Hole by Hole Course Description
The course can play as a 9-hole or 18-hole course.
Several of the back 9 play off different tee positions to make for an alternative play of the greens.
Hole 1 Quarry – Par 3 White Tee 148 yds | Red Tee 122 yds
Hole 10 Quarry – Par 3 White Tee 178 yds | Red Tee 122 yds
A straight drive over hilly terrain will land your ball on the slope, which should feed it nicely onto the putting surface. However, the prevailing wind from in front and left can easily catch your ball if hit too high and deposit it on the flattish ground to the right, from where it is difficult to hold the green with your 2nd shot.
Playing as 10, the tee is in a slightly lower position to give a differnt angle to the shot.
Hole 2 & 11 Catterall Corner – Par 4 White Tee 406 yds Par 5 | Red Tee 401 yds
From the elevated tee bed, you can see all the way to the green. Your ideal line is the centre of the fairway between the trees. The beck, which runs down the middle of the fairway up to the corner of the green, is the challenge for your 2nd shot: do I take it on or not? An already long Par 4 could become even harder.
Hole 3 & 12 Coffin Wood – Par 4 White Tee 354 yds | Red Tee 317 yds
From the tee, your line is the corner of the left-to-right dog-leg. Longer hitters may be tempted to cut the corner, driving over the wall towards the crow’s nest, but should be aware of the trees and the internal OOB down the right-hand side. A second shot of around 150 yards should land you on the green, but anything long and to the right may find the water.
Hole 4 Tems Beck – Par 4 White Tee 341 yds | Red Tee 334 yds
Hole 13 Tems Beck – Par 4 White Tee 329 yds | Red Tee 325 yds
A straightforward left-to-right dog-leg offers a good birdie opportunity if played well, but presents similar hazards to the previous hole. In order to see your way into the green, keep your drive down the left-hand side of the fairway. Do not be long with the 2nd shot as the mound behind the green provides good nestling ground for your ball.
Hole 5 & 14 Dry Tarn – Par 4 White Tee 382 yds | Red Tee 303 yds
From the elevated tee, it’s WYSIWYG all the way to the putting surface. However, the cross beck is waiting to swallow your drive, the grassy mound front right of the green will arrest any run, and the dry stone wall at the back could lead to a penalty drop if you get too close.
Hole 6 Scar View – Par 4 White Tee 356 yds | Red Tee 349 yds
Hole 15 Scar View – Par 4 White Tee 356 yds | Red Tee 341 yds
The landing area from off the tee is very wide, but the ideal spot is on top of the hill from where the green is clearly seen. The trees down the right-hand side, however, are to be avoided, and so the ‘safe’ drive is along the flank of the hill. This may lead to an awkward 2nd shot, but to leave the elevated, 2-tier green with a 5 is no disgrace.
Hole 7 & 16 Huntworth – Par 4 White Tee 354 yds | Red Tee 300 yds
With OOB down the left-hand side AND on top of the hill to the right, a straight drive onto the short grass is essential if this hole is not going to spoil your card. The approach shot is over a farm track and stream, which widens into a pool directly in front of the 2 tier green. But a ball landing directly on the putting surface, especially in summer, may well run up to or bounce over the dry stone wall at the back.
Hole 8 & 17 Buck Haw Brow – Par 3 White Tee 137 yds | Red Tee 110 yds
A par 3 and stroke index 17 & 18 should not deceive you! The uphill green is difficult to hit, especially if the wind is in your face. The bank rounds the sides and back will help, but beware the pin at the front!
Hole 9 & 18 Craven Fault – Par 5 White Tee 507 yds | Red Tee 427 yds
A straight drive over the marker post should get you off to a good start. The ideal way to find the green is to keep to the left-hand side, parallel to the road, but there is a cross beck at the bottom of the slope, 150 yards from the flag, which will make you think about your 2nd shot.
Settle Golf Club’s heritage stretches back to the Victorian era, when Open Champion Harry Vardon laid out a 9-hole course on wild moorland beneath the dramatic sweep of Giggleswick Scar. While members today still play that same moorland terrain, the course has evolved over the decades as adjoining meadows were incorporated into the layout.
The low-lying fairways conceal a fascinating secret: they once formed the bed of a medieval lake, drained centuries ago to create farmland. Those original flagged drains remain in place, and during dry summers, the lower field transforms into a striking patchwork—brown stripes of ancient drainage channels contrasting against vivid green turf.
Vardon’s Legacy
Today’s fairways are the legacy of Vardon’s original vision and generations of devoted Settle golfers. Yet the course we know now would be barely recognisable just 30 years ago. Back then, sheep and cattle grazed freely on the fairways, while square greens cowered behind rigid protective fences. Chipping became an art form when navigating fence posts and slumbering livestock. The rules offered free drops for balls embedded in cowpats, and members received a memorable reminder: never lick your ball before cleaning it!
The club’s survival through the war years was far from certain. While no records document how Settle weathered WWI, we know that Harold Lambert and a dedicated handful of seniors ensured returning soldiers—and their wives—had a course to play after WWII. We owe these men an enormous debt. Today, Giggleswick School maintains the course to superb standards, delivering pristine fairways and greens that remain playable year-round.
There’s no finer opening par-3 in golf than Settle’s glorious first hole. At 179 yards, usually into a stiff prevailing wind, it demands precision: anything short finds nothing but trouble, anything left disappears into an ancient quarry, and the steep bank right offers no mercy. Among the challenging par 4s, Huntworth—the 7th—stands supreme. Stray left, and you’re off the course entirely; drift right, and your ball vanishes. Then comes the coup de grâce: a precise approach over the protective beck to a small, two-tiered green. It’s a hole that pleases the eye but punishes anything less than thoughtful golf.
1895 Network
Today’s members enjoy an additional privilege: membership in the 1895 Club network, offering free play at affiliated courses across the UK—from windswept seaside links to courses nestled in the Scottish Highlands. Whether you play for fun or fierce competition, Settle offers something beyond birdies and bogeys: springtime carpets of primroses and cowslips, and the sight of peregrines patrolling Giggleswick Scar above.
Settle Golf Club is a North Yorkshire gem. Don’t miss it.
Click on the rating you require for 9 or 18 holes.
Womens Red (9 holes)
Mens White (9 holes)
Mens Yellow (9 holes)
Womens Red (18 holes)
Mens White (18 holes)
Mens Yellow (18 holes)
Download copies of our course scorecard, course layout and local rules below.
Please be aware and take care as the course is steep in places with sheer drops, uneven ground and water hazards. The whole course becomes slippery in wet and icy conditions. Please take extra care in these conditions.
Prior to playing a stroke or making a practice swing, please ensure that no one is standing close by or in a position to be hit by the club, the ball or any stones, etc., which may be moved by the stroke or swing.
Due consideration must be given to road safety, especially when crossing the road and playing the 9 and 18 holes.
