A tiny county with an outsized golfing name
Rutland doesn't have the numbers to compete with its bigger neighbours, but what it lacks in volume it makes up for in quality. Four clubs cover the county, spread across Oakham, South Luffenham and Stamford, and between them they take in heathland, parkland and the open rural land around Rutland Water. Green fees start from £70, which reflects the standard on offer rather than any attempt to compete on price with the bulk-volume courses further south.
The headline act is Luffenham Heath Golf Club in South Luffenham, a heathland course designed by Charles Hugh Alison and set across a rolling stretch of Rutland countryside that was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1973. The ground here supports fescue rough, pines, oak, hawthorn, gorse and heather, and the course plays firm and fast in the way heathland golf should. It's used as a Regional Qualifying venue for The Open Championship, ranks among the Top 100 golf courses in England, and the putting surfaces are kept to tournament standard year-round. For a county this size, having a course of that calibre is a considerable asset.
Parkland golf around Oakham and Stamford
Greetham Valley Golf Club, near Oakham, represents the other main course type found in the county: proper parkland golf, but on a resort scale. It runs to two full 18-hole championship courses plus a 9-hole academy layout, and membership brings access to 29 courses nationally, which makes it a practical base for golfers who want variety without leaving Rutland. It's the kind of setup that suits a group with mixed abilities, since the academy course gives newer players somewhere to work on their game while others take on the championship layouts.
Stamford's contribution is Woolfox Golf & Country Club, an 18-hole course set across 180 acres of rural land, with a Nobu restaurant attached for those who want the day to extend well beyond the eighteenth green. It's a more recent addition to the county's golfing map and brings a different kind of amenity to the mix than the traditional clubhouse fare found elsewhere in Rutland.
Rutland Water and the wider appeal
Rutland Water Golf Course, also near Oakham, sits in the rural land around the reservoir that gives the county much of its identity and its tourist appeal. It's a quieter, more understated option than Luffenham Heath or Greetham Valley, but its setting close to the water makes it a pleasant round for those who know the area for its walking and watersports as much as its golf.
What Rutland offers, in short, is contrast within a small footprint. You can play a genuinely serious heathland course with Open qualifying pedigree at Luffenham Heath, follow it with resort-style parkland golf at Greetham Valley, and finish with something more relaxed near the water or in Stamford. Few counties this compact can offer that range, and the proximity of the four clubs means a short trip can take in more than one style of course without much driving between rounds. For golfers based in the East Midlands looking to try something beyond their usual circuit, Rutland rewards a visit disproportionately to its size.