As close as a city centre club as you can get in Nottingham, although you won’t experience any sense of that while you’re here. Wollaton Park is a proud private members club but their doors are always open and welcoming and this summer will be even more so, serving as Nottinghamshire’s county course for 2023.
An oasis of calm, the golf course meanders around the grounds of the 16th century Wollaton Hall, and you share the space with the splendid herds of resident deer that call this beautiful golfing landscape their home.
The layout has a reputation for play on full greens year-round. A sandy sub-soil together with good drainage helps ensure the course is at its best whatever the weather has in store.
The first seven holes are set on level land although that’s no indication of anything easy. There’s no lack of length on the scorecard and the bunkers are suitably placed too. A couple of out of bounds concerns on the opening hole and the impressive long par four third, soothed by a possible birdie chance at the short second. The SI1 fifth hole, as tree clad as anything on the course demands great accuracy from the tee, and it completes an exacting opening stretch.
The next two par fours are just a little more comfortable in feel, however, everything tests you and here on six and seven it’s at the business end. Here you’ll find some extra contours on the putting surfaces, which are silky smooth and quite outstanding to putt on throughout the layout.
The next two par fours are just a little more comfortable in feel, however, everything tests you and here on six and seven it’s at the business end. Here you’ll find some extra contours on the putting surfaces, which are silky smooth and quite outstanding to putt on throughout the layout.
The nines end and begin again by the clubhouse with similar length par fives, then there’s an attractive short hole on 11, running alongside the hall grounds and ushering in a completely contrasting stretch in comparison with what’s gone before it.
From the elevated 12th tee with Wollaton Lake adding to the visual charm on the right-hand side, it’s an enticingly attractive country park landscape with regular changes of elevation that release some lovely views of your surroundings. It’s never too hilly to walk, but there’s more than enough contours to require a little thought and you might need to factor in a breeze or too as well from the highest points.
I found April a good time to play it to score well or at least fire the driver away with near reckless abandon with a lot of open pre-bloom space around me. Yet the images here are of Wollaton Park at its mid-summer peak, when the long grasses reach full growth it all gets tighter, and you get the proper steely challenge with course management becoming the priority.
Not sure if there’s an official signature hole here, more of a case of the beauty in the eye of the beholder. But in our eyes the super 15th holds the honour, we love a downhill facing par five. A gorgeous sight from the tee of the full challenge with the lake as a distant backdrop. You can open your shoulders, yet beware, the hole turns a tight little right-hand corner towards it’s conclusion and the well protected green is a tough target should you try and go for it in two.
Pro shop and practice – Martyn Brown and team run the well-stocked shop and indoor swing room with GC2 for custom fitting and indoor lessons. Outside there’s some excellent warm-up facilities, three practice nets, large chipping area and full-sized putting green, plus a larger practice ground close to the clubhouse.
For societies – Wollaton Park is an extremely popular choice for societies and welcomes groups of 16 and above on Tuesdays after 12pm and Fridays too. Groups can pick from a selection of seven different packages, based around 18 or 27 holes of golf with a range of menu options and private dining facilities.
19th hole – Lovely looking single floor clubhouse, both inside and out. Two good sized bar/restaurant areas which can easily be configured for private occasions and society get-togethers.
