Club Heritage

HERITAGE INTRODUCTION

The Club has a long and distinguished heritage which dates from the club’s origin in 1887 to the current heathland course at Hollinwell in 1901 which sits sublimely in the heart of Byron country within the historic boundary of Sherwood Forest.

Legend has it that Robin Hood sat on the hillside rock above what is now the 2nd green. Just beyond the 8th tee lies the Holy Well from which the course derives its name and, which for centuries, provided refreshing spring water for the monks of Newstead Priory and now for golfers.

Currently ranked as the UK and Ireland’s 38th best course by Golf Monthly, 23rd best course in England by Today’s Golfer and 18th best course in England by National Club Golfer, the club nevertheless strives to improve with highly commended course and environmental strategies.

Golf Club Atlas founder Ran Morrissett ranks Hollinwell 46th of 147 courses worldwide “that embrace the simple virtues of the game” on his inaugural list of “Custodians of The Game”. The main qualifying criteria is “When you walk off the 18th green, you should feel invigorated rather than exhausted and the allure of returning to the 1st tee is strong”.

Many prestigious tournaments have been held at Hollinwell and in 2022 the club hosted Final Qualifying for the 150th Open at St Andrews. The club’s professionals have held Open Championship records and most unusual for a club professional, played in the Ryder Cup.

The club has fascinating connections not only to the monks of Newstead, Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest, the Ryder Cup and The Open but also to Sir Nick Faldo, Sir Peter Alliss, Sandy Lyle, Matt Fitzpatrick and unique world records – read on to discover the amazing heritage of Hollinwell.

Several new discoveries about the history and development of Hollinwell were unearthed in 2020, they are encapsulated in a free of charge e-book on hollinwellhistory.co.uk

Roll of Honour