Prestigious UK golf course reopens after £1.5 million upgrade

One of England’s top golf courses has reopened after completing a stunning £1.5 million upgrade to its championship layout.

North Hants, an 18-hole heathland course in Hampshire, looks set to enhance its already renowned reputation with the improvements to the venue.

The bulk of the renovation centred around the bunkers at the 120-year-old club, which hosts Open Championship Qualifying among other prestigious events.

A combination of new and repositioned bunkers has improved the strategic challenge of the course, while every single hazard has faced an upgrade.

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In a bid to provide golfers with one of England’s best short game tests, North Hants now has 55 bunkers, a reduction of 21, including a new signature bunker on the 10th hole.

“We have reduced our total sand area by 18%, but there are seven brand-new bunkers out there which will improve the strategic challenge,” said General Manager Rob Climas.

“Using state-of-the-art construction processes, we can now be assured of high quality and consistency across all bunkers which will be presented in harmony with our traditional heathland golf course.”

For course manager Sam Evans, one of only 15 Master Greenkeepers working in English golf, and one of only 90 in the world, the changes will be a ‘game changer’.

As well as bunkering work, a comprehensive computer-controlled irrigation will monitor moisture levels across the entire 18 holes.

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“I am so excited that we can now take our golf course to a higher level,” Evans said.

“With our old bunkers, every time we had 5-10mm of rain we were losing 40 man-hours getting our bunkers playable again.

“That’s 40 hours not rolling greens, cutting fairways, approaches and tees, and ultimately not maintaining the rest of the facility to the standards we want.

“Rain events of that level happened 24 times last year at North Hants, so that’s nearly 1,000 man-hours lost simply to get the bunkers back in play.

He continued: “The new rubber crumb base we now have in all of bunkers is going to be a complete game-changer, freeing up time to complete other tasks.

“The greens will be even better to putt on, and all playing surfaces around the greens will be dramatically improved.”

North Hants is preparing for the return of the Hampshire Hog – an amateur competition won by a 14-year-old Justin Rose in 1995 – and the famed Hampshire Rose, for female amateurs.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.