When Basingstoke members voted in 2018 to sell their original Kempshott Park site and move across the M3 to the nearby Dummer Golf Club, the future vision must have a seemed a distant prospect. During the transition, which began in 2022 and saw members playing from mats, temporary tees and greens while the earth was literally being shifted around them, a heads-down determination was needed to keep the end in sight.
Yet on 2 May 2026, with the last piece of the puzzle — the new 1907 Academy driving range — in place, 1991 Masters Champion Ian Woosnam and Solheim Cup star Charley Hull joined Basingstoke’s Walker Cup player Charlie Forster at the official opening of the “new” Basingstoke Golf Club.
It marked the advent of a prestigious new golf course in the South of England, the completion of a remarkable transformational journey, and a day to celebrate and reflect on what had gone before.
The journey
Basingstoke Golf Club first opened for play as a nine-hole in 1907. After requisition during The Great War for aircraft training, a new tree-lined, 18-hole layout was fashioned in 1928 by five-times Open Champion James Braid at Kempshott Park, a 106-acre site that remained its cherished home for nearly a century.
The new millennium saw that land earmarked for additional housing by the local council, but with the much larger, proprietary-owned Dummer Golf Club in need of fresh investment, two things came together. Basingstoke members sold their land, and moved to Dummer in 2021.
They had a significant upgrade in mind: a new premium Hampshire course with state-of-the-art infrastructure fit for the future. The scale of the ambition and the chance to start almost completely from scratch soon attracted wider interest and attention.
Bruce Weller, of Weller Designs Golf Architects, was engaged to return the character of the course to one that was in keeping with its rolling downland location. His wider expertise also proved vital in steering the project through complex local planning rules and respecting the historic surrounds. The redesign was substantial. While 30 per cent of the old fairways and much of the existing topography were retained, new tees and large tilting greens of creeping bent grass were created on every hole, to generate fresh challenge and spectacle and completely change the nature of the course.
In addition, new leading-edge irrigation was installed, with two new lagoons containing an estimated 35,000 cubic metres of water and a complex collection system that allows the course to be water self-sufficient. There is also a brand new clubhouse, driving range, short game area and state-of-the-art green-keepers’ compound.
However, the project wasn’t just about construction and landscaping. The new Basingstoke Golf Club required a brand new governance structure and operating model, and the merger of a previously private members club with a proprietary club, each with its own ingrained culture and dynamic. All while meeting a commitment to members to keep the course in play throughout.
What’s new?
The clubhouse
The new clubhouse is now 18 months old, having opened in September 2024. Designed by Feilden & Mason, whose previous work includes rebuild projects at the Royal Norwich and Royal West Norfolk golf clubs, it is a one-storey construction, integrating reclaimed bricks and roof tiles with new materials. The result is a modern clubhouse that gives a nod to the club’s original character. Viewed from the course, the building is dominated by the rolling roof, which flows across the clubhouse facilities, blending into the surrounding hillsides.
The contemporary interior feels spacious, light and modern, housing the pro shop, a sizeable bar and dining area, income-generating conference facilities and a large veranda overlooking the 18th green with panoramic views of the course.
The 1907 Academy practice facilities
The impressive practice facilities, located right next to the carpark, raise the bar with their innovative low-impact, eco-friendly design, continuing the sustainability theme that runs through the whole redevelopment project. The Academy building was developed in partnership with SYNLawn UK and Build With Hemp, using more than five tonnes of carbon-storing hemp-based materials in both its construction and insulation, combined with responsibly sourced English oak.
It has 16 driving bays (including 11 indoor bays with a rainwater-fed “living wall” of ivy and honeysuckle), a 300-yard driving range and a Studio 1907 custom-fit teaching facility. There is also an impressive outdoor short-range practice area next door, with bunkers, aprons and semi-rough to facilitate practice of the varied green-side shots required on the course.
It all adds up to a modern complex that improves on existing conventions and provides super-convenient warm-up, practice and coaching facilities, part of an overall package to help the club attract high-level junior golfers.
The course
Any new club ultimately stands and falls on the quality of the golf course. This one is set in 162 acres of rolling chalk downland, with a high point of 180 metres, allowing for views of the surrounding countryside but without the severe undulations that make walking the course a chore. The chalk-based terrain, combined with regular sand dressing, ensures exceptional drainage and year-round play.
Oak, aspen and birch all feature in small copses on the course, but stand back from the fairways and do not cramp the golfer. Instead, course definition is mainly provided by the natural rolling terrain and shimmering fescue grass, giving an overall impression of space. The course has a mere 35 crumb bunkers, but those that have been installed have been carefully placed, and with rubber crumb filling, they play well and are in keeping with the chalk surround.
With large creeping bent greens (the first in Hampshire), and the two new lagoons and five ponds as well, the course has a great mix of par 3s, 4s and 5s and several water hazards, combining risk-and-reward holes with others of a more classical design.
It also offers four tee options to challenge all levels of golfer, ranging from the “55” at 5,540 yards to the “68”, which provides a more 21st-century test at 6,840 yards.
The experience
We teed off the 68s, having warmed up in the 1907 Academy, with practice balls provided as part of the green fee.
The opening four holes (off the 68 card) are all two-shot holes that reveal key features of the course. There’s variation in complexity and direction, as well as space to drive, with the potential for a variety of pin placements on different sections of the large contoured greens to completely change the challenge of the second shot.
The 4th hole is downhill, but requires a long tee shot to avoid the lagoons on the left onto a fairway that pinches as it gets further down. Dramatic views open up of the course and the well-protected green.
The 5th is a very attractive par 3 over water, and the first candidate for signature hole. The easier pin position is front right, but a back left position rewards a drawn approach shot, using the rolling slopes or backstop to access the pin.
There is more water on the 6th (a par 5), where any approach short and left will get wet, followed by a risk-and-reward 297-yard par 4, over a chalk pit guarded by a lone tree standing sentinel to catch overambitious tee shots. The 8th is a long par 3 but once again presents a tee shot to really look forward to. Any shot onto the green from the tips will have been a clean strike, but a very challenging pin position on the back shelf requires something special.
The course divides into two 9s that start and end at the clubhouse. At 3,261 yards the front 9 feels manageable, but the challenge comes on the back 9, measuring 3,579 yards. Once again there’s great variety, with both the 10th and the stunning par 5 17th offering birdie opportunities, while the 14th, another signature hole candidate, is a relatively shorter severe dog-leg par 4, which wraps around a protective pond. Forget about blasting the ball straight at the green though: the carry is too long and a strategy is required.
There are also a number of holes that fall into the “majestic and long” category, particularly into the prevailing wind.
The 12th at 450 yards has a fabulous undulating green if you can reach it with two good hits, and the 15th is a genuinely tough par 5 that sweeps uphill requiring three good shots. As for the 16th, a 231-yard slightly uphill par 3 in the modern trend, club golfers may need to consider the driver, particularly if the pin is placed over the bunker guarding the right-hand side of the green.
A sweeping downhill par 4 back to the clubhouse provides a memorable end to the round. It’s another enticing driving hole, but from the back tees requires a long shot into the green guarded to the left by a large signature pond.
The verdict
Basingstoke is a hugely enjoyable course to play, and challenging off the 68s with an already impressive downland layout that is bound to mature and improve. There’s space to use the driver, but even after a well-placed tee shot, the golfer’s work is far from over. The large impressive greens defend the course well, and set-up a range of memorable approach shots, with intricate undulations to test a player’s putting ability.
Ian Woosnam said: “It’s a proper test of golf with excellent all-round facilities from the clubhouse to the new academy. You can see the thought that’s gone into every detail to create a course that will be a great experience for members and visitors alike.”
Charley Hull also praised the venue and proactive facilities: “The greens are exceptional and the world-class practice facilities and fun course make this somewhere you’d want to come back and play again.”
It’s a tribute to the delivery of a masterclass in transformation. With the club still striding forward, visitors may not need to know about the incredible hard work, dedication and ingenuity required to get there — but they can certainly enjoy the results.
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Iain Johnson
Iain Johnson is a freelance golf travel writer who has played many of the top courses around the world. A single-figure-handicapper, Iain has over 40 years experience in amateur golf, having developed a passion for the game as a junior at The Gog Magog Golf Club and during a 4 year spell at St. Andrews University. Iain enjoys competetive senior golf and is also partial to a post round tipple in the 19th.