Huge Wildfire Breaks Out At Wentworth Golf Club

A huge wildfire has spread onto the West Course at Wentworth

Huge Wildfire Breaks Out At Wentworth Golf Club
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A huge wildfire has spread onto the West Course at Wentworth

Huge Wildfire Breaks Out At Wentworth Golf Club

A huge wildfire has broken out at Wentworth in Surrey, causing the golf course to be abandoned during the Rose Ladies Series final round.

The fire broke out locally and spread onto the West Course, the most famous of the Surrey venue's three courses, this afternoon.

Sky Sports News reported that the fire broke out on the nearby Chobham Common and spread across the railway line over to the course.

The BBC reported that eight fire crews were out tackling the blaze on Chobham Common, which started just after midday.

The wildfire looks to have hit the area around the par-3 10th hole hardest, and crews are on-site trying attempting to stop the spread.

A general view as police and event staff assess a fire and smoke as it nears the 10th hole during day three of The Rose Ladies Series on The West Course in the first ever ladies professional event at Wentworth Golf Club on August 07, 2020 in Virginia Water, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

The Wentworth Estate is heavily treelined and pictures showed the fire burning throughout the forest.

Sunningdale Golf Club, just south of Wentworth, has also been evacuated.

Thankfully nobody has been injured.

"We currently have multiple Fire and Rescue vehicles in attendance at Chobham Common in Chobham dealing with a large wildfire. @SurreyPolice are in attendance and assisting with road closures. If you are on Chobham common please evacuate the area immediately for your safety," Surrey Fire and Rescue wrote on social media.

Yello Helmet @RealSurrey is reporting that the fire is now a Major incident as it could spread to the nearby Longcross Film Studios and residential areas.

Temperatures in England were getting close to 40 degrees celsius on Friday.

Players were evacuated from the course, which was hosting the final round of the Rose Ladies Series.

Play is set to resume tomorrow at 9.30am.

Related: PGA Championship Leaderboard

The West Course at Wentworth hosts the BMW PGA Championship each year and is due to host again in October.

The club is also home to offices of the European Tour.

Wentworth has three courses, the West, East and Edinburgh as well as tennis and spa clubs.

Related: PGA Championship Live Stream: How to watch the USPGA

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!

Elliott is currently playing:

Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV