Rushmore Golf Club
Established in 1994, Rushmore Golf Club is known for its tranquil setting and the rare distinction of its 18 holes spanning two counties — Wiltshire and Dorset. This is identifiable out on the course, with the Wiltshire holes having no bunkers and the Dorset holes containing plenty.
Though the club itself is relatively young, the land on which it lies has significant historical interest. What’s more, the course can be seen as an ancestor of a much older course, once located on the Rushmore Estate.
Rushmore Golf Club is built on ancient parkland, located on Cranborne Chase within the West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding National Beauty.
Cranborne Chase spans 380 square miles and four counties. Its combination of gentle chalk grasslands, ancient woodlands and picturesque river valleys attract visitors from far and wide. Those with a love of golf have found the Rushmore course to be the perfect way to engage with this distinctive landscape.
The term ‘Chase’ refers to an area reserved for hunting by the land owner. A Chase was defined by historian William Page as ‘like a forest, uninclosed, and only defined by metes [houses and farmsteads within] and bounds [hills, highways, watercourses etc]; but it could be held by a subject. Offences committed therein were, as a rule, punishable by the common law and not by forest jurisdiction.’
Cranborne Chase has been owned by a succession of Earls and Countesses during its history, making it a popular spot for royal hunts. King John, King Henry VIII and King James I are all thought to have hunted on the Chase.
When hunting on Cranborne Chase, King John often stayed in what is today known as King John’s House on the Rushmore Estate. This house was originally a hunting ‘box’, and was used by King John in the early 13th century. The main part of King John’s House as it stands today dates back to the 13th Century and was built shortly after King John’s death in 1216.
Much of the estate’s continuous appeal is thanks to the work of Lt. General Augustus Pitt Rivers, who inherited the estate in 1880 and enclosed it. A revered archaeologist and ethnologist, Pitt Rivers helped sculpt and shape the landscape with touches like beech avenues and belts. He also spent many years creating a ‘pleasure grounds’ on the Rushmore Estate, known as Larmer Tree Gardens. These grounds were named after the ‘Larmer Tree’, thought to be a wych-elm under which King John’s hunts would start. A classical temple, bandstand, open-air theatre, dining hall, and summerhouses in rustic and Indian styles were all available free of charge to the public at the gardens. Larmer Tree Gardens are still open to the public today.
In 1896, Pitt Rivers introduced a golf course to the gardens. Known as the Rushmore-Larmer Golf Links, this can be viewed as an early ancestor of the Rushmore Golf Club course. Located a mile or so south-west of the modern course, this early course at Rushmore took advantage of many of the same natural characteristics as golfers can enjoy today.
Starting close to Larmer Tree Gardens, Rushmore-Larmer Golf Links played easterly, crossing what is today the B3081, before heading back west to the gardens. Some holes were only a stone’s throw from the sixth and seventh holes of the modern course.
This course was designed by Tom Dunn. A pioneer of golf course architecture, Dunn was a professional hailing from Musselburgh, Scotland. He went on to lay out many courses in England, the US and his native Scotland.
Given the limited earthmoving equipment available to Dunn at this time, it is fair to assume the Rushmore-Larmer Golf Links course was fairly rudimentary. This would have meant the rolling landscape synonymous with the Rushmore Estate would have shaped and influenced this course significantly. A relic of the course can still be seen today. The shape of a fairway of one of the holes can be made out to the east of the B3081 road close to the junction with Oakley Lane, in a sloping natural valley.
As part of his fantastic work on the Rushmore Estate, Pitt Rivers also created a deer park a short distance to the north of the golf course, as well as an ornamental parkland.
The land remained largely unchanged over the course of the next 90 years, with successive owners of the Rushmore Estate maintaining the visual beauty and relaxing feel the deer park offered. This sense of preservation and conservation is reflected in the wider estate and is a major reason for its eternal appeal.
It is on the site of the former deer park that the Rushmore Golf Club was built.
In the 1990s, the Rushmore Estate came into the ownership of Michael Pitt Rivers, the great grandson of Lt. General Augustus Pitt Rivers. Under Michael’s ownership, the Rushmore Golf Club was created, seamlessly melding with the wider estate and offering a new way for visitors to enjoy this unspoilt corner of England.
Rushmore Golf Club opened for play in 1994, and the course has gone from strength to strength since then. Various enhancements have been made to the course since its opening, with a number of additional water features added. Tees and greens have also been enhanced and built to USGA standards.
With a committed membership and supportive ownership of the estate, the course today offers a stunning setting on which to enjoy a round.
Tollard Royal, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP5 5QB
Office: 01725 516391
Clubhouse: 01725 516466
Proshop: 01725 516326
Created by intelligentgolf version 10.1.2.
