Iconic Clubhouses Across the Pond

Did you ever consider that certain clubhouses project the very essence of our game of golf, its history and tradition? They’re icons in the truest meaning of the word.

Here in the States, August National would top the list. One look at that white structure at the end of Magnolia Lane and you instantly think of golf in the spring with the dogwoods and azaleas in bloom.

But what about across the pond in Great Britain and Ireland where the game began? Certainly the R&A clubhouse (pictured above in a photograph taken by our member Barbara Doe Hansen from Cascade Hills Country Club) tops that list. Every time I see an image like this I think of Old Tom Morris, hickory shafts, featheries, men in plus fours, women wearing hoop skirts on the course.

Here are a few more images of clubhouses that move me in similar ways, in part because their interiors are as iconic as their exteriors. I’d welcome your additions to the list.

Muirfield
The iconic backdrop to the 18th green underwent an extensive renovation in 2018. Not to worry, the carvery lunch inside still carried on.

Sunningdale
The members of Glen Arven Country Club at Sunningdale in 1991. The post-round G&T on the patio is among the finest in golf.

Royal Liverpool
A grand clubhouse befitting this most hospitable of clubs. The front entrance is especially beautiful when the ivy is in bloom.

Royal Lytham & St. Annes
The post-round dinner at Lytham makes one quickly forget the battle with the 200+ bunkers on the course. A night in the adjacent Dormy House is a unique piece of the Good Life on England’s Golf Coast.