A GRAND ESTATE

Goodwood in West Sussex may be steeped in ancestral history, but about 20 years ago it elected to take its golf offering down a very different route...

- Jeremy Ellwood

Many will know of the Goodwood estate in West Sussex but will naturally associate it with either horse racing or motorsport, not 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 “Golf at Goodwood isn’t necessarily the first thing people think of about Goodwood,” admits general estate and, of course, it's one of the few parts that is in operation 365 days a 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 I meet him in a drawing room at Goodwood House. This grand setting 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. "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've achieved and we're investing in it so it's an important part of what we do."