Set in beautiful Dorset countryside on the eastern edge of town on the main A30, Yeovil Golf Club offers spectacular views with the superb 18 Hole Old Course and the 9 Hole Newton Golf Courses. Both courses are superbly presented and provide a golfing challenge and individual character. For those not so proficient the courses do nothing to discourage the beginner.
Also available at the Academy is the 20 Bay Floodlit Driving Range offering automated Power Tee's or high quality free standing mats. Wander around the well stocked Professional Shop probably the largest in the South West. After your round of golf, enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of the Clubhouse which has a fully stocked bar and restaurant offering a first class catering service with comprehensive menu choices.
We also encourage Golf Societies and details of Golf Day Packages are available on this site or can be obtained from the General Office. Visitors are most welcome at all times.
Golf at Yeovil
Yeovil has prospered since early times. A diversity of industries was introduced including brewing, brick making, clockmakers, gloving, twine making, dairy products and engineering, Today more sophisticated technology has taken over, and the population has grown from 2,274 in the early 19th century to 40,100 at the last 2001 census.
Golf at Yeovil began when a prominent group of local businessmen reached an agreement with a farmer at Preston Plucknett, who obtained permission from Sir Ponsonby Fane of Brympton to convert some land into golf holes. The Club was born following a meeting on the 7th November 1907 in the Town Hall, presided over by the Mayor, W.H. Cole Esq, when the proposition was carried for a golf club to be established and named Yeovil & South Somerset Golf Club. Golf was played on this course through the Great War years, albeit on a limited scale. The land was later converted back into farming.
Following the war a decision was made to rent land at Babylon Hill. In April 1920 a 9-hole course was formally opened for play and, at this point, the playing of golf at Yeovil moved its roots from a Somerset location over the river Yeo county boundary into Dorset.
In 1936 the club decided to extend the number of holes to 18 and in June 1938 they were formally opened, followed by an exhibition match by golfers, including the 1938 Open Golf Champion from Parkstone Golf Club, R.A. Whitcombe. In 1954 Yeovil Golf Club purchased the land.
As a result of growing membership the possibility of purchasing additional land from the nearby Newton Surmaville estate was explored. The club was fortunate in having as its Chairman local solicitor, Roger Stokes, who made the approach to the estate owner (Mrs Rawlins), and conducted the subsequent purchasing negotiations. The new 9-hole course, The Newton Course, was formally opened in July 1991 by the Club's President, Richard Southcombe, followed by a series of matches in which a good friend of the club, Ian Botham, took part.
Land behind the clubhouse, purchased many years ago, added to the club's resources and was developed into a practice ground. The practice ground was fully developed into a driving range, coupled with a new shop/workshop for the Professional and was formally opened by the very same Ian Botham in July 2003.
The original clubhouse at Babylon Hill was a wooden building suitable at that time for a smaller membership, but did not have full catering facilities. In 1964 the present building was opened. Today the present facilities are being examined to assess the necessary requirement to lead the club into the next 100 years.
