Cavendish Golf Club

Overview: Cavendish is a compact moorland course in Buxton, routed through rolling ground with heather, changes of level and greens that reward a thoughtful approach. The club lists the course at about 5,800 yards and par 68, so its difficulty comes from the terrain and angles rather than modern length.

History: The Duke of Devonshire commissioned Dr Alister MacKenzie to design an eighteen-hole course at Buxton in the early 1920s, and the course opened for play in 1925. MacKenzie’s work at Cavendish later became part of the architectural conversation around strategic golf and the design of Augusta National.

Did You Know? Tom Doak has described Cavendish as an important MacKenzie course, and the club itself presents the layout as an example of how a relatively short course can use landform to create varied decisions.