Woodhall Spa Golf Club - The Hotchkin

About the club

The Woodhall Spa Golf Club is a kind of neo-Victorian/Edwardian resort that features residences set amid stands of evergreens and birch. Here in the early 1900s Harry S. Colt designed a superb layout, in which Harry Vardon and J. H. Taylor also had a hand. Colt's influence is especially evident in the numerous excellent short holes, one of the standouts being the 12th, which is essentially just a wedge. The Hotchkin family, from whom the course takes its name, owned the grounds for generations before they were bequeathed to the English Golf Union to serve as an administrative and educational center, with the result that Woodhall Spa is today a true golf preserve. In contrast with many of the other courses in the region, the Hotchkin is an authentic heathland location, with sufficient space for competitive play, and the constrained fairways and diminutive greens add considerably to the challenge.