Reigate Heath Golf Club

Reigate Heath Golf Club was established in 1895 and plays over nine holes on heathland to the west of Reigate in Surrey. The broadcaster and former Open runner-up Peter Alliss once described the course as "a little gem", a description the club has continued to reference in its own history. The course has also featured among rankings of the country's most enjoyable golf courses, reflecting its compact but characterful nine-hole layout. Reigate Heath is an area of open common land on the western side of the town, giving the course the sandy, low-lying vegetation typical of Surrey's heathland rather than the chalk downland found closer to the North Downs ridge a short distance away. Reigate is a historic market town at the foot of the Downs, with the heath forming one of its more open green spaces on the town's fringe. The club's nine-hole format makes it a quicker round than most of the county's larger courses, while its heathland setting places it within a tradition of Surrey golf shaped by sandy, well-drained ground rather than clay or chalk. Its long history, stretching back to the late nineteenth century, makes it one of the older clubs in this part of Surrey.