Thorpeness Hotel and Golf Club, Suffolk’s leading play and stay golf destination, has announced it will host Britain’s newest festival of golf in July.
The Thorpeness Festival of Golf will be played over its classic James Braid designed heathland course on Suffolk’s Heritage Coast from July 28-31. It will be the first dedicated golf festival ever held in East Anglia.
The festival features four days of competitions, a coaching clinic with former European Tour coach Bill Ferguson, an exhibition by Geoff Swain – the current World Golf Trick-Shot Champion – evening entertainment and a prize giving gala dinner at nearby Thorpeness Country Club.
Paul Clouting, hotel director at Thorpeness Hotel and Golf Club, said: “Thorpeness is an iconic holiday village with a ‘House in the Clouds,’ famous literary connections and a remarkable story to tell. It is also home to one of the best golf courses and golf hotels in Southern and Eastern England.
Our inaugural Thorpeness Festival of Golf is a perfect opportunity to combine a British coastal holiday with golf at a great course and evenings packed full of fun and entertainment.”
Golfers are able to book accommodation for the festival at Thorpeness’ 36-bedroom golf hotel, where you can walk from a bedroom to the first tee in under a minute.
James Braid first designed the golf course in 1922 for wealthy Scottish barrister Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie. Ogilvie bought the former fishing hamlet as a private holiday retreat for him and his friends.
The course is overlooked by Suffolk’s ‘House in the Clouds,’ a water tower on stilts converted into a private residence, and one of the stranger sights to be seen behind an 18th green.
The par 70 heathland layout winds through pine, gorse, silver birch trees and heather and is a riot of colour and birdsong during the summer. It regularly hosts national amateur events, including the English Seniors Championship and regional and national PGA events, including the PGA Super 60’s tournament.
Golfers will compete across several different formats, from stableford to greensomes, making the event ideal for golfing couples, individuals or large golf groups or societies.
Entry to the festival includes a coaching clinic with Bill Ferguson – the long-time coach of former Ryder Cup Captain and eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie.
During the festival, golfers can raise funds for local charities by trying to hit a golf ball into a rowing boat anchored in the nearby Thorpeness Meare, a manmade boating lake which inspired author J.M Barrie to write his famous children’s book ‘Peter Pan.’
World Golf Trick-shot champion Geoff Swain will also perform his ‘Golf Unplugged’ show featuring bizarre golfing trick shots like hitting balls while riding a unicycle, using giant golf clubs and hitting balls out of mid-air. Swain will also be an after dinner speaker at the festival’s closing gala dinner.
The festival culminates with a prize giving gala dinner at the Thorpeness Country Club, a 1920’s style pavilion with a magnificent boardwalk, high beamed ceilings, wood panelled floors and sea views.
Thorpeness Hotel and Golf Club www.thorpeness.co.uk