Play Competitive Golf in Yorkshire

Yorkshire hosts one of England’s richest calendars of amateur open competitions, with singles, pairs, mixed and team events staged throughout the year across the broadest possible range of golfing terrain. The county’s opens span true links on the East Yorkshire coast, classic MacKenzie heathland in the moors above Leeds, mature parkland in the old industrial valleys of West and South Yorkshire, and remote moorland tracks high in the North Yorkshire Dales. Competitive fields are typically strong — Yorkshire produces and attracts a deep pool of low-handicap amateurs — and many clubs run long-established open weeks dating back decades. Whether you’re entering a Saturday medal close to home or planning a full open-week trip around the county, the 2026 calendar makes it straightforward to find a Yorkshire event that suits.

Few English counties can match Yorkshire’s golfing depth. From Harry Vardon’s years as professional at Ganton in the 1890s to Alister MacKenzie laying out his first ever course at Alwoodley in 1907, the game’s formative period is woven directly into the county’s clubs. Yorkshire has staged a Ryder Cup, multiple Walker and Curtis Cups, more than 25 Yorkshire Championships at Ganton alone, and a long roster of Brabazon Trophies, Amateur Championships and English Amateurs. That heritage sits alongside an unusual variety of terrain — heather-clad moorland above Leeds, sandy inland links in the Vale of Pickering, true seaside courses on the Holderness coast, and parkland layouts in the river valleys of the West and South Riding. For amateurs, it means open competitions can be played on courses that have hosted the best in the world, often for green fees that bear no relation to that pedigree.

Ganton Golf Club, founded in 1891 in the Vale of Pickering between York and Scarborough, is the only inland course ever to have hosted The Amateur Championship — and it has done so three times. Built on a sandy inlet that produces firm, fast-running turf, it plays as an inland links: fescue fairways, deep gorse, and a celebrated set of cavernous bunkers, several of which have steps cut into them. Harry Vardon was professional here from 1896 to 1903, winning three of his six Open Championships during his time at the club. Course modifications by Vardon, James Braid, J.H. Taylor, Harry Colt, Alister MacKenzie and Tom Simpson have left a layout that is widely regarded as one of the finest in England. Ganton hosted the 1949 Ryder Cup, the 2000 Curtis Cup and the 2003 Walker Cup, joining a tiny group of clubs to have staged all three. Gary Player once remarked that it was the only inland course in Britain worthy of holding an Open. For amateurs the headline event is the Yorkshire Challenge, run annually as part of the club’s open programme.

Alwoodley Golf Club, set on Wigton Moor about five miles north of Leeds city centre, was the first course ever designed by Dr Alister MacKenzie — the architect later responsible for Augusta National, Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne. Founded in 1907, the club called in Harry Colt to review MacKenzie’s plans before construction; Colt approved them enthusiastically and the original routing remains largely intact today. The course now stretches to almost 6,900 yards from the back tees and plays to a par of 71 across rolling heather, silver birch and gorse. Restoration work by Ken Moodie returned the bunkers close to MacKenzie’s original specifications, and more recent work by Clyde Johnson has opened the heathland character of the course back up. Alwoodley regularly hosts R&A, England Golf and Yorkshire Union events, and famously declined the chance to host the 1933 Ryder Cup on the grounds that the clubhouse was too small. It is consistently rated inside the top 50 courses in Great Britain and Ireland.

Moortown Golf Club sits just half a mile from Alwoodley on the same stretch of north Leeds heathland and was MacKenzie’s second course, opened in 1910. It hosted the second Ryder Cup in April 1929 — the first time the match was played on British soil — when Great Britain beat the United States 7-5 in front of a then-record crowd of around 15,000, despite snow and hail interrupting practice. Walter Hagen captained the visitors and George Duncan the home team; Samuel Ryder presented the trophy himself at the post-match dinner. The course is shaped by classic moorland turf — springy underfoot, with peaty subsoil — and a strong set of par 4s that demand accuracy from the tee. The famous “Gibraltar” short hole and the closing run home are particularly well regarded. Moortown has since hosted multiple English Amateurs, Brabazon Trophies and PGA events, and remains one of the most historically significant clubs in the north of England.

Howley Hall Golf Club, near Morley on the outskirts of Leeds, is another West Yorkshire course with a MacKenzie connection — the doctor was involved in revisions to the layout in the years after the First World War, and the club has since become home to the PGA Yorkshire Open Championship. Established in 1900, Howley Hall plays to around 6,500 yards and a par of 71 from a plateau looking out over the Calder Valley towards the Pennines. The course is best known for its closing stretch: the 15th is a 461-yard stroke index one par 4 ringed by bunkers, the 16th a long par 5 with a sleeper-clad ditch short of the green, and the 17th borders the surviving ruins of the original Howley Hall mansion. Greens are quick and true, the fairways tighter than they first appear, and the practice facilities — including an indoor TrackMan-equipped performance centre — are among the best in the area. Open competitions here regularly attract strong fields from across the county.

Wath Golf Club, founded in 1903 and based at Abdy near Rotherham since after the Second World War, is one of South Yorkshire’s oldest clubs and one of its friendliest. The course measures 6,096 yards to a par of 70 and is laid out on flat, easily walked ground — a particularly welcome feature for golfers who prefer to play without a buggy — but the defences are subtle rather than absent. Narrow fairways funnel between mature trees, and the small, well-protected greens punish anything other than an accurate approach. The 22-acre practice area is generous for a club of this size, and the clubhouse and pro shop have built a strong reputation for hospitality. Reached easily from junction 36 of the M1, Wath’s opens are well known locally for their competitive but welcoming character and excellent value.

Hornsea Golf Club, founded in 1898 and on its present site since 1908, sits just inland from the Holderness coast in East Yorkshire and has an unusual architectural pedigree for a club its size. The original layout was by Sandy Herd, the 1902 Open champion; Alister MacKenzie was brought in to revise the greens in 1912; James Braid added bunkering recommendations in 1924; and Howard Swan oversaw further work from 2010. The result is a parkland course with a strong links character — gorse, wind-blown thorn, sandy soils and a near-constant coastal breeze — running outward for the first seven holes towards the town’s landmark water tower before a double loop of five short holes leads into what many regard as the finest closing six in Yorkshire. At 6,647 yards and par 72, Hornsea is one of the strongest tests in the East Riding and runs a busy open programme that draws entries from across the north of England.

Yorkshire’s golfing trips are easy to extend into something more memorable. The North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales — both national parks — sit within easy reach of the county’s main golfing clusters, offering long walks, stone-built market towns and some of the most distinctive landscape in northern England. York itself is a short drive from Ganton and from the Leeds heathland courses, with its Roman walls, medieval Shambles and the soaring 13th-century Minster. Closer to Hornsea, the East Riding coast runs from the chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head down through Bridlington and the wide sands of the Holderness peninsula to Spurn Point. Inland, the old wool and steel towns of West and South Yorkshire have been quietly transformed by independent breweries, restaurants and music venues — Leeds, Sheffield, Wakefield and Harrogate are all within an hour of most of the courses on this page.

For visiting golfers it adds up to an unusually rounded trip: a county where you can play an Alister MacKenzie original on heathland one day, a links-influenced coastal course the next, and finish the evening in a Yorkshire pub with a pint of locally brewed bitter — the kind of golfing experience that, for many amateurs, is exactly the point.