The Park Course

The Park Course is Golf At Goodwood’s second full eighteen and provides a clear contrast with the Downs. Designed by Donald Steel, it winds through eighteenth-century parkland around Goodwood House, between ancient cedars, mature trees, open fairways and carefully positioned bunkers. It lacks the dramatic elevation of the Downs, but its quality comes from a subtle reading of the historic park and a flowing, walkable rhythm.

The site was once a deer park. Goodwood notes that grazing deer naturally kept the woodland floor open beneath the trees. When Donald Steel designed the modern course, he worked with this established parkland structure rather than a completely manufactured site. The great storm of 1987 and elm disease later removed a number of important trees, leading the estate to replant selected areas and maintain a continuing programme of canopy and woodland management.

Goodwood currently lists the course from 5,584 to 6,650 yards, par 72. Donald Steel uses broad fairways, subtle slopes, switchbacks, doglegs and well-positioned bunkers. At its maximum 6,650 yards the Park has enough scale to provide a serious test without losing the accessible character that distinguishes it from the Downs. Accuracy, placement and line selection are generally more important than pure power.

Management of the park also serves environmental objectives. Raising tree canopies improves light and airflow to the woodland floor and supports the estate’s bluebell population. Goodwood has replanted areas affected by storms and tree disease. The course therefore depends on a living vegetation heritage: Steel’s routing and the estate’s landscape management must evolve together to preserve corridors, views and healthy turf.

The Park surrounds Goodwood House and its flint walls within one of West Sussex’s great historic landscapes. Several approximately three-hundred-year-old cedar trees are among the defining natural features. Topography is gentle and the course is considered comfortable to walk. Trees provide visual framing and separation, while open ground and views towards the house constantly remind golfers that the layout sits within an old aristocratic estate.

The Park forms part of a complete Goodwood golf offering with the Downs, The Copse short-game facility, the Academy, Goodwood Hotel, spa, gym and restaurants within the wider sporting estate. The course has also hosted professional events, including a EuroPro Tour tournament broadcast on Sky Sports. Its wider role is to provide a high-quality, walkable and welcoming eighteen within one of Sussex’s most celebrated historic estates.