Romford

Few clubs in the London commuter belt carry quite the institutional weight of Romford Golf Club. Founded in 1894, it ranks among the oldest established clubs in Essex, and its heathland layout has quietly endured through more than a century of suburban expansion around it. James Braid, the five-time Open Champion who became one of Edwardian golf's most prolific architects, had a hand in shaping the course — lending it the thoughtful, strategic bones that heathland layouts of that era are celebrated for.

The course occupies a stretch of classic Essex heathland: sandy subsoil, heather, gorse, and the kind of firm, fast turf that rewards precise ball-striking over brute force. Romford sits just inside the M25 corridor, close enough to East London that the city feels present, yet the moment you're on the course, the suburban roar largely disappears.

For members, this is a proper private club with a genuine sense of continuity — a place where the history of the game in the region feels tangible underfoot rather than merely decorative.