Goodwood (Downs)

The Downs Course is one of two great 18-hole layouts at the Goodwood Resort, and dates back over a century.

Located just outside the Goodwood Racecourse, the Downs Course has been around since 1914, with the great James Braid being the man to design the layout.

The course begins and ends as a parkland layout, but the middle section features a number of holes on the Sussex Downs to provide a different challenge.

Check out our full piece on the Goodwood Resort here.

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Golf first came to the Goodwood Estate shortly before the First World War, and in 1914, the great James Braid was brought in to lay down a new course.

That would become known as the Downs Course, and the design has all the hallmarks of the five-time Open Champion.

Tom MacKenzie (of MacKenzie & Ebert) has made alterations to the layout in recent years, while there has also been the addition of a brand new short game area as well, to elevate the resort even higher.

Known as the Downs Course for its incredible run of holes through the middle of the layout that are situated on the Sussex Downs, the course actually starts and ends in a parkland fashion. The downs holes have a lovely open quality, and the grand vistas are matched by the style of the golf. By contrast, the parkland holes are often played through tree-lined corridors along the valley bottom – a very different style of golf. If you’re playing from the tips, expect a long day, as the Downs Course pushes past 7,100 yards.

The course begins with a difficult par 3, one of 200 yards. Trees run down the entirety of the left side, while there is also a bunker on either side of the green. It is a very difficult opening hole to get you on your way. A pair of tricky par 4s follow in what is a testing start. Both of more than 440 yards, the 2nd is a bit of a card-wrecker and the same is true of the 3rd. The former features a split fairway, with some 70 yards of thick rough and gorse separating the two sections of short grass. Make sure you find the first bit of fairway so you have a chance at hitting the green with your approach. The 3rd is even longer, playing as a dog-leg right around the trees. The fairway is angled diagonally to the tee box, so it is narrower than it looks. Two bunkers sitting in front of the green mean that the approach has to carry all the way to the putting surface.

The 4th is the first of the par 5s on the Downs Course, and it is a brute at more than 560 yards. Avoid the fairway bunkers with your tee shot, and then lay up short of the path and the sole tree that sits in the middle of the fairway to give yourself the best line in for your approach to the green. 5 and 6 are both generous par 4s, and good scoring opportunities. The former is a dog-leg left of 370 yards, but if you can find the fairway, then there is a great chance of making it onto the green. Meanwhile, the 6th is only 330 yards – even from the tips. Find the fairway and you should only have a wedge in hand to find the putting surface.

Having made the trek from the valley up to the Sussex Downs, you are faced with a 470-yard par 4 that usually plays into the prevailing wind. Sweeping right to left, the tee shot must be placed well wide of the large bunker on the inside of the dog-leg – there are no short-cuts here. What you can do with the second (or third) is run one down the hill. Generously, Mackenzie took a bunker out to the left of the green and replaced it with a hollow. The view as you approach the 7th green is the highlight of the round. The back nine then comes to a close with a par 3 and another difficult par 4. The 8th is 190 yards and requires a well-struck long iron to get you to the putting surface. There isn’t a single bunker on the 450-yard 9th, but there is still plenty of trouble if you find yourself offline. The green is small, and guarded by small hollows instead of bunkers.

The back nine begins with another testing par 4. Again, the fairway is wide and there are no traps in sight, but there are plenty of hollows instead, and those can really interfere with your progress down this hole. The 11th is the first of three par 5s on the back nine of the Downs Course. The drive has to carry some way to get to the fairway, and when you get there, three fairway bunkers await anything slightly offline. Three more cross bunkers provide a good line and distance for your lay up before taking a shot to the green. The 12th is the shortest hole on the course. At just 160 yards, it is not the longest, but there are four bunkers surrounding the putting surface. 13 moves slightly to the right, so aim to find the left side of what is a generous fairway. From there, the green is guarded by two sand traps, and the front is much narrower than the back of the green.

Both 14 and 16 are double dog-leg par 5s, but the latter is almost 100 yards longer than the 14th. 14 turns right twice as you reach the westernmost part of the property, with anything pulled left of the fairway on your second shot having the danger of finding the out of bounds down the left side. The 16th hits the 600-yard mark and turns right then left, with four bunkers in the landing zone from the tee shot. The second shot then needs to be played out to the right. In between sits the tricky 15th, which at 430 yards, is a card-wrecker late on in the round. The two trees on the right side of the fairway must be avoided if you are to find the green with your second.

The tough closing stretch on the Downs Course at Goodwood also sees the last of the par 3s. The penultimate hole is 200 yards in length, with the approach to the green being played over water. Carry that, and the green is quite welcoming, but there is a bunker to the left of the putting surface. The final challenge is another lengthy par 4, one of more than 470 yards. Four bunkers – two on either side of the fairway – are in the landing zone, while two more traps guard the last green. Trees also close in on both sides to make the test that bit harder for your final approach of the day.

Where is Goodwood located?

Goodwood is a few miles inland from the south of England, just outside the town of Chichester. It is 30 minutes from Portsmouth, while Southampton is an hour away. By road, the city centre of London is just 75 miles to the northeast. The A27, which runs from Wiltshire through to East Sussex, runs along the southern side of the property.

Chichester Station is the nearest to Goodwood, four miles from the resort. Trains go through Chichester on routes from Brighton, Southampton, London Victoria and Portsmouth frequently. Southampton Airport is the closest geographically to Goodwood, around an hour away to the west. However, it is very much a seasonal airport, and only a few flights leave and arrive each day. London Gatwick is the more obvious choice for foreign visitors, with the second busiest airport in the country being just 45 miles to the northeast of the resort.

Are there any NCG Top 100s: England venues nearby?

Thanks to its location in the south of England, there are plenty of courses near Goodwood that make it on to the NCG Top 100s: England list. Hayling, West Sussex, Liphook, Blackmoor and Hindhead are all within 25 miles of Goodwood.

What golf facilities does Goodwood offer?

Along with two great courses – the Downs and the Park - Goodwood is also home to a golfing academy. The Copse, as it is known, has a driving range and a new short game area which has recently been opened.

What are the green fees at Goodwood?

The price of a green fee at Goodwood changes throughout the year, depending on the season. It is also different depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend.

For more information on current green fees at Goodwood, visit their website here.