London Calling

Filed in archive Golf Courses on October 16, 2007

The 7th at Strawberry Hill
Courtesy: Strawberry Hill Golf Club

How much do the English love their golf? A great deal, if the number of courses in a small geographical area is any indication. And when that small area is smack in the middle of London, a greater love there cannot be.

I had occasion last Sunday (after England had edged France in an exciting Rugby World Cup semi-final the night before) to stroll with a cousin and her husband across Wimbledon Common in one of the great city's chi-chi areas.

Wimbledon Common is 860 acres in size, making it larger than Central Park in New York City. Much of it is what the English call "rough", meaning it is allowed to simply grow wild. The enormous grassy area I walked across was testament to that: longish grass trampled down by thousands of feet treading it daily, well-worn footpaths criss-crossing the expanse and a small pond completing the picture.

The vast majority of those 860 acres I couldn't see. And that's where the golf is.

Around the immediate outskirts of Wimbledon Common, you can find the Wimbledon Common Golf Club associated with the London Scottish Golf Club, the Royal Wimbledon, Wimbledon Park Golf Club, Richmond Park Golf Club, the Roehampton Golf Club and the Richmond Golf Club.

Cast your net a little wider and you will discover the richly named Hampton Court Palace Golf Club, maiden Golf Club, and Coombe Hill Golf Club. South of the Kingston By-Pass is the much more pedestrian-sounding Surbiton Golf Club.

But my favourite has to be Strawberry Hill Golf Club near Twickenham.

Rest assured, there are many stories attached to each one. It's impossible to avoid history when you are in England.

None of these courses is long by today's standards. They have been in existence for so many years that the city has grown up around them, encroaching on their ability to expand.

But prices are reasonable even if the etiquette is odd. Take Wimbledon Common Golf Club, for instance. Ridiculously cheap rates of £20 for all-day play or £15 per round on Mondays. £30 all day Tuesday through Friday. But on weekends, visitors cannot use the club.

There is no golf after 2PM on Sundays - for visitors or members - and none on holidays. The club is closed on those days.

The most eccentric regulation at Wimbledon Common, however, is the one demanding that every player wear "a plain pillar-box red outer garment" while on the course. Don't ask me why. Maybe there is stag hunting nearby.

But these quirks only add to the pleasure, I can imagine, of playing urban courses more than a century old in the heart of one of the greatest cities in the world.

How much do the English love their golf, then? Enough to prevent the constant pressures of an enormous metropolis from swallowing up these gems in its midst.