Royal Ascot Golf Club

Royal Ascot Golf Club was founded in 1887 and named by Queen Victoria. For more than a century it played inside the racecourse, on Ascot Heath. In 2000 the racecourse owners gave notice that the land was needed, and the club moved: members took the new clubhouse in December 2004, the course opened in August 2005 and the official opening followed in 2006.

The present course sits on 150 acres of wooded Crown land at Sunninghill Park, in the south-west corner of Windsor Great Park. Jonathan Tucker of the Sports Turf Research Institute designed it, and J and E Ely built it. It is a par 70 of 6,294 yards.

What it asks of you

A course built in the 2000s on Crown land had constraints an older club would not have accepted, and the result is a parkland layout that works within mature woodland rather than clearing it. The corridors are defined and the driving lines matter more than the driving distance.

At 6,294 yards to a par 70 it is not long, and the defence is placement. The STRI is an agronomy institute before it is a design practice, which shows in the turf and the drainage rather than in the shaping.

The club’s history is the odd part of its identity: 118 years in the middle of a racecourse, then a purpose-built course a few miles away. Very few clubs of that age are playing a course younger than their members.

What players say about it

This is a members’ club that takes visitors, and it is covered in the Berkshire course guides. The points below summarise what recurs. These are other people’s opinions, not ours: we have not played the course, and we name and quote no one.

What comes up in its favor

• The Windsor Great Park setting is what visitors mention first.
• Drainage and conditioning are consistently well reported, including through winter.
• The welcome and the clubhouse come up often.
• It is quieter and better value than the famous Berkshire heathland courses nearby.
• The routing through mature woodland gives most holes their own space.

What comes up against

• At 6,294 yards it is short for a course billed as championship length.
• It is new, and reviewers who came for the 1887 name sometimes say so.
• It does not stand comparison with Sunningdale, Wentworth and Swinley Forest, all within a few miles.
• The woodland makes recovery from a wayward drive largely impossible.

Getting there and when to go

The club is at Sunninghill Park in Windsor Great Park, five minutes from Ascot and about forty-five minutes from central London. Heathrow is half an hour away.

The course plays year-round and drains well. May to September gives the firmest ground. Visitor tee times are booked in advance.

Green fees

Visitor rates are set by the club. See the club’s own site.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources: OpenStreetMap for the location, the club’s published history and encyclopaedic entries for the 1887 founding, the naming by Queen Victoria and the relocation from Ascot Heath, and public course records for the designer, par and yardage. The opinion section summarises public reviews read in September 2026; we report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we reproduce no quotations.

We have not played this course, and this page is no substitute for a round. The club has not paid for this page, has not seen it before publication and has no say over its content. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.