Cleeve Hill Golf Club in Cheltenham, England, has appointed Clayton, DeVries & Pont as its consulting architects.
The course is located on the highest point in the Cotswolds with long views of Wales to the west, and the towns of Cheltenham to the south and Winchcombe to the north. Horse racing’s Cheltenham Gold Cup was run on Cleeve Hill between 1815 and 1855 before moving to its current location at Prestbury Park.
Cleeve Hill was originally designed in 1891 by Old Tom Morris and it has been widely reported that Alister MacKenzie also worked on the course. In 2021, the club was rescued from the threat of closure by Cotswold Hub Co, an entity owned by Gloucestershire-raised Nick Hovey and Sam Foyle, who acquired a 125-year lease on the course.
CDP will develop plans for the course, a project that will be overseen by Sam Cooper, with assistance from Frank Pont and Joe McDonnell.
Cooper said: “We spend a lot of time reflecting over what makes great golf. Cleeve Hill isn’t a resort with manicured fairways and championship design. It’s a golfing playground – one of the few places where one shares one’s round with sheep grazing over this expansive, rugged and breathtakingly beautiful site. Whether playing over old quarries of Cotswold Stone or to greens set in Iron Age forts, the holes are truly unique. This project isn’t an exercise in making Cleeve ‘conventional’ or in changing its character. Our intention is to help a singular course become even more so.”
“Since taking on responsibility for ‘the hill’, we have focused on general improvements to the course’s condition and providing an open and inclusive atmosphere at the club that appeals to golfers and other visitors alike,” said Simon Pope, general manager at Cleeve Hill. “The support we have received from the Cleeve Common Trust, which oversees the management and conservation of the land upon which the course sits, has been invaluable.
“We have been delighted by the responses received from golfers all over the world. We are excited to be moving on to the next phase. With plans for a new clubhouse and facilities well under way, we are now turning our attention to the course by exploring the possibilities for long-term improvements to its architecture. The passion and vision that Sam and the rest of the team have shown for our course is something we are very keen to harness.”