Golf at Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire, UK.

Golf at Heythrop Park – Enstone, Oxfordshire, England.

Driving through the beautiful mid-summer countryside of England, I was struck by the similarity to details gleaned from years of reading Dick Francis, P. G. Wodehouse, James Herriot and of course innumerable movies and so on.

From the depths of “Horse Country” – Cheltenham town and a number of quaint little market towns like Stow-on-the-wold, Chipping Norton, Bourton-on-the-water and the like, we drove through the lovely “A” Roads, completely deserted except for the occasional Land Rover, complete with attached horse-box, to get to Heythrop Park, an Historic Country Manor located in Enstone, Oxfordshire.

Heythrop is a magnificent pile, commissioned by the then Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot in the early eighteenth century and built lovingly by architect Thomas Archer, incorporating all the beautiful Roman influences much loved by Charles Talbot. Owing to certain financial setbacks the estate was leased (according to the fact sheet) to the Duke of Beaufort, who apparently used, for light recreation, to bring his thoroughbred hunters and pedigreed hounds from Badminton in not-so-far-away Gloucestershire, to chivvy the red and bushy tailed British fox in what is today Heythrop Hunt country.

The Manor House hove into view at the end of a 3 or 4 km long wooded driveway, where we saw a few rabbits and hares darting across the road and stopping suddenly, mesmerized by our powerful headlights. The facilities which are today run by a commercial venture and primarily used for large weddings, conferences and so on, include amongst other things, a nice 9 hole golf course located within the rolling, undulating parkland, dotted with fine English Yew and Oak trees, with occasional views of the surrounding hills, woods and pretty stone crofters cottages and stables.

Replete with and fortified suitably by a rather hearty full English breakfast – scads of scrambled eggs, toast, butter, cheese, legions of sausages and nice crisp bacon washed down with approximately a gallon or two of coffee, I decided to try and get a round of golf before wending our way towards the afternoon horse races at Windsor, our next stop. (My old pal Tarun and I had rather over indulged ourselves on the fine malts the previous night, having been rather overcome by the experience of fine living and playing at being Lord of the Manor!).

The first fairway rolls out from the main front gate of the Manor House while the Golf Club and Pro Shop are located in one of the Wings of the main building. I waddled (quite literally) off to the clubhouse, collected a half set of assorted irons, woods and a middling putter and wandered off to the first tee in search of a playing partner or two. I chanced upon two friendly members, Alan Betts and his son Ben, both of whom were just warming up. They welcomed me to join them and we set off in a companionable manner along the wide first fairway. On my third shot (since I had tangled myself up unwittingly in some shrubbery), I pulled out my 7 Iron to roll the little white sphere back onto the fairway – only to find, to my chagrin, that the 7 Iron in my half set, was a child’s golf club! (Serves me right for not checking the bag first and anyway trying to play golf nursing a sore head!).

Meandering along the undulating fairways, I was (in between shots) enjoying the hilly scenery around me – breathing in the clean country air and simply revelling in the atmosphere (taking time out as it were, to smell the flowers.) The UK in Summertime was so powerfully evocative of dear old Ooty and the surrounding Nilgiri Hills, where I grew up, right down to the assorted flora and even in some cases fauna, not to mention the surrounding grassland, which is ablaze with summer flowers, that I felt completely at home!

Well, at the end of the round, walking along the path back to the Clubhouse from the 9th green, I found to the surprise of Alan and Ben, that I had racked up a reasonable score that morning, shooting 39, at 3 over par for nine holes. (It must be true that Dame Fortune favours the brave in collusion with the God Dionysus, because to be completely honest, I simply hauled off and let fly at every tee with whatever suitable club came to hand except, of course, that fore-shortened number 7!).

Heythrop is quite centrally located in that it serves as the Gateway to the Cotswold Hills and within very comfortable driving access to places of interest like Stratford-Upon-Avon (William Shakespeare’s birthplace), Henley-on- Thames (where the great annual Oxford and Cambridge Regatta is held), Blenheim Palace (the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill), the historic medieval town of Warwick, the University Town of Oxford (the city of dreaming spires), Silverstone Racetrack (for Motor sport enthusiasts) and again, not very far away, is the Town of Windsor famous for the Castle and its historic racecourse (for those aficionados preferring the Sport of Kings - horse racing, to noisy and smelly cars!).

My suggestion is that it is well worth trying out if you intend a holiday or even a weekend, in that part of the world. You are more than likely to find some rather excellent and surprisingly inexpensive deals going, via the Internet – and I can personally vouch for the fact that the sheer beauty of the Main Building, the scenery around, the bar’s selection of wines and spirits, the breakfast, AND the Golf, will make it worth your while!