Wentworth Club — West Course
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The Course
The West Course at Wentworth is the most televised golf course in Europe — and yet, for all the familiarity of its closing holes from decades of BMW PGA coverage, nothing quite prepares you for the experience of playing it. The scale is the first surprise: the fairways are broad avenues cut through towering Surrey pines and rhododendrons that reach fifteen or twenty feet above head height, creating an enclosed, cathedral-like atmosphere entirely unlike any other heathland course in Britain.
Originally designed by Harry Colt and opened in 1926, the West Course underwent a significant redesign by Ernie Els in 2012 that lengthened it to over 7,300 yards, deepened the bunkering and modernised the greens. The result is a course that plays as a genuine test for elite professionals while remaining enormously enjoyable for the capable amateur — the fairways are generous in width, and the penalties for missing them, while real, are recoverable.
The back nine is the stronger half. The 12th through to the 18th represents a sustained sequence of championship-quality holes that tests every department of the game. The 17th, a long par five bending left through the pines, offers the last genuine birdie opportunity before the famous finishing hole — a par five returning to the magnificent Tudor-style clubhouse with the grandeur the occasion demands.
The Clubhouse & Experience
Wentworth is a private members’ club of the highest order. The clubhouse is expansive and immaculately appointed, the locker rooms exceptional, and the overall experience one of the most polished in English golf. Access for non-members requires a guest invitation — this is not a course you book online, but one earned through connection, and the round feels accordingly special.
- Access via member invitation only — plan accordingly and treat the round as the occasion it deserves
- Heathland turf is firm and fast in summer — the ball runs considerably further than yardage suggests
- The rhododendrons in late May and June are extraordinary — the course is at its most beautiful in late spring
- Play the 17th and 18th as par fives in your mind — both reward patient positional golf over aggression
- Pennyhill Park Hotel & Spa is the natural Stay · Play · Recover partner — 10 minutes away, world-class spa
- The East and Edinburgh courses are also outstanding — a two-day Wentworth visit covering all three is a bucket-list experience
Pennyhill Park Hotel & Spa
England Rugby’s training base and home to one of the UK’s most impressive hotel spas — 10 minutes from Wentworth. A complete Stay · Play · Recover experience for the serious golfer and an outstanding base for partners who want world-class spa facilities while golf is being played.