Foxhills Golf Club
Foxhills Golf Club and Hotel Resort is located in Ottershaw, Surrey with very close links to London and near to London Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport. The club was officially founded in 1975.
The Foxhills Club is part of the Foxhills collection which also includes sister golf club, Farleigh.
History
Foxhills first took its name from the 18th Century politician Charles James Fox who came to live in the Surrey area in the 1780s after a troubled life involving heavy drinking and gambling. Forcibly, Charles James Fox resided in Surrey country estate with his wife Elizabeth Armistead. Some years after restoring his body and spirt with the help of his neighbour Sir Joseph Mawbey, 1st Baronet, Charles James Fox died in 1806.
Sir Joseph Mawbey, 1st Baronet did not long out-live Charles James Fox where he ultimately died in 1817. Sir Joseph bought the estate of Botleys in Chertsey in 1763, however upon his death, his Daughter and Son-In-Law, John Ivatt Briscoe [1] bought the estate which we know now as Fox’s Hill.
In the 1870s the estate was passed to a relative of John Ivatt Briscoe, Edward Hutton (British Army officer) who served as a veteran in the Anglo-Zulu and Boer wars. Lieutenant General Sir Edward Hutton, died in 1923 being buried in Lyne near Chertsey Surrey [2] . Before General Hutton’s death he sold the estate to Borthwicks in the early 1920s who were successful merchants.
The estate and farm what we call today the Manner grew extensively and not until the Second War did the family convert the farm, now the Bernard Hunt Golf Course, over to the Dig for Victory Campaign [3]
A consistent gradual decline in the 1960s saw the estate being sold once again where it turned into a golf club in 1975.
Clubhouse
The country club serves for not just membership holders but for families and non-members consisting of:
- Two Championship Golf Courses
- 11 Tennis Courts
- Healthspa
- Swimming
- Children’s Clubhouse
Golf courses
The club consists of two 18-hole championship courses that have staged a number of significant tournaments. A combination of parkland and heathland play can also cater to a 9-hole course.
Bernard Hunt Course Named after Bernard Hunt, MBE, an English professional golfer was the first head professional at Foxhills and served for 25 years. Hunt won 30 times on the PGA European Tour Tour whilst also playing in the Ryder Cup 10 times.[4]
- Holes: 18
- Par: 73
- Length: 6,892 yards
Longcross Course A slightly shorter championship course, testing the ability of both short, long, narrow and open holes typically tree-lined. April 2015 saw the longcross golf course added to the top 100 England golf courses [5] where by Foxhills Golf Club was also ranked in the top 50 UK & Ireland stay and play [6] stay and play golf club/courses.
- Holes: 18
- Par: 72
- Length: 6,743 yards
Manor Course Nine-hole course with a championship-standard design located close to the Foxhills Manor House.
- Holes: 9
- Par: 27
- Length: 1,143 yards
Tournaments
Foxhills has been a past venue for many tournaments including amateur tournaments and championships. More notably, European Tour’s Tournament Players Championship and the Tour’s Qualifying School. The Senior PGA Professional Championship Qualifying will be held at Foxhills after a three-year agreement was met in 2014.
The Foxhills Club have helped to start the careers of Ryder Cup player Paul Casey and Anthony Wall through the Foxhills Foundation junior golf programme.[7]