Beaverbrook Golf Club

Overview: Beaverbrook Golf Club occupies the grounds of Cherkley Court near Leatherhead in Surrey. The 18-hole course is set across a landscape of rolling ground, mature trees and open views, with the natural movement of the estate doing much of the work that a flatter site would need earthmoving to create. At 6,353 yards and par 72, it is a considered test rather than a purely long one. David McLay Kidd shaped the layout with eight-time major champion Tom Watson, and the result asks players to read the land, choose conservative lines when the ground narrows and use the contours around the greens rather than simply firing at flags.

History: The course opened in 2016 as part of the redevelopment of Cherkley Court, the former Surrey home associated with newspaper proprietor Lord Beaverbrook. Its design was a collaboration between McLay Kidd and Watson, an unusual pairing of a modern course architect and a player whose competitive experience informs the strategic detail. The club is private, so its identity is tied as much to the estate setting and hospitality operation as to a conventional daily-fee golf market. The available architectural record supports the 2016 opening and the two designers, while leaving finer construction milestones out of the profile.

Did You Know? Beaverbrook is one of the relatively uncommon British courses to carry both David McLay Kidd and Tom Watson in its design record. That pairing helps explain the course’s balance between broad visual movement and practical shot-making questions. The surrounding Cherkley Court estate is not decorative background only: its existing landscape gives the round its changing scale, from open Surrey views to more enclosed holes framed by established vegetation.