Staff WriterThe Buckinghamshire has spent the spring doing what ambitious golf clubs are supposed to do: less talking, more staging proper events, supporting proper players, and giving women’s golf a venue that looks the part without needing to shout about the wallpaper.
Home of the Ladies European Tour, the private members’ club has underlined its growing status in the women’s game by hosting two high-profile events, strengthening its ambassadorial links and backing the next generation of players coming through its own ranks.
That is not a bad few weeks’ work. Some clubs announce ambition with a new menu and a framed photograph in the hallway. The Buckinghamshire has gone for the more convincing route: tournament golf, emerging talent and a serious connection to the professional game.
A Championship Venue With Women’s Golf At Its Core
The Buckinghamshire hosted the LET’s season launch event in February, before welcoming a field of rising stars for the Rose Ladies Series on May 4. Five days later, players were back on the tee for US Women’s Open qualifying, giving the course another opportunity to prove it is more than merely handsome.
There is a point here that matters. Women’s golf does not grow on slogans. It grows when good venues open their doors, when elite players are given proper platforms, and when young golfers can stand close enough to the action to think, quite reasonably, “I could do that.”
The Buckinghamshire appears to understand that better than most.
Henni Zuël Adds Authority To The Club’s Push
The club’s support of women’s golf also extends beyond event hosting, with former LET professional and broadcaster Henni Zuël working with The Buckinghamshire as club ambassador.
Zuël brings credibility in useful quantities. As a former tour player and one of the more respected voices in modern golf broadcasting, she gives the partnership weight, visibility and a direct link to the professional women’s game.
For a club looking to establish itself as a leading venue for elite golf, that matters. Ambassadors can sometimes feel like ceremonial ornaments, wheeled out for photographs and politely returned to the mantelpiece. This one feels more strategically aligned: a serious golf voice working with a club that wants to be taken seriously in the women’s game.
A £10 Million Restoration And A Clearer Identity
The Buckinghamshire’s recent momentum follows a major restoration of its course and clubhouse, with more than £10 million spent since its reopening two years ago.
That investment has helped sharpen the club’s identity: private members’ club, tournament venue, LET home, and now a visible supporter of women’s golf at both elite and developmental level.
Sanjay Arora, President of The Buckinghamshire and Chief Executive Officer of the Arora Group, said:
“Since reopening two years ago following more than £10 million spent on restoring our course and clubhouse, we have been focused on establishing The Buckinghamshire as a leading venue for elite golf and a club that actively supports the growth of the game.
“Hosting events such as the US Women’s Open Qualifying and the Rose Ladies Series, alongside our partnership with Henni Zuël, reflects our commitment to women’s golf and to providing a platform for some of the game’s best players to compete.”
That is the kind of positioning modern golf clubs increasingly need. Prestige alone is not enough anymore. The best venues are judged not only by conditioning and clubhouse grandeur, but by relevance: who they attract, what they host, and whether they contribute anything meaningful to the sport beyond their own gates.
Georgia Lloyd And The Power Of Seeing It Up Close
The most compelling part of The Buckinghamshire’s women’s golf story may be found not in the boardroom, but in the journey of Georgia Lloyd.
Lloyd first visited the club at 13, watched US Women’s Open qualifying there in 2017, and is now a PGA trainee at The Buckinghamshire. This spring, she competed in the Rose Ladies Series, alongside Ellie Lichtenhein and Saskia Owen, two more of the club’s rising talents.
Arora added: “We are especially proud of the fact that one of our team, Georgia Lloyd, who first visited the club when she was 13 and is now a PGA trainee here, competed in the Rose Ladies Series, along with two more of our rising stars, Ellie Lichtenhein (who recently won in the Sunningdale Foursomes, one part of the youngest-ever pairing) and Saskia Owen. We are delighted to be supporting our scholars’ journeys to the top of the game.”
That is not just a nice human-interest footnote. It is the point of the whole exercise.
When a young golfer sees elite competition at a venue close enough to feel real, the pathway stops being abstract. It becomes visible. It becomes walkable. Occasionally, it even loops back on itself in the most satisfying way.
Georgia Lloyd said: “I watched the US Women’s Open Qualifying at The Buckinghamshire in 2017, and it really inspired me to take the game more seriously. It was a real full-circle moment to work at the qualifier this year and to play in the Rose Ladies Series – younger me would’ve dreamt of this!
“It’s a great reminder of how powerful those early experiences can be in shaping your path.”
There is the story in two paragraphs: inspiration, opportunity, return. Golf loves to talk about legacy. This is what it looks like when it is not being trapped in a brochure.
More Than A Tournament Host
Located just 10 miles from Heathrow, The Buckinghamshire has practical appeal as well as polished lawns. For members and guests, the club offers access to a world-class golf course and a restored 350-year-old house set on an island in the River Colne.
That setting gives it an unusual blend: part elite golf venue, part country-house retreat, part convenient base for business, family and entertaining. It is not hard to see why the club wants to position itself as a “home from home” for members. Few homes, admittedly, come with championship-level golf, a LET connection and a 350-year-old house unless one has married exceptionally well.
But the wider significance lies in how The Buckinghamshire is using that platform. By hosting the Rose Ladies Series, US Women’s Open qualifying and aligning with Henni Zuël, the club is not simply polishing its own reputation. It is putting itself into the conversation around the future of women’s golf in Britain.
That matters, because the women’s game needs more than occasional applause. It needs venues, visibility, investment, development pathways and clubs willing to make space for talent before that talent is fully formed.
The Buckinghamshire seems to be doing exactly that. Quietly, elegantly, and with enough substance to suggest this is not a passing spring flourish, but the start of something far more durable.
To find out more about membership of The Buckinghamshire, please click here.
