Fulford Golf Club 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 

More often than not iconic clubs' history revolves around happenings from a century ago but Fulford's better-known moments are far more recent. The club was established in 1906 but moved to its current site in 1935, a site that was approved by five-time Open champion James Braid. 

Dr Alister MacKenzie will forever be linked with golf in Yorkshire but it was his younger brother, Charles, who would lay out the course as the Yorkshire Evening Post wrote: "The Fulford Golf Club (York) has decided to move lock, stock and barrel from its present site near the Ouse and to construct a new course at Tilmire (near Heslington) a mile or so away, and Major Charles MacKenzie, the golf course architect, has been appointed to make a new course on plans which he submitted to the club some months ago."

Fulford comes in different chunks, with parkland forming the early stretch before a brilliant run of heathland holes from 6-13 and then, re-crossing the A64, the final five holes. The plan, through a collaboration with the esteemed designers Mackenzie & Ebert, is to get more heather involved and have more of the kind of grasses that frame each hole rather than it just being tree-lined.

Fulford have carried out the first stage of a tree removal and woodland management programme, with the remainder taking place in the next two winters so you can expect Fulford to continue on its upward curve. 

Fulford Golf Club Course Review

Fulford will always be associated with a shot that Bernhard Langer played during the third round of the Benson & Hedges in 1981. The German's approach found an ash tree beside the 17th green and, with the help of spectators, he then pulled himself up the last few feet to survey his possible third shot. 

"I'd do the same thing again. The climbing up was OK but getting down wasn't so clever. I was really shaking when I came to putt."

He did manage to knock the ball onto the putting surface and two putts from 35 feet helped him to a 67 and two shots adrift of the leader, Eamonn Darcy. The Irishman, though, was less sure about what he had just witnessed.

"I think it was a very dangerous thing to do. Bernhard could have fallen or he might have dislodged the ball and incurred penalty shots."

Langer would finish the week one shot shy of the eventual winner Tom Weiskopf.

The Benson & Hedges would run from 1971-89 and the hole names today are those of the winners of the tournament. Naturally Langer is 17 and other winners include Sandy Lyle, Lee Trevino and Greg Norman.

What you would say about Fulford is that it is very fair. There are no blind shots, it's a strategic test with some brilliant bunkering and the greens are generally huge, very flat and very true. Years ago I played here with future major champion Georgia Hall and my memory of that day was that she didn't miss a fairway or a green all day.

You would imagine most visitors' opinions of the course will be similar, with the heathland holes really catching the eye. The 8th, 9th and 10th make for a beautiful run of holes around the turn with the 9th a great risk-and-reward par 5.

The hardest hole on the card is the 13th and this could easily be the club's signature hole. It features out of bounds left, fairway bunkering and a sloping green so, if you can make a par at the nearly 500-yarder, you will have excelled.

This is called Weiskopf after the American holed a 1-iron for an eagle two – he’d already birdied the hole twice that week.

Then the run for home, where the wind will generally push your ball left to right, can make for a real challenge.

Peter Baker has his name attached to Fulford's 18th having eagled the second play-off hole against the highly-fancied Nick Faldo – Baker had also eagled it in regulation time to take it to extra holes.

In more recent times the R&A still use Fulford for their events and, this year, it again staged Regional Qualifying for The Open.  

Final Verdict

What's interesting about Fulford's website is that it highlights the club's ethos before mention of anything else. They genuinely welcome visitors as much as they are proud of their recent past.

Fulford is a great test of your golf. The few times I've visited I've occasionally succeeded and more often failed that test. To state the obvious you need to plot your way round, avoid the sand and then take note of the slick greens. The greens are large but there are some clever run-offs and it's not a course where you're just going to turn up, keep gunning the driver on repeat and overpower anything.

Head pro Guy Wills has been at the club for 18 years and he points out that Fulford's condition helps to keep it ahead of some of its competitors.

"I just think it's the finer touches, really. We've got a great layout but it's always presented in such a way that it's not prepped specifically for certain events. You could pitch up here any day of the week and you get the same excellent quality of course."

Not many courses tend to peak around the middle holes – not that the earlier and later holes are weak – so the coming years promise to be very exciting to see how the tree management programme and more heathland feel will continue to push Fulford to even greater levels.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

For more information, please visit the club's website here