Wentworth golf club fire: Rose Ladies Series final round suspended after wildfire breaks out

The fire broke out locally before spreading on to the West Course, the most famous of the Surrey club’s three layouts

Ben Burrows
Friday 07 August 2020 12:43 EDT
Comments
The fire stopped play on Friday afternoon
The fire stopped play on Friday afternoon (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A wildfire broke out at Wentworth Golf Club forcing the final round of the Rose Ladies Series to be suspended and the course to be evacuated.

The fire started locally, said to be at the nearby Chobham Common, before spreading on to the West Course, the most famous of the Surrey club’s three layouts on Friday afternoon.

The course is heavily surrounded by trees with emergency services soon arriving to attempt to stop the fire from spreading further.

Pictures from the scene showed flames on the outskirts of the course with smoke spreading over the playing area.

Play was suspended indefinitely with players, caddies and other staff urged to leave the area.

Emergency services arrived to stop the blaze from spreading
Emergency services arrived to stop the blaze from spreading (Getty Images)

Nearby Sunningdale Golf Club was also evacuated.

Temperatures soared in the UK on Friday with highs of 40 degrees in places.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in