Essendon Country Club

Essendon Country Club occupies the Bedwell Park estate between Essendon and Hatfield, a few minutes from junction 4 of the A1(M) and a short drive from Hatfield station. The clubhouse is the old Bedwell Park mansion, and the golf runs out over several hundred acres of undulating parkland, mature woodland and water.

There are 45 holes here, which is rare for Hertfordshire. The Old Course was laid out by Fred Hawtree in 1976 and is the tighter, more tree-lined of the two at a par 72 of 6,782 yards; the New Course followed in 1992 and plays longer and more openly. Alongside them is the Muntjac, a nine-hole par-three academy course. The Old Course has some genuine quirks, including a large tiered double green shared by the 3rd and 11th and a substantial tree sitting in the middle of the 7th fairway.

The junior pathway is one of the best-organised on the tour: a three-stage academy for six to twelve-year-olds that begins on the Muntjac, a graduate squad playing off shortened tees, and the Hawks section for twelve and over. There is a Toptracer range and a Trackman swing studio.