XLVIII: West Hill

When the travelling golfer dreams up pilgrimages to the Northern Hemisphere, the majority will drift towards the romance of a jaunt across Scottish links or thrills of a lap of Ireland’s wild coastline – two of the most spectacular and soul-fulfilling journeys in the game. The habitually forgotten link lies in the excellence, variety and sheer depth of English golf where linksland, heathland, moorland and parkland courses all find their form. Sure, the highest echelon of golf in England receives its due praise with tour buses frequenting the Royal Open venues and the famous four of London’s heathlands – Sunningdale, Swinley Forest, St George’s Hill and Walton Heath, but where an English tour outpunches its European neighbours is in the forgotten second tier.

These often-overlooked layouts greatly exceed their reputations and often deliver some of the country’s most enjoyable and inspiring expressions of the game. Rarely has this reigned truer than during a mid-summer stroll at West Hill Golf Club in the heart of Surrey.

West Hill - The handsome 'W'

The South London neighbourhood of Bagshot is one of excellent heathland golf, home to the ‘Three W’s’ – Woking, Worplesdon and West Hill. Though tightly clustered, each heathery, pine-laden walk yields its own reputation: Woking – the home of strategic inland golf, Worplesdon – what may be London’s finest back 9, and West Hill – the most handsome of the lot.

Though beautiful, West Hill could never be mistaken for a dumb blonde – loaded with a plethora of thoughtful and compelling holes across 5,900 yards of interesting grounds for golf as it rises and falls between the pines. The charming par 69 layout stands as a wonderful, charming depiction of proper English golf and the joys of its depth.

The natural textures of West Hill

After a pleasant, but relatively sedate start, the long two-shot third brings the first real thrill of the round. The blind diagonal tee shot across a heather laden ravine is guided only by a post and presents ample opportunity for the golfer to bite off more than they can chew. The green tilts away from the line of play – a common theme at West Hill where surfaces find their challenge in subtle tilt and a handful of double-tiers.

The wonderful blind diagonal tee shot at 3

Beginning West Hill’s most endearing stretch, a second blind tee shot in the first half-dozen is delivered at the sixth – this time a little more straightforward as the fairway heads directly up and over a ridge. Contrary to the third, it’s the reveal and subsequent approach shot which define the sixth as it plunges downhill to an attractive greensite guarded by an array of traps.

One of heathland golf's most attractive approaches

West Hill is loaded with a set of five strong one-shotters ranging from 150 to 210 yards, and the seventh may well be the pick of the bunch. Flanked by bunkers in a pleasant secluded section of the property, it looks like the quintessential heathland par three with just enough bite around the green to deliver the score variance of the best one-shot holes.

The short 7th

A distinct highlight of West Hill’s layout comes in the form of its rough and ready, wonderfully heathy bunkers which sit naturally amongst the terrain. Fairway bunkering defines the strategy of many of the longer holes, none more so than the string of diagonal hazards which slice through the right side of the eighth fairway. The layers of traps contest the tee shot and guard the approach in the most attractive way possible.

Diagonal bunkers are prevalent at West Hill

#12

Drivable and heavily bunkered, from the tee it seems the challenge of the twelfth lies in evading its hazards. On closer examination as the golfer finds themselves halfway down the fairway, it becomes apparent that the dramatic double-tiered green and the pin position defines its entire strategy. A flag atop the back tier is virtually inaccessible from any of the traps short of the green making a layup the most fruitful play more times than not!

The punishment for a poor tee shot at 12 is severe

#16

One of the prominent features of West Hill’s routing is the number of times the golfer plays over a ditch throughout the round. The downhill 16th brings its last and most appealing appearance as it cuts off the fairway at around 270 yards, leaving yet another gorgeous approach. The back to front sloping green is handsomely angled from bottom left to top right as bunkers ride its right side – surely one of the finest par fours in heathland golf.

Shadows creeping across the 16th approach

#18

As West Hill’s clubhouse grows in the foreground and the end of the round draws near, the routing presents one last heavy-handed test at the 440-yard eighteenth. A single bunker splits the tee ball’s landing zone, while a cluster of traps 70-yards short of the triple-tiered surface junks up the visuals of the approach. With the terrace lurking just beyond the green there is little room for over clubbing – a fitting finish to an exceptionally strong layout.

The attractive 18th is a fitting end

As is the case at West Hill, when as many as eight holes can be singled out as being excellent, the course is one of very high standing. West Hill’s layout is one of relentlessly high quality and exceptional visual appeal driven by a world class bunker scheme, thrilling changes in elevation and some of heathland golf’s finest green sites. Combining such a deep variety of holes and challenges with firm and fast conditions in the heart of a charming English setting, there is very little left to be desired.

A late afternoon stroll at West Hill is the type of soulful inland golf which is rarely stumbled upon, headlining a generous handful of English golf’s most overlooked experiences.