Locker Rooms

Copyright Fred Vuich

Through the Keyhole

Kingdom staff have visited locker rooms far and near. Some are remembered for their hospitality, some for design, some for smelly socks. The following is our “Best” list— for all sorts of reasons

Augusta National

Best locker room for Chatting to past Masters Champions

Augusta National has reserved one of the finest rooms in the house for the lockers, or to be specific, the Masters Champions’ lockers. The most striking feature about the Champions’ Locker Room is its quiet intimacy, which is typical of the central section of Augusta’s clubhouse, the original plantation manor house built in 1854. The building has been painstakingly preserved and extended since it was converted into a clubhouse in 1931, and the manor house steadfastly retains a beautifully antiquated feel, including limited proportions. This is comfortably the smallest locker room among the following pages—and perhaps the most special.

Cape Kidnappers

Best locker room to... Show off a new camera

Even if you forgot your clubs, you’d still have the experience of a lifetime here. Serving New Zealand’s epic Cape Kidnappers golf course, this wood-and-stone Lodge offers 180-degree views of the Pacific Ocean and the jaw-droppingly beautiful cliffs around Hawke’s Bay. In addition to being a great place to relax, the lodge is the perfect place to not read the manual for your fancy new camera—but no worries: even the most ham-fisted photographer will take winning shots outside.

Centurion Club

Best locker room for... A whisky

Something new greeted us at the Centurion Club, where the club’s highest tier of members have their own whiskey bottle cabinet in the locker room. With a delightful parkland course, Centurion Club only opened in 2013 yet it is already established as one of the pre-eminent clubs of England’s south. The club is located in St. Albans, only an hour from Central London, but don’t expect pinstriped suits and City attitudes in the locker room; it was designed as a relaxed space and an escape.

Loch Lomond

Best locker room for... Chatting to the attendant

The clubhouse is the former seat of Clan Colquhoun, called Rossdhu Mansion and built in 1773. This Georgian manor house has been converted with great care and is complete with many original furnishings and antiques. The locker room is one of those transportive spaces in golf: Enter, and you instantly feel connected to the game’s roots. Designed in keeping with the rest of the house, long-standing locker room attendant Willie Henry is a master at remembering names.

Kingsbarns Golf Links

Best locker room in... Which to quote Thomas C. Latto

Post-round, if someone waxes nostalgic, raise your glass and say, “Ah, When We Were At the Schule…”, then let your voice trail off. Someone might recognize this as the title of a famous poem from Thomas C. Latto, a son of Kingsbarns who emigrated to Brooklyn, NY, in the 19th century. The setting is ideal, as at Kingsbarns the locker room is upstairs and offers spellbinding panoramic views across the course and the waves as they roll in off the North Sea—the poetry is everywhere.

Blessings Golf Club

Best locker room for... Contemplating architectural right angles

Located in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Blessings achieves the architecturally rare feat of somehow elevating the contoured landscape around it without stealing the spotlight from Mother Nature. Radiating Mid-Century Modern sophistication, but clearly an evolution of the style, the clubhouse designed by architect Marlon Blackwell eschews ye olde lodge conventions and compels thoughts of what’s yet to come.

Tradition Golf Club

Best locker room for... A west coast toast to Arnie

Arnold Palmer designed and built the course here in La Quinta, Calif. (which he covered in wildflowers to please his first wife, Winnie), and he had a house here as well. Unsurprisingly, the locker room suited his standards—and if it’s good enough for Arnie, it should be good enough for anyone else. Raise a glass and toast the greatest, then step back outside and marvel at the beauty.

Dundonald Links

Best locker room in which to say... “Beam me up, Scotty”

There’s something of a traditional Scottish hunting lodge about the clubhouse at Dundonald, although its locker room is the nearest resemblance we’ve ever seen to the Starship Enterprise. Grey tones lit by spotlights combine to striking affect with circular mirrors, ceiling features and flooring. It is thoroughly modern, elegant and perfect for trying out your best Captain Kirk one-liners.

TPC Sawgrass

Best locker room to... Not get a haircut while sitting in a barber chair

This chair started out at Sawgrass CC, which held the Players Championship before Pete Dye’s Stadium Course was built. In the 1979 Players, the weather came in hard and scoring soared. Ben Crenshaw took to the barber chair to get a trim and let off some steam, a few players gathered around, and a tradition of storytelling from the chair began. If you’re lucky enough to be near the chair in March, you’ll likely hear a good tale.

Carnegie Club

Best locker room for... Showing off your Andrew Carnegie trivia

With views over the Carnegie Links and the Dornoch Firth, the clubhouse at the Carnegie Club is posh but relatively straightforward—a rest for the eyes compared to the gloriously Edwardian interior of the estate’s Skibo Castle, once owned by Andrew Carnegie. As for showing off in the warm, oak-panelled locker room, jot this down: Carnegie gave away 90% of his wealth before he died— nearly $65 billion in today’s money.

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