Scaling New Heights

Heading south-west out of London, there is a tendency for golfers to find so many heathland treasures in Surrey and Berkshire that they rarely cross the county boundary into Hampshire.

This is a shame, for yet more heathland treasures lie in wait for those of a more adventurous spirit. Not least of these is magnificent Liphook near the West Sussex border, designed by Arthur Croome with Tom Simpson then making small adjustments in the late 1920s.

This wonderful layout is already ranked 66th in Golf Monthly’s UK&I Top 100, despite perhaps not enjoying the wider reputation of its Surrey and Berkshire cousins. But things may be about to change on both ranking and reputation fronts following a major upgrade masterminded by course architect Tom Mackenzie, which was completed early due to coronavirus.