West Course
Very few courses can boast a tournament history on a par with Wentworth’s West Course. It hosted the 1953 Ryder Cup and then in 1956 the Canada Cup, the forerunner to today’s World Cup of Golf.
And through its distinction of hosting two of golf’s most prestigious championships – the World Matchplay dating as far back as 1964, and the PGA Championship since 1984 – both televised to a wide audience, the West Course has a place in the hearts and minds of golfers all over the world. As World Matchplay founder Mark McCormack observed: “I fell in love with Wentworth almost at first sight and still remember the enjoyment today of wandering around the course watching all the matches in the first World Matchplay. Wentworth is a truly outstanding and complete venue.”
The West Course is about aspiration and inspiration. Golfers tread in the footsteps of the game’s great players from the last 80 years – legends such as Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods. That means something; you can’t help but feel it.
And there are surely few more glorious natural settings for golf than this stretch of heathland surrounded by woodland of pine, oak and birch; the vibrant rhododendrons adding a splash of colour. The heavily wooded landscape has aesthetic and strategic benefits in the sense that it is both easy on the eye and ideal for creating well-defined hole routings.
Harry Colt classic
Architect Harry Colt took full advantage of both of these qualities and created an enduring classic. The challenge is a varied one; fairways turn both ways and there is a wonderful flow to the course, with pleasing elevation changes and a variety of different length par-3s, par-4s and par-5s.
It is a design that had for decades proudly stood the test of time, but the march of modern equipment technology shows no mercy.
In recent years it was felt that in certain key areas the West course no longer played quite as Colt had intended and so a process of modernisation and restoration was undertaken by The Club’s worldwide touring professional, and Wentworth resident, Ernie Els.
Els’ modern touch
This redesign project involved extensive re-bunkering and lengthening of certain holes, where appropriate. These revisions retained the essential character of the golf course and successfully restored many of Colt’s original shot values, bringing a classic piece of work into the 21st century.
It is now once again a stern test, but above all a fair test. It examines every department of a golfer’s game and demands shots played with every club in the bag.
Ernie Els said, “I honestly think we’ve succeeded in making a great course even better. Hopefully, Harry Colt is up there somewhere and looking down on us with a nod of approval”.
Fact File
Opened: 1926
Architect: Harry Colt (modernised/refined in 2005 & 2007 by Ernie Els)
Par: 72
Length: 7,308 yards
Course Record: 63, Wayne Riley
Key tournaments: HSBC Matchplay, 1964 – present: BMW Championship, 1984 – present: Ryder Cup, 1953: Canada Cup 1956