Back
VIRGINIA WATER, England - The prestigious Wentworth Club is many things to many people.
To lucky club members, it is their home away from home, a place to enjoy golf on three different courses (plus a short course), tennis, pickleball, a fitness center, dining or even relaxation at a wonderful spa.
To the DP World Tour, it is headquarters, a place to do business much like TPC Sawgrass is for the PGA Tour. Hosting potential clients for a little golf and a nice meal inside the castle-like 1920s clubhouse can help seal important partnerships and deals.
To Europe's best players - and occasionally Americans like defending champion Billy Horschel who fly across the pond to compete - Wentworth serves as the host of one of their most important tournaments of the year. The BMW PGA Championship, a Rolex Series signature event, has visited Wentworth's West Course every year since 1984.
To golf fans everywhere, Wentworth is celebrated as the birthplace of the Ryder Cup. The club held an international match that was the precursor to the Ryder Cup in 1926 and later hosted the real thing in 1953. It should come as no surprise, then, that almost every European Ryder Cup hero of the last four decades has won here - Langer (1987, 1993), Woosnam (1988, 1997), Faldo (1989), Seve (1991), Olazabal (1994), Montgomerie (1998-2000), Rory (2014), Francesco Molinari (2018) and more. It is, arguably, the United Kingdom's premier tournament host outside the major championship venues.
The Wentworth Club, which celebrated a century in 2022, hosts this week's 2025 BMW PGA Championship for the 45th time (It also hosted from 1972-74). Be sure to tune into Golf Channel for live coverage.
Ernie Els has tweaked the 7,247-yard West Course multiple times over the past nine years, trying to perfect its nuances. SubAir technology, the first installed in Europe, keeps the greens firm and fast for year-round tournament conditions. The original Harry Colt design plays as a par 73 for the members with the opening 473-yard hole listed as a par 5, though it's a par 4 for the pros. The routing follows a circular loop through a hilly, forested, tony neighborhood outside of London. Rory McIlroy, who owns a mansion inside the gates, will be the headliner competing this year.
Wentworth's West Course is not quite an authentic heathland course like some of its more famous neighbors in Surrey - Sunningdale and Walton Heath, for example - but it's still a special treat to experience first-hand. My two days staying and playing at Westworth in fall 2023, from the Trackman range to the comforts of the executive suites in the clubhouse, were world-class.
When Wentworth was sold to new Asian ownership in 2014, the change created a lot of negative headlines from unhappy members, many of whom left the club. Wentworth has emerged on the other side of the controversy thriving like never before, according to Club Director Stuart Boyle, thanks to ongoing investments in the club's facilities. The photos below provide a sneak peek into what life is like at the club, from the amenities to the dining and the other courses.
The club life at Wentworth
The club's East and Edinburgh Courses proved to be fun, complementary rounds to the showstopping West. Finishing strong on the West's back-to-back par 5s at the end of the round made me feel like a champion...even if I didn't get a piece of the official purse.
Here's a hole-by-hole guide to Wentworth West:
Hole 1 - par 4, 473 yards
The round starts off from an elevated tee next to the statue, which stares out at a twisting fairway that climbs past a lone fairway bunker on the right. The hole is a par 5 for the members, but a par 4 for the pros. The uphill approach is made tougher by the potential for downhill or sidehill lies and the four greenside bunkers that must be carried.
Hole 2 - par 3, 154 yards
The first par 3 again climbs to an elevated green surrounded front, left and back by three bunkers. As the shortest par 3 on the course, it's an early chance at birdie.
Hole 3 - par 4, 459 yards
There's trouble off the tee on both sides of the fairway in the form of trees and bunkers for players who don't hit it straight. It's one of the tougher par 4s on the course, so players will likely play conservative to hit the fairway off the tee and the green in regulation to avoid any early stress.
Hole 4 - par 5, 552 yards
The fourth sweeps blindly to the left with a slope that will kick balls farther down the fairway if players can find the speed slot. A small creek crosses the fairway at 350 yards, so long hitters do have to be careful. Bunkers bracket either side of the green. As the easiest hole on the course, it is ripe for an eagle chance. Anything worse than a birdie loses most of a shot to the field.
Hole 5 - par 3, 203 yards
This par 3 has been stretched over the years with new back tees, forcing the players to hit longer irons. Four bunkers ring the green, where a pronounced slope feeds balls left to right.
Hole 6 - par 4, 418 yards
Lone bunkers lurk on either side of the fairway to catch errant drives. Like most greens at Wentworth West, the sixth is heavily fortified with three bunkers.
Hole 7 - par 4, 396 yards
The seventh kicks off the most interesting stretch of holes on the course. This shortish par 4 requires a smart decision off the tee to miss the creek crossing the fairway at 290 yards. Most will lay back to avoid the thick heather and rough, leaving a wedge to an elevated, two-tiered green walled off in front by two steep bunkers. Trees will ward off approaches from the right side.
Hole 8 - par 4, 400 yards
For amateurs, the water-logged eight hole is terrifying. At about 260 yards off the tee, the fairway bottlenecks. Not even the pros want to take on pins tucked over water from the heavy stuff. With the greenside bulkhead and fountain in the pond, this is where Wentworth gives off serious TPC Sawgrass vibes, which is very out of character (but also visually appealing) for an English club.
Hole 9 - par 4, 449 yards
The ninth hole doubles back in the opposite direction as eight, making it the only parallel fairway on the West. It's 270 yards to reach the fairway bunker on the left, although there is another one 60 yards farther up on the right that will trouble only a handful of the players. A greenside bunker guards the left side of the putting surface and the right side feeds away, so bogey is a concern even after a good drive.
Hole 10 - par 3, 184 yards
The 10th is the most interesting par 3 on the West with a field of heather leading to a narrow corridor over or around a singular tree on the left side to reach the green. The bunker in front sees a lot of action.
Hole 11 - par 4, 408 yards
A quartet of steep-faced fairway bunkers pinches the landing zone of this gorgeous hole, which features a fairway bending left that tilts with the terrain. A controlled draw off the tee from right-handers sets up the ideal approach to a green that angles away from players and is bunkered on either side.
Hole 12 - par 5, 520 yards
This tee shot needs to fly over three trees blocking the right side of the fairway on this dogleg left. It's 280 yards to reach the two fairway bunkers up that side. A ditch that crosses the fairway short of the green shouldn't be in play unless a go-for-it shot strikes a tree or is poorly executed. Landing in the three greenside bunkers is the more likely miss. The first of three par 5s in the final seven holes makes for a rare par-37 back nine.
Hole 13 - par 4, 470 yards
The 13th is the par 4 version of the same type of hole - a dogleg left with a ditch crossing diagonally near the green. Since it also features three greenside bunkers - in the same 2 on the right, 1 on the left cadence - the only difference seems to be the fairway bunker up the left side that can foil the tee shot. It's best to favor the right side of the fairway for the best angle into the green.
Hole 14 - par 3, 174 yards
The 14th climbs uphill more than perhaps any other hole. Flanked by bunkers front right and back left, the clover-shaped green is divided into distinct sections. Tee shots that find the right one can funnel to the hole, although ones that miss face a difficult two-putt.
Hole 15 - par 4, 491 yards
The No. 1 handicap plays like it, even for the big hitters. Although there are no fairway bunkers, the short grass runs out at 320 yards and there is out-of-bounds on either side. After leap-frogging more ditches and two greenside bunkers, the green defends par by sloping right to left, making for some good pin positions.
Hole 16 - par 4, 383 yards
The 16th has been tweaked several times but is still mostly a straightforward test. Two fairway bunkers up the right side force players to favor a draw or to stay left. Two greenside bunkers frame the approach.
Hole 17 - par 5, 610 yards
Here's where the tournament is typically won or lost on Sunday: back-to-back par 5s, each different in its challenges. The 17th whips left, bending the entire way without a single bunker in sight. Awkward angles, sloping fairway lies and heavy rough keep players off balance. The right side of the green drops off significantly into sticky rough, while the left side is guarded by thick hedges as an out-of-bounds marker. Many will go for it in two and not be rewarded with birdie.
Hole 18 - par 5, 523 yards
Forget the 18th at Pebble Beach - this is the best finishing par 5 in tournament golf. It boomerangs right, the opposite direction of the 17th. To go for it in two, players need to find a tiny sliver of a fairway roughly 300 yards off the tee short of a ditch - either by bombing it over trees on the correct line or shaping something around the corner. Misses bounce into heavy rough, the hazard or two fairway bunkers at the dogleg. Penal lies will force many players to lay up short of the water that snakes across the fairway and then along the left side of the green. Others feel obligated to go for it against their better judgment. It's the ultimate risk-reward hole, providing great theater for fans and viewers.
Stay in the Swing with GolfPass!
Get exclusive tips from the pros, in-depth course reviews, the latest gear updates, and more delivered straight to your inbox.
Comments (0)