Wentworth West Course: Harry Colt’s Championship Parkland
Wentworth’s West Course is a championship parkland layout whose tree-lined corridors and shaped greens reward position over power. It has evolved through careful modernisation, but its identity remains tied to Harry Colt’s original 1927 routing.
The West Course is the best-known layout at Wentworth and one of the defining stages of professional golf in England. Harry Colt designed it in 1927 as the Championship No. 2 Course, using the Surrey woodland to frame the fairways and create a sequence of strategic approaches. Its reputation is not based on length alone: the course asks players to place the ball carefully, choose the correct side of a hole and control the approach into greens that can be difficult to hold.
A Colt design refined for modern championship golf
Wentworth’s West Course was designed by Harry Colt in 1927. Its tree-lined corridors and parkland setting give it a composed visual character, but the shaping of fairways and greens creates a demanding strategic test. The club modernised and refined the course with Ernie Els in 2009, followed by further renovation work in 2016 in consultation with Ernie Els Design.
The work has retained the essential Colt character while improving the playing surfaces and bringing the layout to modern championship standards. The West Course’s greens now feature SubAir technology, which helps regulate moisture and maintain firm, consistent conditions. This is a technical improvement, but its purpose is to preserve the kind of controlled approach play that has always defined the course.
Tree lines, water and the correct angle into the green
The West Course rewards players who think beyond the tee shot. Tree lines can narrow the view and make a slightly misplaced drive difficult to recover, while water and bunkers influence the safer route on several holes. A tee shot that finds the fairway but finishes on the wrong side can leave a blocked approach or a green that is difficult to hold.
The layout asks for accuracy with the longer clubs and reliable iron play. The finishing stretch is particularly important when the course is set up for tournament golf, as the pressure builds and the player must decide when to attack and when to protect a score. It is a parkland course, but its strategic language is as exacting as many championship links.
A century of major professional golf at Wentworth
Wentworth’s relationship with elite golf began before the BMW PGA Championship. The club hosted the International Match in 1926, a contest often regarded as a precursor to the Ryder Cup, and the West Course has since been the principal stage for the BMW PGA Championship. The tournament has given the course a regular place in the European Tour and DP World Tour calendar.
The East and West courses were both designed by Colt, while the Edinburgh Course is a later and separate layout. Visitors interested in the BMW PGA venue should make sure their enquiry is for the West Course. The club’s official golf pages provide the current information on course access and arrangements.
