A leading golf magazine has named Berkhamsted as offering the best value golf within an hour’s drive from central London. Today’s Golfer has placed Berkhamsted Golf Club at #21 in its latest Golf World Top 100 list, namely ‘Great Britain & Ireland’s Top 100 Courses At £60 or Under’.
Berkhamsted’s ranking is higher than any other golf club close to the capital city.
The club’s summer 2021 £60 green fee on Mondays and Tuesdays “arguably offers this Top 100’s best value” said the magazine. “That it is eligible for this list embarrasses hundreds of inferior courses that cost more.”
The new value ranking “feels like one of the most important we have ever compiled” said Chris Bertram, editor of the Golf World Top 100.
London’s next-closest in the new £60-or-under ranking is Reigate Heath Golf Club in Surrey, ranked at #47 on the list – which is dominated by links courses.
Bunker-free Berkhamsted, cherished by golfing connoisseurs as an inland heathland classic, is rated as offering Great Britain & Ireland’s second best-value heathland golf experience behind Piltdown in East Sussex.
The club is also ranked at #6 among all inland golf courses in Great Britain & Ireland where a green fee can be bought for £60 or under.
Earlier in 2021 Berkhamsted, which is home to the annual season-opening Berkhamsted Trophy for elite amateur golfers, was also included in Golf World’s latest Top 100 Golf Courses in England ranking, which lists England’s absolute best golf courses regardless of price.
Its championship-standard 6,683 yard Par 71 course, designed by three giants of golf course design – Willie Park Jnr, Harry Colt and James Braid – offers “proof that bunkerless golf courses certainly do not lack for interest”, said the magazine.
The club recently reversed its nines – the only significant change to the golf course in almost 100 years – to create a stronger finish to the round.
Howard Craft, Club Manager at Berkhamsted GC, said: “We live by a very simple mantra here at Berkhamsted, and that is ‘golf as nature intended’. We are not long by modern standards, but if you can score well around here then you can truly call yourself a golfer.
“We are delighted that Today’s Golfer and the Golf World Top 100 panel have recognised this, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to Berkhamsted again from Monday 5th July this year to gather their own memories of this special place.”
Berkhamsted Golf Club is laid out on common land in Hertfordshire’s largest expanse of natural gorse and heather, with over five miles of bridleways and pathways running throughout the golf course and its huge 560-acre estate, full of natural beauty.
Situated on a densely-wooded hilltop above the medieval market town of Berkhamsted, the golf club is situated north west of central London, close to the western boundary of Hertfordshire. Easily accessible from the A41, five miles west of Hemel Hempstead and just 15 minutes from M1 Junction 8 (St Albans), Berkhamsted’s unforgettable 18 holes are a magnet for golfing aficionados from across Great Britain, Ireland and Europe.
(Picture credits Andy Hiseman)