Golf Festival Weeks 2026 - The Best Summer Opens in England
Nine clubs across England that are hosting festival weeks this summer - here is your essential guide to every one, in date order.
When my dad was still around, I used to try and visit him every summer and play in the Teignmouth Open Week. And what an excellent experience it was. If you want a week of competition, some of it intense, some relaxed, in a variety of formats, then why not look at a festival week. A quick search of the Open Golf Events website brought up the following courses who are proudly promoting a festival week this summer. They all happen to be in England (I searched the whole world!) I don't know what that says about us brits and our love of a summer festival during our often short summer, but I do know that the courses listed below provide a great opportunity to make the most of it!
There are many more open weeks over and above those listed below - these are simply those that call their open week a festival! So if nothing here takes your fancy, why not head on over to the main site and find something that does!
The Festivals - in Date Order
Prenton Golf Club, Birkenhead
Prenton Golf Club - Festival of Golf
Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula
Prenton opens the summer festival season with four open competitions spread across the end of May and beginning of June. Established in 1905, this well-regarded parkland course plays to 6,457 yards and sits on the Wirral Peninsula with distant views of the Welsh mountains. The festival format covers all bases - a Mixed Open, Seniors Betterball, Team of 4, and a Texas Scramble - making it easy to enter as a pair, a group, or a team, whatever your preference. The club has a dedicated festival results page and a good track record of welcoming visiting parties.
Kirkby Lonsdale Golf Club - Festival Week
Lune Valley, near the Yorkshire Dales
Set in over 160 acres of spectacular Lune Valley countryside at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Kirkby Lonsdale is a course that regularly wins praise for both its scenery and its challenge. The 6,594-yard parkland layout was established in 1991 and features two anti-clockwise nine-hole loops, crossing Barbon Beck and offering superb views of the Howgill Fells. The June festival week has become a popular fixture on the northern calendar, described by the club itself as a real success, and runs across four days with formats to suit all combinations of golfer. The signature par-3 17th - played over Barbon Beck - is one of the most memorable holes in the region.
Bolton Old Links - Alister MacKenzie moorland classic
Bolton Old Links - Summer Festival
Bolton, Greater Manchester
Bolton Old Links is one of the finest moorland courses in England, designed by Alister MacKenzie - the architect also responsible for Augusta National and Cypress Point. The championship Par 72 layout runs in two concentric loops across exposed moorland above Bolton, with the back nine encircling the front. The summer festival runs for four days in late June and covers team, betterball, scramble, and ladies formats. An autumn festival follows in September for those who miss the summer version. Both the course and the MacKenzie heritage make this one of the most prestigious festival weeks in the north of England.
Canterbury Golf Club - Harry Colt design, established 1927
Canterbury Golf Club - Festival of Golf
Littlebourne Road, Canterbury, Kent
Canterbury Golf Club is one of the most distinguished courses in the south east - an 18-hole parkland layout opened in 1927 on 160 acres outside Canterbury and designed by Harry Colt, the same architect behind Wentworth, Royal Portrush, and Sunningdale. The Festival of Golf runs over five days in early July and is a well-organised, sponsored event with named competitions including the Cafe du Monde Over 55s Senior Open, the Brakes Texas Scramble, the Burgess Hodgson Scramble, and the WW Martin Team Stableford. Online entry is available via the club's own booking system. Entry fees are competitive for a course of this quality and pedigree.
Seaton Carew - England's tenth-oldest golf course
Seaton Carew Golf Club - Festival Week
Seaton Carew, County Durham
Few festival weeks are held on a course with credentials to match Seaton Carew. England's tenth-oldest golf club and among the first fifty worldwide, it was redesigned in the mid-1920s by Alister MacKenzie, making it one of only a handful of championship links courses the Augusta National architect shaped. The festival week runs over six days in early August and is the most extensive on this list - with six separate competitions covering gents 4BBB from both white and yellow tees, a mixed scramble, gents seniors betterball, and two team formats. This is a serious week of golf on a course that belongs on any bucket list.
Windermere Golf Club - inside the UNESCO World Heritage Lake District
Windermere Golf Club - Festival Opens
Windermere, UNESCO World Heritage Lake District
Windermere Golf Club sits in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage English Lake District National Park, established in 1891 and offering spectacular fell and lake scenery at every turn. The August festival spans eight days and offers five separate open competitions: Mens Pairs, Ladies Team, Team of 4 Scramble, Seniors Pairs, and a Mixed Open - making it one of the most varied programmes on this list. If you are visiting the Lakes in the summer it is hard to imagine a better way to spend a morning than playing a competitive open on this historic and beautifully located course.
Crowborough Beacon - Alister MacKenzie heathland, 800ft above sea level
Crowborough Beacon Golf Club - Beacon Festival
Crowborough, East Sussex - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Perched at around 800 feet above sea level on the southern slopes of the High Weald, Crowborough Beacon is one of the highest courses in the south east and one of its finest. Golf has been played here since 1895, and in the 1920s Alister MacKenzie redesigned eight holes - earning him the princely sum of £700. The course plays 6,319 yards to a Par 71 with a slope rating of 133, rewarding accuracy and course management above all. The Beacon Festival runs for five days in August with a full slate of formats and takes its name from the old beacon on the hill. The club's literary connection - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle served as captain in 1910 - adds a pleasing extra dimension to a visit.
Tavistock Golf Club - moorland golf on the western slopes of Dartmoor
Tavistock Golf Club - Festival Week
Dartmoor National Park, Devon
Founded in 1890, Tavistock Golf Club sits on the western slopes of Dartmoor National Park on common land above the ancient stannary town, with wide fairways, sweeping moorland views, and lightning-fast greens that drain exceptionally well year-round. The course is unusual in that it is public access common land - you may share your round with sheep, Dartmoor ponies, and walkers enjoying the same open space. The four-day festival week in August covers Ladies Scramble, Vets 3BBB, Open Scramble, and a 4BBB Team Open, providing a wide range of entry options. The club is rightly proud of its catering and hospitality, and the pro shop team led by Russell Binney provides an excellent welcome.
Sleaford Golf Club - Alliss & Thomas design, Lincolnshire
Sleaford Golf Club - Open Festival Week
Sleaford, Lincolnshire - the final festival of the summer
Sleaford rounds off the summer festival season in fine style. Established in 1902, the course was originally laid out to nine holes and later revised by the design partnership of Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas into the 6,505-yard Par 72 that plays today. The Open Festival Week spans five days from the late August Bank Holiday into early September, with teams of four entering across a full slate of formats - the Over 55 Am Am, Any Combination Am Am, Texas Scramble, and a Ladies Am Am. At £80 per team of four, it represents strong value on a well-maintained Lincolnshire parkland. Online entry is available directly through the club website, which features a dedicated festival page with all the details.
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