Swinley Forest Golf Club

About the club

The Earl of Derby established Swinley Forest in 1909, as legend would have it after having become entangled at Sunningdale and consequently showing up tardy for an audience with Queen Victoria, who responded to the Earl's excuses with the comment that "a man in your position should have his own golf course." Derby built his course on heathlands near Windsor, and Swinley Forest has remained a bastion of elegance and exclusivity ever since, with a maximum membership of three hundred. Financial pressures have induced the club to open up somewhat, but the experience remains a trip into the past. Think of a somewhat smaller Berkshire or Sunningdale; like those courses, half of the appeal is the club's very inaccessibility. Though only some 6000 yards long, the tight fairways and diminutive greens make for a real challenge, and the layout calls for the use of pretty much every club.