Ninety-eight years on the same 240 acres.
A walking course. A reading room. A bar.
Royal was founded on the principle that a golf course should be walked, not driven. Trolleys are welcome, carts are reserved for medical exemption. The intent was, and still is, that you finish the round and want to sit down with someone afterwards.
Everything we have added to the club in nine decades — the reading room, the children's lawn, the bar — was added because it gave members another reason to stay.
Five moments in the book.
Twenty Cotswold landowners commission James Braid to lay a course on 240 acres of parkland at Chipping Coombe.
Clubhouse re-opened after wartime use as a convalescent home. New oak panelling milled from estate timber.
First Royal Trophy hosted, with a field including Sandy Lyle and Tony Jacklin.
Full course restoration. Bunkers re-cut, the 13th cross-bunker reintroduced, 9th and 18th greens rebuilt.
On the books, with around twenty new members each year. Visiting guests welcome by appointment.
Who runs the place.
Charles Whitcombe
Since 2024. Plays off 4.
Alice Renham
Twelve years at the club. Knows everyone's name.
James Ainsworth
PGA Master Professional. Lessons by appointment.
Marina Voss
L'Enclume; Cliftonford, Bath. Joined Royal in 2018.
Tom Beresford
Nineteen years on these fairways.
Olivia Carstairs
Weddings, corporate days, private dining.