A members’ club,
into its second century
Laid out by a Cornishman who had won The Open, in the parkland of the Basset Estate. Owned by its members since 1996, and shaped by the people who have played it ever since.
A course by a major champion,
in a great estate
In 1922, Jim Barnes was asked to lay out a course in the parkland below the Basset estate at Tehidy. Barnes was Cornish-born – from Lelant, on the north coast – and by then one of the most decorated golfers alive: US PGA champion in 1916 and again in 1919, US Open champion in 1921, and, three years after Tehidy opened, Open champion at Prestwick. No course in Cornwall carries that lineage.
The Basset estate had stood for some 700 years. The parkland Barnes worked with – mature trees, gentle contours, the sheltered inland ground of West Cornwall – gave the course its character. That character has not left it.
Refined across
a century
After the war, C.K. Cotton – one of the period’s most respected course architects – reworked and extended the layout, giving the course the par 71 form and balance it holds today. The revisions preserved Barnes’s original parkland instincts: angle and position over raw length, the mature canopy as natural boundary, the inland ground as foil to the Cornish coast.
In 1998 three lakes were brought into the layout, reshaping several holes and adding the water carry that now defines the back nine’s signature par 3. The hazards changed the inward half without disturbing the continuity Barnes had established in 1922.
The course & scorecardHow the club became what it is
Jim Barnes lays out the course
Barnes drew on the natural contours of the Basset Estate parkland. By the time the course opened he held two US PGA titles and a US Open. The Open Championship at Prestwick would follow in 1925.
C.K. Cotton redesigns and extends
Cotton reworked and lengthened the layout to its modern par 71 form, preserving Barnes’s parkland instincts while giving the course the structure it holds today.
Members acquire the freehold
The club purchased its own freehold – becoming, in the full sense, a club owned by those who play it. No distant board, no corporate landlord. The decisions belong to people with a handicap card and a fixture diary.
Three lakes reshape the back nine
Three lakes were added to the course, bringing the water carry that now defines the signature par 3. The hazards changed the inward half without disturbing the parkland continuity Barnes had established.
A century complete
Tehidy Park marked a hundred years. The membership that took freehold ownership in 1996 now carries the club into its second century – the same parkland, the same inland setting, the same catering team that has served the clubhouse since 1991.
The parkland at Tehidy
Excellent course which is challenging and well maintained.
Jonathan Lamb
Jonathan came to Tehidy after twelve years as Senior Teaching Professional at Woburn Golf Club, where he worked alongside coaches including Alex Hay, Luther Blacklock, John Stirling, and John Garner. He holds the TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) Level 1 qualification.
His role at Tehidy covers individual and junior tuition, custom club fitting on the Foresight GCQuad, gap testing on the SkyTrak simulator, the Pro Shop, and club repairs. The shop stocks Callaway, Titleist, Ping, Glenmuir, FootJoy, Powakaddy, Motocaddy, and Under Armour, with Foremost Golf Click & Collect also available.
The Pro Shop
& indoor bay
The SkyTrak launch monitor simulator is available for gap testing, practice sessions, and fitting. A comprehensive gap test includes your session, a full data email, and a personalised bag tag. Custom fitting, club repair, and re-gripping are handled in-house by Jonathan and the team.
The shop is stocked with equipment and clothing from Callaway, Titleist, Ping, Glenmuir, FootJoy, Powakaddy, Motocaddy, and Under Armour. Foremost Golf Click & Collect is also available for online orders.
The people behind the club
A catering team in the same kitchen since 1991, a membership that governs its own affairs, and a junior programme that charges £5 for Saturday coaching.
The catering team at Tehidy has been with the club since 1991 – over thirty years in the same kitchen, serving the same membership. Club Steward Kath Hoyle and the team are the reason the clubhouse reviews repeatedly cite value-for-money cooking. Cygnets is open to non-members; the Thursday senior lunch is a fixture in West Cornwall. FSA food hygiene rating: 5 out of 5 (December 2024).
Clubhouse & dining →The club’s committees and boards are drawn from the membership itself. Men’s, ladies’, seniors’, and junior sections each have their own programmes and competition calendars, with reciprocal golf across the South West. No joining fee applies to any membership category. The Intermediate ladder runs from eighteen through to twenty-nine, and the junior programme charges £5 for Saturday coaching.
Explore membership →Come and play Tehidy Park
Visit for a round, join the club, or dine in Cygnets. Each path into Tehidy begins at the same address.