Aldeburgh Golf Club

An attractive cross between links and heathland with gorse a constant threat. Very narrow and tough if you are wayward off the tee. A course where par is always welcome.

This coastal corner of East Anglia is ladened with quality golf courses but none present a more demanding and formidable examination than Aldeburgh, a par-5 less par-69 but no stroll in the park. Like James Braid’s nearby Thorpeness, it packs plenty of Suffolk punch and being a thumping drive from the sea so the wind is usually a factor. Trees aren’t but there’s thick tangly gorse wherever you look and there’s every chance you’ll be in the thick of it at one point. But at least the gorse has been cut back to give golfers a better chance off the tee. Every hole presents an examination in shot-making and accuracy with plenty of challenges lying in wait at every nook and cranny.

The Top 100 Golf Courses in Britain and Ireland

Click here to find out where Aldeburgh Golf Club ranks in Golf World's Top 100 Courses England

Aldeburgh Golf Club's original golf course was designed in 1884 by John Thompson from Royal Wimbledon and Willie Fernie from Felixstowe - Fernie won The Open at Musselburgh the year before, a victory which no doubt boosted his designer’s fee. The golf course was modifed by JH Taylor and Willie Park Jnr and the new layout opened in 1908. It's hardly changed since then, although Harry Colt did carry out some fine tuning.

• Course has: Bar
• Course has: Buggy Hire
• Course does not have: Driving Range
• Course does not have: Practice Green
• Course has: Pro Shop
• Course has: Restaurant
• Course has: Trolley Hire
• Course does not have: Dress Code
• Course has: Club Hire
• Course has: Handicap

• 4.5 out of 5 Stunning course 29 September 2007

  By tomcrowther

  An incredibly difficult course set in the picturesque county of Suffolk. Aldeburgh is a course dominated by long par 4s and no par 5s for the men. Thin fairways and quick, true greens add to the challenge. The length of the course is what makes the chalenge combined with the wind.Near to 7000 yards off the back tees with recent changes despite being a par 68 to have any chance of making a good score a player must be able to avoided the gorse bordering the fairways but still hit a long enough drive to able to have a chance at hitting the green in regulation. Not a course for the high handicappers, and if you are having a bad day with the driver you will struggle. A very, very tough test that epitomises heathland golf at its best.