The Belfry (Brabazon)

Overview: The Brabazon is the championship course at The Belfry near Wishaw, Warwickshire. Designed by Dave Thomas with Peter Alliss, it is a 7,255-yard, par-72 parkland layout built for tournament golf. Lakes, streams, strategic bunkers and fast, undulating greens create a deliberate target test, but the course is remembered most vividly for two risk-reward holes: the short tenth and the water-crossing finish. The routing asks for accuracy as well as distance, and its famous shots are inseparable from the Ryder Cup moments played here.

History: The Brabazon opened in 1977 and became one of European golf’s defining match-play venues. It has hosted the Ryder Cup four times, in 1985, 1989, 1993 and 2002, more than any other venue. The 1985 match marked Europe’s first victory over the United States in 28 years, with Sam Torrance holing the winning putt on the 18th. The course has since received ongoing changes, including recent enhancements to the sixth, while maintaining its tournament identity.

Did You Know? Seve Ballesteros’s drive onto the tenth green in the 1985 Ryder Cup became one of the Brabazon’s defining images. The hole is a drivable par four, making the choice to attack or lay back part of its enduring appeal. At the other end of the round, the eighteenth bends left and brings water into play, where Torrance’s winning putt secured the 1985 contest. Few courses have two individual holes so tightly connected to one event’s remembered drama.