Is This 42-Hole West Sussex Facility England’s Grandest Golfing Estate?

Many people will know of the Goodwood estate in West Sussex but will likely associate it with either horse racing or motorsport rather than golf. All are important, along with a number of other pursuits, but while in some ways the scale of the golf operation – despite now boasting 42 holes following the opening of the short six-hole Copse course last spring – pales in significance compared to horse racing and motorsport, in other ways it is of equal importance.

“Golf At Goodwood isn’t necessarily the first thing people think of about the Goodwood estate,” admits general manager, Gary Beves, “but it plays a huge part in the estate and, of course, it’s one of the few parts that is in operation 365 days of the year. As a result, the members are hugely important to us and the wider estate.”

This sentiment is echoed by the Duke of Richmond, whose family owns the 12,000-acre estate, when we chat in a drawing room at Goodwood House, which forms the centrepiece to much of what goes on when 200,000 people descend on the estate for three days every July for the hugely popular Festival of Speed (including me and my kids a couple of years ago).

“I’m pleased to say golf plays an increasingly important part,” he confirms. “Obviously, the big horse racing and motor events are our biggest things but we’re focused on golf and the guys do a good job. I’m very proud of what they have achieved and we’re investing in it so it’s an important part of what we do.”

The golf course at Goodwood became at least a small part of my life when I attended college in Chichester from 1988 to 1991 and the golfers on my Sports Science degree were treated to one round a term up there. Golf has actually been played at Goodwood since 1914 on what is now known as the Downs course designed by James Braid.