Danny Lockwood visits Ganton Golf Club
“It feels like North Yorkshire’s own version of Magnolia Lane,” said my colleague, George, referencing Augusta National Golf Club after we turned off the A64 and down the narrow road to Ganton Golf Club.
“It’s like stepping back in time to a picture-postcard of a bygone era. The quaint cottages, mature trees and crisp white posts stand out against the backdrop of the moors.”
Whether in the traditional locker rooms or wood-panelled clubhouse – where gentlemen require a jacket and a tie in the Vardon Lounge and dining room, conditions which feel entirely appropriate here – there is a definite sense of timeless golf heritage and tradition at Ganton.
Long before you make your way to the starter’s hut by the first tee, whether via the pro shop or the driving range and short game practice area, you are greeted with welcoming smiles from staff and members alike.
Sheltered in the Vale of Pickering, enveloped by the steep escarpment to the Yorkshire Wolds to the south and the patchwork quilt of fields rising towards the North York Moors, there’s a pervasive feeling of time standing still. It’s a misleading sense in many ways, because Ganton invests wisely in the kind of progress required to keep it among the top-10 courses in England and top-100 golf courses in the world.
Recent change is evident out on this rare inland links – a definition courtesy of having once been a North Sea inlet, albeit many millennia before the original Scarborough Golf Club was founded in 1891.
As managing secretary Gary Pearce explained, seashells still occasionally surface out on the rolling, sand-based course. Heavily gorsed since the 1930s, much of the yellow-flowered terror has been reduced of late, while the restored pandy area in front of the 18th tee is a stunning feature, as is the sandy area introduced between the eighth and ninth holes.
While the rough may look intimidating, coming up to knee height in places, in reality it has been subject to cultivated thinning, making balls relatively easy to find and get back into play. “We think of it as a half-shot penalty,” said Gary. “We don’t want to slow the game down unnecessarily.”
Course designer Martin Ebert, who has worked on the likes of Royal County Down and the New Course at St Andrews among many others, is instrumental in the ongoing developments, adding to the stellar architectural names that feature in Ganton’s history. Laid out originally by St Andrews’ Tom Chisholm and the club’s first professional, Robert Bird, such eminent names as Harry Vardon, Ted Ray, James Braid and JH Taylor contributed to a major redesign in 1905. Harry Colt and Dr Alister MacKenzie also added to various subsequent improvements.
Vardon arrived as club professional in 1896 – the year he won his first Open Championship. He would win three of his six Opens while at Ganton. He was succeeded at the club by Ted Ray until 1912, the year he too won the Open. Ray also captained the inaugural GB&I Ryder Cup team in 1927.
Ganton’s hosting of the 1949 Ryder Cup established the club on the world stage. The 2000 Curtis Cup and 2003 Walker Cup also took place here, along with almost every major British tournament, including the Amateur Championship on three occasions – making Ganton the only inland course so honoured. Indeed, the great Gary Player once said Ganton was the only inland course worthy of staging an Open Championship.
It is worth taking smart attire with you, if only to browse the members’ lounges, which record so many achievements – not least Tom Thirsk winning The Hitler Trophy at the 1936 Berlin Olympics alongside Arnold Bently. It’s said that Hitler was so miffed at the English pair overcoming a three-stroke German lead, he ordered his driver to turn around and avoid the presentation.
More change is on the way off the course as Gary Brown retires after 38 years as head professional. His departure will coincide with new pro shop developments, including the creation of an indoor swing studio for his successor, Ollie Adamson.
Meanwhile, the successful Dormy House – which opened in 2018 – has become a favourite with members and visitors, so much so that further rooms may be required in the future.
Out on the golf course, like all challenging courses, Ganton is better for knowing. I’d played it once before but walked it several times, so I couldn’t blame a lack of knowledge for some of my scores!
The first thing any golfer will remark on is the bunkers. There are more than 100 of them, with some of them devilishly concealed in a manner Boer War and First World War camouflage expert Dr Alister MacKenzie would be proud of. Others are imposing creations, each with their own long histories.
Length isn’t necessarily an issue on fast-running fairways – especially this summer – so plotting your way around and having the requisite skills to position your shots is key. While the course can stretch to more than 7,000 yards from the championship tees, the par 71, 6,440-yard option from the yellow tees is still pretty muscular.
Walking onto the first, you’ll find the tee boxes are immaculate. The green complexes are too. Where the traps don’t get you, subtle runoffs may, while no two greens are alike – except in consistency of quality and roll. Good luck finding a flat putt!
Finally, if your game isn’t quite up to your ambitions on the day you visit, take a deep breath, soak up the stunning vistas, and delight in the privilege of treading fairways where many of the sport’s great players have walked before you.
Ganton Golf Club (yellow tees)
1 – 360 yards, par 4
There’ll be few bunkering notes here as they’re everywhere at Ganton and could fill a magazine on their own! The first is played over a crested fairway with a slight left to right turn as you head to a huge, back to front sloping green.
2 – 398 yards, par 4
A long par four played slightly downhill and sweeping right to left, your biggest test at the second is holding the green with your approach as the putting surface runs away from you.
3 – 290 yards, par 4
A risk and reward opportunity for the big hitters, beware the out of bounds right at the third. Stay clear of the huge trap left with your approach into this devilishly undulating green.
4 – 369 yards, par 4
The fourth rises slightly before you play uphill to a green with a false front that slopes distinctly from the back.
5 – 150 yards, par 3
A gorgeous short hole, the fifth is played from an elevated tee and asks players to hit over lots of gorse. A big, circular target, the green is surrounded by sand and subtle runoffs.
6 – 442 yards, par 4
I think I counted 10 bunkers on the sixth – and hit three of them! Plot your way up the fairway and stay out of the sand on this one.
7 – 423 yards, par 4
A dogleg left to right, taking on the corner at the seventh is fraught with danger, while there’s plenty of room left. Played uphill, the approach to the slightly elevated green is best left slightly short as gorse waits at the back of the green.
8 – 372 yards, par 4
A little shorter than the last two holes, the eighth has a distinctive new sandy area on the left side and a green which runs away from you.
9 – 492 yards, par 5
The tee shot at the short par five ninth is daunting. Narrow, straight and undulating, the sandy area is on your left again here. A narrower green runs off at the front and has a distinct back shelf.
10 – 165 yards, par 3
There are only half a dozen traps between the elevated tee and the long, narrow green at the 10th – which feeds in from both left and right.
11 – 402 yards, par 4
Gorse and trees await wayward drives on both sides of the 11th – an up and over straight par four with fairway cross bunkers quite a way down. The big, gently undulating green is a fair target.
12 – 357 yards, par 4
Played from a raised tee, the 12th features a distinct dogleg right with corner trees that can catch out the bigger hitters if they take a chance. The tiered green is set slightly above the fairway.
13 – 499 yards, par 5
The 13th is not a long par five, but the copse of trees on the left is accompanied by half a dozen traps down both flanks plus some gorse for good measure. One of the flatter greens offers some hope if you reach it in regulation.
14 – 280 yards, par 4
Another tempter for the big hitters, though the smart option at the 14th is to hit the fairway short of the trouble and try to create a birdie chance with your wedge shot.
15 – 429 yards, par 4
Set towards the top of the course, the tough par four 15th requires a tee shot in the short stuff before you play into a green with a swale in front and two distinct tiers rising to the back.
16 – 429 yards, par 4
Try to ignore the huge cross bunker in your eyeline at the 16th – it shouldn’t come into play. Played a touch downhill, there are trees on both sides, and the fairway narrows before you play your approach into a big, circular green which falls a little from the back.
17 – 208 yards, par 3
The toughest par three I’ve played, the 17th crosses the road and has trouble everywhere. The huge, elevated and tiered green is a stunner.
18 – 391 yards, par 4
Take time to study your landing area from the viewing platform on the 18th tee. The fairway sits at a 45-degree angle over the restored pandy area – and the walk through it on the wooden sleepers is far more enjoyable if you know you’re in the short grass. The approach is played between sentinel trees, back over the road to a long final green set in front of the clubhouse.
