Woking Golf Club Key Information
A truly lovely heathland course blessed with some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking greens around. After a gentle opener, some of the front-nine holes that follow are among the most visually uplifting and strategically clever you will play anywhere.
The short par-4 start is followed by a superb par 3 recently enhanced by the removal of a large oak and bunker improvements. There’s no let-up in quality throughout, with the vista from the elevated 6th tee perhaps the best on the course.
REASONS TO PLAY WOKING
- A case study in strategic course design as well as a beautiful place to play
- A chance for you to decide for yourself which is the best of Surrey's famous Three Ws around Woking
- A strong and enjoyable test of heathland golf from start to finish
RANKINGS
UK & Ireland Top 100 Golf Courses 2025/26 - 79
Set just a few miles apart and playing over some of Surrey’s most glorious heathland terrain, Woking, West Hill and Worplesdon make up the county’s famous ‘Three Ws’. Woking, long regarded as significantly influential in golf course architecture circles, is the oldest of the trio dating back to 1893. All three sit comfortably inside Golf Monthly's Top 100 Golf Courses UK & Ireland rankings.
Everyone will no doubt rate these three courses slightly differently, but if push came to shove, I would probably say West Hill is the prettiest of the trio, Worplesdon potentially the most scorable overall, and Woking the toughest. Others will disagree, but I can safely say that on a fine day, whichever of the three you happen to find yourself on, you will have a very enjoyable round of golf indeed.
The start at Woking is interesting, with a short, sometimes reachable par 4 sloping down to the green, then a long, demanding par 3 across a valley. It’s probably as easy to start three, four here as four, three! That par 3 has been significantly enhanced of late with the removal of a large oak and some bunker improvements.
There really is no let-up in the quality of the test after this, with the 3rd cambering awkwardly against the slope, the 4th set perilously close to the railway, and the elevated 6th tee providing a quite delightful vista – perhaps the most majestic on the course. I can remember standing on that tee spellbound by the view of the hole ahead the first time I climbed up to it.
Back-to-back par 5s at 14 and 15 bring the best chances to score heading home. The green on the former butts right up to the terrace of the charming white and green clubhouse.
The original course was the handiwork of Tom Dunn, whose extensive design CV includes Broadstone, Hayling, Sheringham and many more. Club members John Low and Stuart Paton then oversaw changes to the layout in the early 20th century, while architect Tim Lobb created a wonderful new 16th hole a few years ago playing across a pond to a mischievous, rollercoaster green framed by towering pines.
This visual gem of a hole features a common Woking design trait – a bunker a little way short of the green to foreshorten things visually and confuse you yet further over your club selection for the 150-yard shot in hand.
Woking is a case study in the art of strategic golf course design as well as a beautiful place to play.
What's new for 2025/26? What our panellists said…
Woking set the bar for golf course design 100 years ago and that bar is still satisfactorily high. The club is in good hands, soldiering peacefully on. Who wouldn’t want to while away two days a week here. Conditioning is very good throughout now the fairway watering is established (since 2021) and tree clearance has improved the feel of the course, with the heather improving, too. Little wow, though, for me.
Woking is a traditional Surrey heathland layout and has some of the best, if not the best, green complexes in the area. Simply moving the pin from one spot to another can completely change the difficulty of the approach shots. I would say that Woking has the best green complexes out of Surrey's famous Three Ws [West Hill and Worplesdon are the other two].
Woking Golf Club location
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Woking Golf Club scorecard
Best Courses Near Woking
Best Places To Stay Near Woking Golf Club
Gorse Hill Hotel, Woking - Book now direct
Gorse Hill is an elegant mansion enjoying a peaceful location surrounded by gardens in the beautiful Surrey countryside. Woking Golf Club is right on the doorstep. The stylish bedrooms each have a flat-screen TV, work desk, luxury modern bathrooms with complimentary toiletries and high-speed WiFi.
De Vere Horsley Estate, East Horsley - Book now at Booking.com
Amid quiet, extensive Surrey parkland, De Vere Horsley Estate offers guests free access to its leisure facilities, including croquet lawn, football pitch, gym and indoor swimming pool. It is made up of two venues - Horsley Place and Horsley Towers - and is about eight miles from Woking Golf Club
Woking Golf Club Gallery
WOKING Golf Club HISTORICAL TOP 100 RANKING UK&I
- 2025/26 - 79
- 2023/24 - 83
- 2021/22 - 83
- 2019/20 - 80
- 2017/18 - 86
- 2015/16 - 95
- 2013/14 - 99
- 2011/12 - 93
- 2009/10 - 85
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Woking the oldest golf course in Surrey?
No. The three oldest courses in Surrey are Guildford (1886), Redhill & Redhill (1887), Epsom (1887) and Limpsfield Chart (1889). Sadly, Redhill & Reigate closed down in 2019 after more than 130 years. Woking Golf Club was founded in 1893 and is comfortably older than its famous Three Ws close neighbours at Worplesdon and West Hill.
Who designed the golf course at Woking?
The club was founded in 1893 with the course initially designed by Tom Dunn, a prolific course architect of the time who was also responsible for the original layout at Broadstone, another Golf Monthly UK&I Top 100 course in Dorset. There were then a number of alterations in the early part of the 20th century under the guidance of John Low and Stuart Paton, two prominent members.
