par 3s – considered to be the best collection of short holes in Britain. The course is built on higher land and features dramatic elevation changes across the layout.

The six fairly short par 5s offer a wealth of scoring opportunities but only if you manage to avoid the menacing heather and pine trees. The signature hole might be the toughest hole on the course the 559-yard, par 5 17^th requiring more than brute strength to conquer.

Like The Red, The Blue features pure putting surfaces and a collection of short par 5s.  The strength in The Blue lies in the finish where to achieve a low score the golfer must navigate a great stretch of five par 4s over 400 yards.

Playing like links golf but with different challenges in trees and heather, the sand belt around the London area offers a multitude of great and storied courses – especially The Berkshire – to add to any England golf tour without disappointment.

Built on Crown Estate lands that were formerly the hunting grounds of Queen Anne, the course might be better known to American visitors had it retained its Royal charter and been known today as Royal Birkdale.

Proving it pays to be kind to everyone, King George VIII (the Duke of Windsor) turned up to play one day with a non-aristocratic friend, Archie Compston.

The then-secretary chose to not allow Compston in the clubhouse. For his efforts to keep perceived riff-raff from associating with the members, he received a letter the next week revoking the royal designation, never to be bestowed again.

However, today all visitors are very warmly welcomed at The Berkshire, in fact, the Club is known for its hospitality.