Best Golf Courses in Yorkshire

Yorkshire is an absolute golf-rich county, boasting around 200 golf clubs and a host of world-class golfers, coaches and designers to have come through the ranks. There have been three Ryder Cups, countless professional and amateur events, and any visit to God's Own County will be memorable for the warmth of the welcome as much as it is the quality of the golf.

The best golf courses in Yorkshire pretty much pick themselves, all touched by classic architecture, and all quite different. Two, Moortown and Alwoodley, sit less than half a mile apart in Leed and therefore make a world-class trip on their own, while the irrepressible Ganton resides on the way to Scarborough. All three are comfortably part of any GB&I Top 100 rankings and all three continue to make progress through some intuitive course improvements.

To make up the top five it's almost as straightforward when we are simply looking at the quality of the courses. Fulford and Lindrick are fantastic venues and both have decorated histories to complement the courses themselves.

If you were to visit any of these five you'll have a great day's golfing, if you could tick off all five in a short trip then you'll have absolutely cracked it.

But the additional beauty of Yorkshire is to complement a visit to these greats with 18 holes at courses that will loosely be termed 'hidden gems' when the simple truth is that anyone who lives in Yorkshire will be well aware of the quality of these superb layouts.

Best Golf Courses in Yorkshire

Let's start with the best of the bunch...

Ganton Golf Club

Fact File:

• Location: Ganton is 11 miles short of Scarborough in East Yorkshire
• Year Established: Golf was first played here in 1891 and Harry Vardon became the club’s pro un 1896, the same year he won The Open at Muirfield
• Par: 71 for men, 76 for women
• Length (yards): Blue 7055, White 6778, Yellow 6456, Red 6063
• Green Fees (weekdays): £220
• Signature Hole: Take your pick but 16 and 17 are very special, the latter a spectacular par 3 played across the entry road
• Website: gantongolfclub.com

If you were in a room of 100 discerning golfers and discussing which is the better course of Ganton, Alwoodley and Moortown then you would very likely receive a collection of varied responses. Ganton, you would imagine, would head more people's lists given what a brilliantly unique experience it is. From the turn-off from the A64 you would never suspect what lies down the road. The glimpse of the brilliant 16th hole whets the appetite, then you get to take in the 17th and you know you are in for something special. The ability to harness an inland links and heathland classic is a rare treat with firm, bouncy conditions setting the challenge and some of the finest greens you'll ever putt on. It's visually stunning, stirs the golfing soul and finishes on a huge high with some outstanding holes coming in. Then you have the clubhouse to savour, the club even has its own gin, a few laps of the putting green and maybe a trip to the coast for some fish and chips. A spectacular part of the world and a must visit for any keen golfer. 

READ OUR GANTON COURSE REVIEW

Alwoodley Golf Club

Fact File:

• Location: Alwoodley is situated in North Leeds, around the corner from Moortown
• Year Established: The club was founded in 1907, a key date as it was Dr Alister MacKenzie’s first course design
• Par: 72 for men (white), 73 for women
• Length (yards): Blue 6914, White 6688, Yellow 6336, Red 5579
• Green Fees (weekdays): £210
• Signature Hole: The 8th or 11th, one a picturesque par 5 and the latter a par 3 with a devilish green
• Website: alwoodleygolfclub.com 

Next would come Alwoodley, just ahead of its very near neighbour, Alwoodley. Again you really wouldn't suspect that a course of such beauty would sit in North Leeds. Alwoodley was always a classic though maybe not as well-known as others despite being Dr Alister MacKenzie's initial design. But that's all changing by the hosting of some very prestigious events and a new greenkeeper who is already making great strides in the finer details. The 1st is wide open and pretty much perfect for getting golfers away and then you soon realise that you've got the angle all wrong by playing it safely down the 18th fairway. This is not a driver's course, most of us will need to get the chief out more often than not, but you can place yourself around and you will get plenty of help from the land. Particular favourites would be the 8th and 9th, by which time you've hopefully picked up a few points as things generally then get tougher as you turn for home. Alwoodley is everything you'd want from a heathland great, plenty of run, incredible turf and the opportunity to run your ball in and take advantage of the ground.

READ OUR ALWOODLEY COURSE REVIEW

Moortown Golf Club

Fact File:

• Location: Moortown is on the outskirts of North Leeds, a few hundred yards from Alwoodley
• Year Established: It was founded in 1909, 20 years later it hosted the first Ryder Cup on British soil
• Par: 71 for men, 75 for women
• Length (yards): Blue 7001, White 6741, Yellow 6455, Red 5913
• Green Fees (weekdays): £200
• Signature Hole: The 10th ‘Gibraltar’ was the first hole to be laid out and remains the stand-out hole on the property
• Website: moortown-golf-club.co.uk

The 1929 Ryder Cup venue is packed with history, past and relatively present, and is turning a great golf course into something even better with some detailed plans ahead of the centenary of the matches with the United States. To be a member at Moortown is a genuine thrill every time you walk past the pro shop and take in one of the great closing holes in the game. You're lulled in with the opening par 5 and then hit with back-to-back par 4s which signpost the need to drive the ball very well here. There are chances to score early on, the redesigned 5th has very quickly become one of the great holes on the property, and the 10th, Gibraltar, is plain outstanding. The story of MacKenzie laying this out as a test hole will never tire and a three here should be celebrated. Then come the holes on top of the moor which are sensational. All lined with heather with fast and firm conditions, the sight of your ball bounding down and onto holes like the 12th is how golf should be played. The run for home is generally a collection of stiff par 4s but all different in nature and finishing with the best of the lot at 18.

READ OUR MOORTOWN COURSE REVIEW

Fulford Golf Club

Fact File:

• Location: Fulford can be found one mile south of the historic city of York
• Year Established: The club was founded in 1906 but moved to its current site in 1935
• Par: 72 for men, 74 for women
• Length (yards): Blue 6925, White 6743, Yellow 6363, Red 5920
• Green Fees (weekdays): £125
• Signature Hole: The 17th is the best-known hole for something that happened in 1981, more of which later
• Website: fulfordgolfclub.co.uk 

The middle holes probably give Fulford the edge over Lindrick though some rankings would have them the other way round. Either way Fulford is a brilliantly bunkered layout which is going to get even better in the coming years, thanks to the input of Mackenzie & Ebert design. For many of us Fulford was a huge mainstay of European golf, covering two decades of tournament play, and featuring some of the absolute greats of the game. One of them, Bernhard Langer, even went up in a tree with a recovery shot that is one of the best-known shots in his illustrious career. There is always a lot of talk about Alister MacKenzie in Yorkshire but his younger brother, Charles, laid out Fulford and he made the most two parts of the land with the beginning and end being parkland and the middle section heathland. Going forward the plan is to have more heather and fewer trees which seems like a sensible recipe for an outstanding golf course. Fulford remains a key course in the Yorkshire rota with the R&A often using it for prestigious amateur events and Regional Qualifying for The Open.

READ OUR FULFORD COURSE REVIEW

Lindrick Golf Club

Fact File:

• Location: Lindrick is a 30-minute drive from Sheffield
• Year Established: Lindrick was founded in 1891
• Par: 71 for the men, 75 for the women
• Length (yards): Blue 6725, White 6498, Yellow 6282, Red 5764
• Green Fees (weekdays): £135
• Signature Hole: The 13th boasts a terrific tee shot that is well bunkered before an approach that takes you up to the higher ground
• Website: lindrickgolfclub.co.uk 

Lindrick hosted the Ryder Cup in 1957 and, for many years, was the lighthouse in the gloom in terms of home success. MacKenzie highlighted quite how brilliant the land is here and it is another to use the services of architects Mackenzie & Ebert to elevate the course to new levels. The short holes at Lindrick are particularly strong, much is made of the well-photographed 18th, but that might well be the least interesting of the quartet. The 4th is very different, as much for the stories around it as well as the quirky nature of the hole, and the course has changed little in terms of the routing and it has been stretched to just over 6700 yards which rightly tells you that accuracy is as important as distance. Lindrick is just one of those fantastic venues to spend a day at, it's packed full of history and class in the grand clubhouse and the course is varied and has a great pace to it. There is a great quote in the full review of having to play the par 3s and 9s well which is worth taking note of when you do make it to this cracking part of the world.

READ OUR LINDRICK COURSE REVIEW

Final Verdict

If you were to flip the first three – Ganton, Alwoodley and Moortown – and the bottom two – Fulford and Lindrick – then you could easily argue the case well. Many of us are swayed by how we played or the company or even the weather but we’re talking here about the quality of the course and trying to be subjective purely on that. In some rankings Ganton makes it into a world top 100, ahead of Portmarnock and Royal Birkdale, which points to quite how brilliant it is. I will occasionally pair off individual holes between Alwoodley and Moortown and come out with the former edging things 10-8 so that maybe gives you some idea of how strong both are. Fulford and Lindrick are very different but both very strong and would form the centrepiece for any golfing trip in the area.

Other Golf Courses in Yorkshire to consider (in alphabetical order)

These are some personal favourites and are all well worth a trip for something different and very enjoyable.

Bingley St Ives

Billy Foster’s home club and another with a European Tour pedigree with Nick Faldo (2) and Sandy Lyle both winning here. A fantastic moorland course with some genuinely incredible holes, the far corner is like playing on the moon (in a good way). 

Cleveland

In some respects it would be great have this in the top five. A genuine fast-running links which, with a bit of imagination, resembles St Andrews in places. The club is as unfussy as the course and it represents as good a value as anywhere in the county.

Crosland Heath

Again, this is very different. Another Alister MacKenzie design that doesn’t get anything like the plaudits that it deserves. All nine of the par 3s and 5s run in different directions and, given its lofty position, it will often blow here which all adds to the fun.

Hallamshire

The home of Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick and probably the best course in the Sheffield area. Great turf and some spectacular holes – the signature 6th is played across a valley – three par 5s in the last five holes to get stuck into.

Headingley

The oldest club in Leeds and the perfect accompaniment to a visit to its more well-known neighbours. The MacKenzie influence here gives Headingley its strongest holes, with the 16th and 17th as good as anything in the county and it also boasts a world-class short-game area.

Pannal

Another mix of moorland and heathland and another to have seen a load of trees taken out and the course is all the better for it. Get yourself in position as the par 4s don’t measure too far in distance while the par 5s are all very generous in terms of getting home in two. Starts off with a great par 4 before a change in character from the 6th.

Sand Moor

Like Headingley, Sand Moor has made great improvements in recent years and can be found just over the road from Moortown. The short holes here really stand out, the first of which comes at the 8th, and don’t be put off by the blind opening tee shot as there aren’t any more all round.