The Course

Our 18 hole parkland course, designed with the assistance of Dr Alistair Mackenzie, was founded by a group of Horsforth residents in 1906 and was created from rough farmland that itself was originally reclaimed from moorland and forest during the ownership of the monks of Kirkstall Abbey. There are also suggestions from old field names e.g. “Coal Pit Hill” that there was coal mining and quarrying on the site.

It was further modified by James Braid in 1925 and tree planting over the last 30 years has further changed the nature of the course. The land was once the catchment area for Horsforth Water Authority and two of the abandoned reservoirs form part of the course boundary.

The tree lined fairways, challenging par 3s and true, fast greens are a good test of golf. The course is well maintained and is continuing to undergo an extensive refurbishment involving bunker redesign, new tees and tree thinning in order to improve the golfing experience.

The 1st and 2nd holes are on the west side of Bayton Lane. The rest of the holes continue across the road before returning over the road for the final 18th hole. There is a variety of holes on the course: the short par-four 10th and long closing par-five 18th hole are interesting examples. The former, at little over 300 yards, offers the adventurous the opportunity to drive the green by taking on a blind shot (making sure it is safe to do so) with out-of-bounds inside the angle of the left-hand dog-leg.

Those laying up will find a wedge approach to the narrow ledge of a green a tricky proposition. The 18th, meanwhile is close to 550 yards long and plays over the brow of a hill before the s-shaped fairway tumbles down to a green protected by a new pond at the front, with the spacious clubhouse providing a fitting backdrop.