Golf courses 'within the rails' at horse racing tracks

[Thomas Dai]

I've just been reviewing some really nice photos on a previous GCA post about the old course at Musselburgh and wondered how many other golf courses are built 'within the rails' at horse racing tracks?

Those that immediately come to my mind are -

Musselburgh Old (obviously)
Great Yarmouth/Caister
Aintree
Doncaster
Hereford
Ludlow

I think Ascot and Epsom might have courses close nearby, although maybe not necessarily 'within the rails', and I recall seeing a pro tournament earlier in the year from South Africa, was it maybe held in Durban (?), where some of the golf course seemed to be inside the horse racing track.

There must be others.

All the best

[David_Tepper]

Tom D. -

The Brickyard Crossing course has 4 holes within the oval of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the "Indy 500."

www.brickyardcrossing.com

DT  

[Marty Bonnar]

Kelso golf club in the Scottish borders shares the land with kelso race course. I played it a couple of times a while back. My one most abiding memory is of the first or second hole where I tried a long fairway wood which stayed a bit low and drilled its way straight into one of the freakin jumps which are made of lots of branches and straw! Not a happy fbd...

F.

[Jim McCann]

Gowran Park in County Kilkenny is a Jeff Howes design:

http://www.top100golfcourses.co.uk/htmlsite/productdetails.asp?id=1036

The opening and closing three holes lie inside the track, with the others spread out around the outside.

[Bill_McBride]

Aren't the cops at Royal Liverpool an old race course?

[Mark Pearce]

My home course, The Northumberland has holes inside, outside and crossing Newcastle race course.

[Pete_Pittock]

Aren't the cops at Royal Liverpool an old race course?

The used to be horse racing at The Country Club around 1 and 18

[Kevin Cahoon]

There are 9 holes, plus a range, inside Sandown Park racecourse in Esher.

[Ben Voelker]

The Royal Bangkok Sports Club plays outside over, and within an active horse track.  Its short and a little tight, but its a fun little course, especially with the hospitality!

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bangkok,+Thailand&hl=en&ll=13.738614,100.537841&spn=0.011818,0.021136&sll=39.83385,-74.729004&sspn=4.782755,10.821533&oq=bangkok&hnear=Bangkok,+Thailand&t=h&z=16

[Bob_Huntley]

Royal Durban, much tougher test than Duban C.C.

http://www.sa-venues.com/golf/kzn_royal.htm

Bob

[Sven Nilsen]

Here are a few early American courses:

1.  Coronado:


2.  Newspaper GC aka Tecumseh GC (also known as the Harlem Jockey Club, course by J. Foulis):




3.  Washington Park Club:



4.  Wheaton GC:

[Alex Lagowitz]

Tom D. -

The Brickyard Crossing course has 4 holes within the oval of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the "Indy 500."

www.brickyardcrossing.com

DT  

David,

I just looked at the aerial of this course, and noticed that one of the holes inside the speedway is horrific.  It has atleast 20 pot bunkers down both sides of the fairway and then a few scattered by the green.  Have you played this course?  What's up with that hole?

[John Mayhugh]

I think Ascot and Epsom might have courses close nearby, although maybe not necessarily 'within the rails', and I recall seeing a pro tournament earlier in the year from South Africa, was it maybe held in Durban (?), where some of the golf course seemed to be inside the horse racing track.

No course within the rails at Ascot, but there is one next door (I don't know anything about it) and Swinley Forest is just a couple of miles away. There is a training area adjacent to the course.  A perfect sporting day for me would be to have a winner at Ascot and then a late round at Swinley.

Santa Anita municipal golf course is quite close to the track, and there actually was a race course on the golf course property.  Both it and Santa Anita Park are on land that was part of Lucky Baldwin's ranch.

[Mark Steffey]

http://www.mychiangmaigolf.com/index.php/lanna

Lanna Sports Center in Chiang Mai Thailand has three 9s.  Course 3 starts inside the infield of a horse track.  Holes 1&2 are in the infield.  3 tee is inside and plays out side along with holes 4&5.  6 tee is outside and you hit back into the track infield where you finish up the 9.   The viewing grandstand is between holes 5 and 6.

par 36.  3289yd from the tips.

pretty cool

[David_Tepper]

Alex L. -

Sorry, I have never been to Indianapolis and know nothing about the course other than what I posted.

DT

[Mark Pearce]

No course within the rails at Ascot, but there is one next door (I don't know anything about it) and Swinley Forest is just a couple of miles away. There is a training area adjacent to the course.  A perfect sporting day for me would be to have a winner at Ascot and then a late round at Swinley.

Ascot has a cricket ground inside it, I have played there several times.  My recollection is that there were golf holes inside the rails but that was over 20 years ago. 

Looking at a Google Earth picture of Ascot, the cricket ground is still there but it looks as if the golf holes are NLE, though you can see where they were.  I assume the golf club (to the East) added new holes outside the rails.

[Sean_A]

I believe the Crown terminated the lease for Royal Ascot GC about 10 years ago.  I also think the Crown provided new lease land for the club to build a new course next to the old one.

Ciao

[Ash Towe]

Tauranga Golf Club in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand has a number of holes within the boundaries of  the local race course.

[Micah Woods]

The Madras Gymkhana Club in Chennai has all 18 holes inside the race track:

http://www.madrasgymkhanaclub.com/golf.php

http://www.flickr.com/photos/asianturfgrass/6308954616/in/set-72157628042803362

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Royal Ascot moved from within the course quire recently: http://www.royalascotgolfclub.co.uk/the-club/

I think Warwick Racecourse also encloses a golf course of some sort.

[Matthew Petersen]

Tom D. -

The Brickyard Crossing course has 4 holes within the oval of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the "Indy 500."

www.brickyardcrossing.com

DT  

David,

I just looked at the aerial of this course, and noticed that one of the holes inside the speedway is horrific.  It has atleast 20 pot bunkers down both sides of the fairway and then a few scattered by the green.  Have you played this course?  What's up with that hole?

Alex,

I have never been there either, but check out Matthew Sander's course tour here: http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,49194.0.html

The hole is question is the 9th. It certainly looks bizarre from an aerial, but on the ground it seems like a reasonable hole, and the appearance is not nearly so bizarre.

[Thomas Dai]

Some really good international selections. Thanks to all.

That's a nice amusing Keslo story Martin and Sven, great to see those old maps, many thanks for posting them. Interesting how some of the holes inside the rails at Newspaper GC - what an unusual name! - played over the jumps!

I think there may be golf courses at the horse tracks at Wincanton and Market Raison in the UK and there's horse racing and golf at both Linfield Park and Goodwood.

One aspect of golf courses within the rails of horse tracks is a lack of trees. I guess this is because the horse racing folk like to be able to see their horses run all the way around the track so any trees are kept low to aid visibility.

All the best.

[Jim McCann]

I'm just reading Pat Ruddy's Rosapenna book (featured on another current gca thread) and he mentions on page 58 the Leopardstown
Golf Centre in Dublin, which is "located in the middle of the city's horse race track".

I've been surprised at the number of golf courses in the modern era that still share facilities with the horse racing fraternity.   

[Carl Johnson]

Courtesy of a lurker, this letter to the editor appeared in Golf Digest, March 1964:

NO MAGIC GOLF CARPET IN BAGHDAD

We thought your readers would enjoy hearing about our golf experiences
in Iraq where my husband is stationed at the University of Baghdad.
The course is located in Mansur City, a suburb of Baghdad and was
built in the center of the Mansur race track. There are nine holes
with 18 different tees for a total of 5,672 yards at a par 70. There
is not a blade of grass on the course. The tees are packed sand, the
fairways are sand, and the greens are called "browns". Putting is
somewhat easier but fairway shots, pitching and chipping are extremely
difficult since there is no bite at all. The rough is exactly that and
is covered with a prickly plant called camel thorn. Green fees for
non-members are 98 cents and caddie fees are 56 cents for 18 holes.
One of the interesting rules on the back of the scorecard reads: "a
ball coming to rest on or near a desert rat hill or a mound of manure
or loose earth stacked for maintenance of the racecourse, or in a
horse's hoof mark or desert rat hole or scrape, or in a hole made by a
bird, may be lifted and dropped without penalty."

Signed,

Suzanne Grove
Baghdad, Iraq

[Doug Siebert]

I recall playing one in Ireland with my dad on the day of our arrival on my first visit, but I can't for the life of me remember where we stayed that first night.  It may well have been the NLE one at Tralee mentioned by BMS.  I remember it was a nine hole course, it was fantastically windy that afternoon, and I believe there was at least one hole outside the confines of the track - across the track on the far side from the grandstand.