Ellesborough

Few golf clubs in England carry quite the sense of occasion that Ellesborough does. Perched on the Chiltern escarpment near Aylesbury, the course occupies one of the most dramatic natural stages in the Home Counties — the chalk hills rolling away toward the Vale of Aylesbury, with Chequers, the Prime Minister's official country residence, sitting close enough to the grounds that the course has long been associated with a certain discreet prestige. That backdrop alone sets a tone before you've struck a ball.

The Chilterns give Ellesborough genuine topographical drama: elevation changes, exposed ridgelines, and the kind of firm, fast-running turf that chalk downland produces in dry summers. Tree-lined fairways alternate with more open, wind-exposed stretches, and the views across Buckinghamshire on a clear day are genuinely distracting in the best sense.

As a private members' club, Ellesborough rewards visitors who arrive with their wits about them. The par 71 layout plays longer and trickier than first impressions suggest, and local knowledge — particularly how the hill winds behave — counts for a great deal.