Jersey Stay & Play

Clifftop golf battered by Atlantic winds, with the Channel Islands spread across the horizon.

A second championship-calibre course arrived in Jersey with the founding of La Moye Golf Club in the parish of St Brélade. Perched on clifftops above St Ouen's Bay, the course offered a completely different character to Royal Jersey: exposed headland golf with Atlantic winds and panoramic views across to the other Channel Islands. It quickly established itself as one of the finest courses in the region.

Grand hotels, two championship courses, and a twenty-minute drive between them; Jersey had Britain's smart set hooked.

Improved steamer services from Southampton and Weymouth brought a wave of tourism to Jersey in the interwar years. Grand hotels sprang up along the seafront at St Helier and St Brélade's Bay, and golf was central to the island's appeal. Visitors could play two outstanding courses within a twenty-minute drive, then dine on the freshest seafood in the Channel Islands. The combination of mild climate, proximity to England, and genuine quality golf proved irresistible.

For five years, the only part of the British Isles under Nazi occupation had its fairways mined rather than played.

Jersey was occupied by German forces on 1 July 1940, the only part of the British Isles to fall under Nazi control during the Second World War. The occupation lasted five years. Fortifications were built across the island as part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall, and the golf courses were requisitioned. Royal Jersey's links were mined and used for military exercises. Liberation came on 9 May 1945, a date still celebrated annually in Jersey.

Gallacher's 1978 victory at La Moye didn't just launch a tour fixture; it put Jersey on television screens across Europe.

La Moye hosted the inaugural Jersey Open as a European Tour fixture in 1978, won by Bernard Gallacher. The tournament ran until 1995, attracting fields that included Tony Jacklin, Ian Woosnam, and Bernhard Langer. It gave the island genuine professional pedigree and showcased La Moye's clifftop setting to television audiences across Europe. The occasion cemented Jersey's reputation as a serious golf destination, not merely a holiday diversion.

The tournament ended; the island's golfing reputation was only just beginning.

After 18 years on the European Tour, the Jersey Open was played for the final time. But the tournament's legacy endured. Jersey's courses had been seen by millions, and the island increasingly marketed itself as a stay-and-play golf destination. The compact geography was a genuine advantage: two championship courses, several shorter layouts, and a wealth of restaurants and hotels, all within minutes of each other.

Both championship layouts were overhauled in the same decade, while two new courses quietly opened their doors to the island.

Royal Jersey and La Moye both invested heavily in course improvements during the 2000s. Royal Jersey's links were refined to better reflect their original character, while La Moye modernised its facilities and tightened its layout. The island also saw the development of Les Mielles Golf and Country Club and Les Ormes, offering additional options for visiting golfers of varying abilities.

Two top-100 courses, clifftop fairways, and a short flight from most UK airports; Jersey does rather a lot with a small island.

Today, Jersey offers a golf experience that punches well above its weight. Royal Jersey and La Moye consistently rank among the top 100 courses in the British Isles, and the island's combination of accessible flights from regional UK airports, excellent dining, and a mild maritime climate makes it a natural fit for corporate golf groups. The stay-and-play format works particularly well here: everything is close, the quality is high, and the setting, with castle ruins, tidal bays, and clifftop fairways, is unlike anything on the mainland.