Changes taking shape at Surrey’s Tandridge GC

Last Autumn saw the second phase of the major restoration of the classic Harry Colt course at Tandridge Golf Club, Surrey.

This followed a trial project the year before on just three of the front nine holes which had met with great acclaim from members, visitors and the golfing press. Indeed, Golf Course Architecture magazine has described the project as “Perhaps the most dramatic restoration of a Golden Age golf course yet attempted in the UK.”

After a full review of the pilot and with the overwhelming support from its members, the remaining six holes of the front nine have now been re-modelled.

This has been completed under the supervision of architect and leading Colt expert, Frank Pont, who is currently working with 20 Colt, Simpson and Pennink designed classic golf courses to help bring back the strategy and style of the original design.

The bunkering in particular is dramatically different, offering new strategic challenges and visual splendour. The course will also be a little longer from the back tees, one example being the opening hole which will now be a par-5, easing you into the round, rather than a maximum-length par-4. In essence, there has been an improvement to the playing characteristics and enjoyment level of every hole.

The work on the tees, bunkers and re-shaped fairways took place over five intensive weeks. Now, with the assistance of an unseasonably mild Winter, the front nine is complete and open for play.

Indeed, the benign weather has meant that the first phase of work on the back nine has already started and been completed, several months ahead of schedule. This includes mounding to separate the tenth and eighteenth holes, new bunkers on the twelfth, and a dramatic new back tee on the signature hole, the fourteenth.