Our trip to North Yorkshire’s Ganton Golf Club was a great day filled with history and enjoyable golf. The trip down south was paired with a round at Woodhall Spa, and, as with that review, you will see me draw comparisons between the two clubs.
Ganton’s beautiful clubhouse and locker room typify a traditional old golf club within the UK. The walls are packed with old photographs, framed letters, and names that act as an encyclopedia for UK golfing history. The course was first laid out in 1891, and to the visiting golfer, it feels that the best of the “old” has been preserved.
Ganton Golf Club is rife with British golfing history. The club boasts a who’s who of previous club pros, including Harry Vardon, who came as professional in 1896. It was during his tenure as pro that he won the first three of his six Open Championships. He also returned to Ganton in 1900 after winning the US Open. Ted Ray was another Ganton Professional (1903 – 1912) who won the Open Championship and the US Open. The locker room walls feature portraits of Ganton’s professionals.
The course itself has been touched by some of the best golf architects to have lived. James Braid, JH Taylor, and Harry Vardon all contributed to a major redesign of the course in 1905. Harry Colt (1907, 1911 & 1931), Dr Alister McKenzie (1912 & 1920), Tom Simpson (1934) and CK Cotton (1948 & 1952) have all added their own improvements to the course. While some might argue that a few too many cooks have contributed to the recipe, it would be hard to choose a better list of chefs!
The greens were in great condition for our round. The fairways left something to be desired, but we were playing at the tail end of a long golfing season. Very strong winds (30mph+) made the day challenging, but meant that this already “linksy” course played even more like a seaside round.
Hole #1 – 359 yards
The course opens slowly with a slight dogleg right first hole. Large bunkers guard both sides of the fairway and alert golfers that large hazards will be a factor throughout the entire round.
Hole #2 – 395 yards
The second green was tough when we played the course and would be especially so when the greens are in fast shape mid-summer. The green slopes away from players, and any pin placement towards the front of the green would pose a difficult challenge. A bunker in the fairway uses railroad ties on the rear wall of the bunker. This reminded me of both Prestwick Golf Club here in Scotland and some of the Pete Dye courses that I grew up with back in the States.
Hole #3 – 288 yards
The third is a short par 4 that is straightforward until you get a bit greedy. A large bunker guards the left side of the fairway and OB runs along the right side of the hole. A creek runs behind the green and once on the putting surface, no two putts are guaranteed. I decided to get greedy before pulling my tee shot left and making double bogey.
Hole #5 – 148 yards
All of the par 3s on the course were strong. The fifth was particularly enjoyable and picturesque. Green side bunkers guard the putting surface and the sheer size of the traps is not realized through these photos.
Hole #6 – 438 yards (par 5)
The sixth hole is a good example of making an interesting par 5 out of a completely flat piece of land. Cross bunkers protect the fairway. The hole may seem particularly short, but the tees were set back during our round, and the hole can be stretched out to a much longer distance than that on the card.
Hole #9 – 499 yards
The fairway on this long par 5 is narrow and the tee shot sets up particularly well to the eye. The strength of this hole lies with the interesting and challenging green complex. The sloping green is guarded by deep bunkers that eat up not only green side shots, but also misplaced layups. This was one of my playing partner’s favorite holes on the course.
Hole #10 – 165 yards 
This par 3 was one of my favorite holes on the course. The green is long and has a slight concave bowl shape. If you hit this green with the correct distance, you will be very close to the hole. However, similar to many of the holes at Ganton, miss this green and you will be in very deep bunkers.
Hole #11 – 398 yards
The tenth green is fairly flat and uninteresting, but the challenge comes during the approach shot. Particularly long hitters, or particularly bad iron players, will be challenged by the cross bunkers 90-110 yards short of the green. A massive bunker is right of the green. The size and depth of the bunker barely comes through in the photo.
Hole #15 – 427 yards
The final stretch of holes at Ganton are very strong. If I were to play the course again I would simply be biding my time until I got to these final four holes. The left hand fairway bunker is a ball magnet off of the tee. The length of the bunker becomes clearer when you see my playing partner in the very front of the trap in the photo above.
Hole #16 – 427 yards
A straight ball is paramount on this blind tee shot. The fairway narrows down, and trees lining the fairways affect the line of any approach shot not from the center of the fairway. I really enjoyed this hole, even from the left trees. No lead would be safe coming into the final three holes.
Hole #17 – 235 yards
The seventeenth hole is one of the top par 3s that I have played. That is a bold statement, but I stand behind it. I am not always a fan of the very long par 3. I like this hole because the front of the green is open and hazard-free. If you don’t have the length to reach the green, that is fine! Just keep your ball straight to avoid massive bunkers.
Hole #18 – 387 yards
The eighteenth is a sharp dogleg left with a blind tee shot. A driver or 3 wood off the tee leaves 120-160 yards to the green. Strangely, the long, beautiful entrance road intersects with this hole’s fairway, and the road is marked OB. The road is roughly 80 yards short of the green. I thought it was a little too quirky to have OB in the center of the fairway. If you catch your approach shot heavy, you could end up out of bounds in the middle of the hole. Out of bounds marks the boundaries of the course, not roads bisecting holes. On another note, to give you a sense of the wind during our round, my playing partner hit a 3-iron from 130 yards just over the back of the green for his approach shot.
I really enjoyed Ganton Golf Club. It was a very good balance of great golf club and great golf course. If I had to choose one or the other between Ganton and Woodhall Spa, I would choose to play my golf at Ganton. I am a sucker for tradition and history. When it comes to the quality of golf, I think that Woodhall Spa wins slightly, but not nearly by a large enough margin to make me choose it over Ganton. If visiting northern England with your golf clubs, play both!
One Comment on “Ganton Golf Club Review”
Hole 14 is, indeed, very challenging! I hope I can have a tour in Ganton Golf Club too. Hehe! Well, I still have to finish my golf trainings before I proceed with those tours, right? Anyway, I do hope you’ll post more of those interesting golf clubs in your area. Thanks! :)