STOKE PARK

I never expected to write about Stoke Park again after its closure in 2021, but it seems reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated.

- Jeremy Ellwood

Not only is the lovely Harry Colt course still there in all its glory, but much has also been going on behind the scenes as the estate works closely with various parties to forge a masterplan for a new future.

The course reopened in June having been fully maintained during closure, so is in fine condition. The two nines of the original Colt layout have been flipped, so the famous par 3 that inspired the original 16th at Augusta (which used to play across the pond) now bears the same hole number at Stoke Park.

Visitors can play at 15-minute intervals from Wednesday to Sunday or purchase a 'Corinthian' golf package (from £1,200), providing an allocation of points to use in exchange for tee-times.

There's no clubhouse, locker room or food and beverage facility, but the masterplan includes restoration of the grade one-listed mansion, a full refurbishment of the Pavilion, additional hotel rooms, a new clubhouse and a major course upgrade, reducing the hole count from 27 to 18 and cherry-picking the best playing corridors and vistas.

I’ve said before and I’ll say again that I’m not a fan of golf in the Olympics in the current format – and not a huge fan of it being there anyway to be honest – but there’s no doubt the men’s and women’s events were highly exciting. Before I come onto those, though, I just want to raise a couple of things about Olympic golf in general.

I’ll be honest, at one point, I actually turned the golf off because the broadcast quality was poor. I’m not naming any names, but some of the comments pointed to a lack of knowledge and understanding.

Visibility was another issue. Before the event, the usual articles did the rounds about how important it is for golf to be on terrestrial television. Well, for long periods of both the men’s and women’s tournaments, you could only watch via Discovery+ – which isn’t free (unless you already had a Sky subscription).