The bricks lining the Festival of Speed startline are 100 years old and a gift from the Indianapolis Speedway "Brickyard" in 2011 to mark their centenary event!
Legend of Goodwood's golden racing era and Le Mans winner Roy Salvadori once famously said "give me Goodwood on a summer's day and you can forget the rest".
One Summer, King Edward VII turned his back on the traditional morning suit, and donned a linen suit and Panama hat. Thus the Glorious Goodwood trend was born.
Leading women of business, sport, fashion and media, take part in one of the most exciting horseracing events in the world.
Inspired by the legendary racer, Masten Gregory, who famously leapt from the cockpit of his car before impact when approaching Woodcote Corner in 1959.
Built in 1787 by celebrated architect James Wyatt to house the third Duke of Richmond’s prized fox hounds, The Kennels was known as one of the most luxurious dog houses in the world!
According to Head Butler at Goodwood House David Edney "Class, sophistication and discretion".
Built in 1787 by celebrated architect James Wyatt to house the third Duke of Richmond’s prized fox hounds, The Kennels was known as one of the most luxurious dog houses in the world!
Many items came from Gordon castle in Scotland when it left family ownership, coming out from storage exclusively for Hound Lodge.
Inspired by the legendary racer, Masten Gregory, who famously leapt from the cockpit of his car before impact when approaching Woodcote Corner in 1959.
FOS Favourite Mad Mike Whiddett can be caught melting tyres in his incredible collection of cars (and trucks) up the hillclimb
Legend of Goodwood's golden racing era and Le Mans winner Roy Salvadori once famously said "give me Goodwood on a summer's day and you can forget the rest".
For the last two years, 5,800 bales have been recylced into the biomass energy centre to be used for energy generation
Festival of Speed is our longest-standing Motorsport event, starting in 1993 when it opened to 25,00 people. We were expecting 2000!
Whoa Simon! A horse so determined and headstrong, he not only won the 1883 Goodwood Cup by 20 lengths, but couldn't be stopped and carried on running over the top of Trundle hill
Festival of Speed is our longest-standing Motorsport event, starting in 1993 when it opened to 25,00 people. We were expecting 2000!
Whoa Simon! A horse so determined and headstrong, he not only won the 1883 Goodwood Cup by 20 lengths, but couldn't be stopped and carried on running over the top of Trundle hill
One Summer, King Edward VII turned his back on the traditional morning suit, and donned a linen suit and Panama hat. Thus the Glorious Goodwood trend was born.
The first ever horsebox was used from Goodwood to Doncaster for the 1836 St. Leger. Elis arrived fresh and easily won his owner a £12k bet.
The red & yellow of the Racecourse can be traced back hundreds of years, even captured in our stunning Stubbs paintings in the Goodwood Collection
The first public race meeting took place in 1802 and, through the nineteenth century, ‘Glorious Goodwood,’ as the press named it, became a highlight of the summer season
King Edward VII (who came almost every year) famously dubbed Glorious Goodwood “a garden party with racing tacked on”.
King Edward VII (who came almost every year) famously dubbed Glorious Goodwood “a garden party with racing tacked on”.
Our replica of the famous motor show showcases the "cars of the future" in true Revival style
One of the greatest golfers of all time, James Braid designed Goodwood’s iconic Downland course, opened in 1914.
The oldest existing rules for the game were drawn up for a match between the 2nd Duke and a neighbour
After a fire in 1791 at Richmond House in Whitehall, London, James Wyatt added two great wings to showcase the saved collection at Goodwood. To give unity to the two new wings, Wyatt added copper-domed turrets framing each façade.
One of the greatest golfers of all time, James Braid designed Goodwood’s iconic Downland course, opened in 1914.
Flying training began at Goodwood in 1940 when pilots were taught operational flying techniques in Hurricanes and Spitfires.
The Motor Circuit was known as RAF Westhampnett, active from 1940 to 1946 as a Battle of Britain station.
We have been host to many incredible film crews using Goodwood as a backdrop for shows like Downton Abbey, Hollywood Blockbusters like Venom: let there be Carnage and the Man from U.N.C.L.E.
After a fire in 1791 at Richmond House in Whitehall, London, James Wyatt added two great wings to showcase the saved collection at Goodwood. To give unity to the two new wings, Wyatt added copper-domed turrets framing each façade.
As the private clubhouse for all of the Estate’s sporting and social members, it offers personal service and a relaxed atmosphere
Ensure you take a little time out together to pause and take in the celebration of all the hard work you put in will be a treasured memory.
The first ever round of golf played at Goodwood was in 1914 when the 6th Duke of Richmond opened the course on the Downs above Goodwood House.
The iconic spitfire covered almost 43,000 kilometres and visited over 20 countries on its epic journey and currently resides at our Aerodrome.
As the private clubhouse for all of the Estate’s sporting and social members, it offers personal service and a relaxed atmosphere
Goodwood’s pigs are a mix of two rare breeds (Gloucester Old Spots and Saddlebacks) plus the Large White Boar.
Flying training began at Goodwood in 1940 when pilots were taught operational flying techniques in Hurricanes and Spitfires.
The iconic spitfire covered almost 43,000 kilometres and visited over 20 countries on its epic journey and currently resides at our Aerodrome.
Inspired by the legendary racer, Masten Gregory, who famously leapt from the cockpit of his car before impact when approaching Woodcote Corner in 1959.
Our gin uses wild-grown botanicals sourced from the estate, and is distilled with mineral water naturally chalk-filtered through the South Downs.
Easy boy! The charismatic Farnham Flyer loved to celebrate every win with a pint of beer. His Boxer dog, Grogger, did too and had a tendancy to steal sips straight from the glass.
The oldest existing rules for the game were drawn up for a match between the 2nd Duke and a neighbour
Our gin uses wild-grown botanicals sourced from the estate, and is distilled with mineral water naturally chalk-filtered through the South Downs.
Firstly, Happy New year to you all and I hope you had a nice Christmas. Coming through a busy winter period it’s pleasing to see that the greens are still disease free and in a healthy condition. They are now at their winter height of cut at 4.5mm and will remain at this height until growth rate improves in the spring.
We will look to verti-drain the greens this month using a 12mm tine to a depth of 200mm. This will de-compact the soil profile and increase percolation rates through the greens. Also it is vital for the soils gas exchange. We will do this process again just before our spring maintenance. Tees will also be vertidrained and tined after completing the greens.
Playing surfaces are longer than normal for this time of year, as we have had trouble getting the mowers out the previous three weeks. With the ground conditions being so wet, we have aired on the side of caution not to take our heavy machines out until conditions are ideal. If too wet, we would damage turf, which would then need repairing. Therefore, tees and fairways will be cut as soon as we can get on them.
We have started to top a lot of the natural rough areas and will cut and collect any of the thicker areas using a bigger tractor. The rough was fairly sparse last year, so no chemical treatment will be needed to thin out the sward this year.
Bunkers have been an issue this month, with the amount of wash down from the rainfall, they have now all been contaminated. The aim before the upcoming playing season is to add sand to the bunkers to increase sand depth for playability and freshen up the look aesthetically.
The bees have now been winterised and when last checked there was a good size colony to get them through the winter.
A big thank you to everyone who is using the strike mats on fairways 2 to 8. This really does help with wear and tear on the course. Please replace divots on the other fairways to aid recovery and keep the playing surfaces from getting to a poor state. Thank you in advance.
Looking forward to seeing you on the course.
Rob Dyer, Head Greenkeeper, The Downs Course
The Course
We start the year once again fighting against the elements. Unfortunately, November’s rainfall of 318mm and December’s rain fall of 115mm means we start the year on the back foot with the course at its limit, and it continued in January. 50mm in the first week which has forced our hand in what we can achieve on the course.
Greens
The greens cutting heights are raised to 4.5 and we are cutting them twice a week with pedestrian hand mowers. They are in good health. We have aerated the greens using a 10mm tine going to the depth of 100mm and we have put a verti-Drain across them which is a slightly bigger tine going to the depth of 200mm to help break up compaction and promote root and plant health. The most pleasing thing is that even due to higher-than-normal temperatures and very moist conditions, the greens are disease free! This is due to regular aeration and thatch reduction work and our disease preventative programme.
Tees
The tees have also received extensive aeration work with a 10mm tine across the surface. They have all been devoted with a soil and seed mix on any imperfections. The tees also have been fertilised with a granular to help with recovery, enhance sward density and promote growth and root development,
Woodland Work
When the weather hasn’t allowed us to be on the course our attention has been to continue with our woodland maintenance. As part of our ecology programme, we have thinning out some of the wooded areas on the course. Raising canopy’s, removing ivy and clearing all brambles. This has made a real difference and has created quite a feature. With more light getting to the woodland floor, we hope to see the bluebells flourish. As part of our ecology plan, we will continue to plant more trees around the course in rough areas, the species consist of beach, oak, hazel and maple.
Pathways
We have continued with our stone pathway programme. Putting down pathways for easier access around the course. We have added some steps to the 9th tee for easy excess.
A job that is vital every year is an irrigation drain down. The irrigation system is drained down so work can be completed on any leaks. If water is left in the system, we run the risk of water freezing, cracking pipes and connections.
Look forwrad to seeing you on the course.
Simon Berry, Head Greenkeeper, The Park Course