Heathland restoration for Royal Wimbledon

Royal Wimbledon Golf Club in Surrey, England, has now completed eight years of renovation work, with contractor MJ Abbott executing a masterplan created by Mackenzie & Ebert. 

The design firm conducted initial planning and developed its plan in the mid-2010s, and work began in 2016. 

Tom Dunn designed the original Royal Wimbledon course in 1882 but the club moved to its present location in 1907, with a Willie Park Jr layout that was redesigned in 1924 by Harry Colt. 

A century later and the renovation work aims to ensure Royal Wimbledon remains among the best courses in the county. “The approach from day one was to make the whole course play more consistently from start to finish and to emphasise the heathland character of many holes,” said Tom Mackenzie. “We have sought to bring elements of that character to the lower areas, which are more parkland in style.” 

An extensive heathland restoration is also taking place. “Many holes lie within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), with trees being removed to give the heather and turf room to breathe,” said Mackenzie. “This opened views across to the North Downs from the first tee, which had previously been cloaked with trees.” 

The plan covers all golf course features, including new forward tees, as well as substantial irrigation and drainage upgrades. 

“The first phases on the drier, upper holes were done through operational capital, but the scale of the drainage needed on the lower holes meant that the approach changed, and funds were raised to complete the project quickly,” said Mackenzie. “Each phase was scrutinised before construction started to ensure that the approach was consistent.” 

At the par-four first, trees were cleared to open up long-range views from the tee, bunkers were reshaped, and the green was expanded to its original size. The eighteenth was rebuilt with fairway bunkers reconfigured and the green revamped to make it a fairer test. 

“As the project developed through the phases, it also became clear that the fourteenth needed to be realigned to address a safety issue and the solution was to make the hole a short par five, breaking up a run of tough par fours from eleven to sixteen,” said Mackenzie. “The additional shot to par means that the overall par matches the course rating, but, more valuably, it has produced a visually stimulating hole with many more choices and options. It has turned a tough par four that most would kindly have described as a slog into a fun birdie opportunity, so it has been a big improvement to the layout.” 

Throughout the renovation, the design team has made use of aerial photography from 1924, cross referenced with old plans from the club’s archives. “The oblique aerial photographs were from the year that Colt’s revised course opened, with Park’s original holes still clearly visible,” said Mackenzie. “We also found interesting ground photography of holes like the fifth, which were used during the shaping process. MJ Abbott did a great job recreating these shapes. 

“A wonderful aerial of the thirteenth and seventeenth greens was also found, showing how much these holes had become overgrown and how the style and number of bunkers had been diluted to the obvious detriment of both holes. These images inspired the work, but in researching the club’s minute books, it was found that Colt’s bunkers had immediately proved impractical to manage, so it would have been folly to restore exactly those bunkers with their associated problems. The look produced is certainly faithful to that of a century ago but in a more maintainable form.” 

Bunkers have been restyled and repositioned with the aim of improving the course’s aesthetics, playability and strategy. “The club has a great heritage and a priority for us was to create bunkers that were built to the best modern standards, but in a way that make them look appropriate to a historic course like this,” said Mackenzie. 

“A big change in character was the creation of closely mown areas around greens, while also restoring the greens to their original size, both of which emphasise the sophisticated original shapes. Many were the creation of Colt, but our historical research highlighted a surprising number of Park greens had been retained too. 

“Understandably, the club saved the hardest and most costly phase until last; those on the lower, wetter holes. This has involved the installation of vast amounts of drainage along with the rest of the irrigation, green and bunkering work. Acidic gravelly soils were selected and brought down to build the fairway bunker surrounds to allow them to become thin and wispy in the same way that those on the upper heathland holes are, bringing the character of the two different levels together.” 

This article first appeared in the July 2024 issue of Golf Course Architecture. For a printed subscription or free digital edition, please visit our subscriptions page. 

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