The Course
A Harry Colt heathland layout.
Heather, sand, pine, and the strategic mind of one of the great twentieth-century architects.
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Whittington Heath is one of the better Harry Colt heathland layouts in the English Midlands. Colt redesigned the course in 1927, applying the same heathland-architecture principles he refined at Sunningdale, Wentworth, and Royal Portrush. The result is a course where strategy matters more than length, and where the heather and bunkering punish the half-hit far more than the slightly off-line.
The Colt principles
Colt’s design philosophy was strategic, not penal. Risk-reward angles into greens. Bunkers placed to seduce the bold line. Heather and gorse to make the recovery shot the real challenge, not a lost ball. The Whittington Heath layout is faithful to all of it.
The Gaunt remodel
In 2020 the HS2 high-speed rail corridor required land at the western end of the property. Jonathan Gaunt — the same architect who has worked at Panmure and Rotherham — oversaw a substantial remodel that absorbed the lost land while keeping the heart of the Colt layout intact. The new holes blend seamlessly with the rest of the course.
The conditions
The greenkeeping team, led by Course Manager Adam Wright, maintain the heather and the sand profile that defines a Colt heathland course. Bunkers are deep and revetted in places, shallow and shaped in others — following Colt’s original notes rather than blanket policy.