Visitors to London are spoiled for choice when it comes to playing and staying at top-class golf resorts. North, south, east or west, the UK capital offers plenty of options to the discerning golfer on vacation. Paul Trow acts as your guide.

like many cities, london is ring-fenced by an orbital freeway that links up its four main international airports. In medieval times, settlements were surrounded by a moat with drawbridges at each quadrant. Even today, when the traffic is congested or gridlocked, traversing the M25 resembles wading through a stagnant waterway while dressed in chain mail.

Like an elongated elastic band the M25 stretches fully 120 miles—from the airports of Heathrow in the west, past Luton in the north and Stansted in the east to Gatwick in the south.

Love it or loathe it, the M25, opened nearly 30 years ago by Margaret Thatcher, is the artery that pumps automobiles and people in and out of the United Kingdom’s capital city. It also circulates golfers from these airports to the resort destinations of their choice. Of course most sightseers still swing on into the metropolis but those more focused on fairways and greens should find what they’re looking for round the periphery.

From Heathrow, where most transatlantic flights land, a short journey north leads to The Grove. Chiseled by American designer Kyle Phillips from 300 acres of mature parkland near the dormitory town of Watford, The Grove is only six years old but has already provided the setting for one of Tiger Woods’ more commanding victories. The world No.1 glided across the rolling, tree-lined landscape that was once home to the Earls of Clarendon to win the WGC American Express Championship by eight shots in 2006. Augmenting this superb public course, playable all year round, is a five-star hotel and spa with more than 200 guest rooms and suites.

Other courses worth sampling within a short distance of The Grove include: The Hertfordshire, a Jack Nicklaus design in Broxbourne; Hartsbourne G&CC in Bushey; The Shire, an imaginative Seve Ballesteros creation near Barnet; and Playgolf Northwick Park, a tribute to nine of the world’s most famous holes from former GB & Ireland Walker Cup captain Peter McEvoy. Hadley Wood, Moor Park, Porters Park and Sandy Lodge are also notable golfing escapes.

A few junctions northeast delivers one of London’s grandest golf centers—Brocket Hall. Two 18-hole courses named after 19th century British Prime Ministers—the Melbourne, designed by Peter Alliss and Clive Clark, and the Palmerston from Donald Steel—dominate the 540-acre estate that also features a luxurious clubhouse, an historic stately home, Europe’s only Faldo Golf Institute and an old hunting lodge that now houses the Michelin-star Auberge du Lac restaurant. The River Lea runs through the property which is carved out of mature woodland that features Hornbeams, and Scots and Corsican pines along with 300-year oak trees.

A short distance from Brocket Hall is the first of three Marriott five-star golf resorts in southeast England, Hanbury Manor near the Hertfordshire town of Ware. Its fragrant walled gardens, stately Jacobean country house and 161-room hotel notwithstanding, the core of this historic 200-acre property is an 18-hole Nicklaus design which opened in the early 1990s and has already staged tournaments on both the men’s and women’s European Tours. It is a case of contrasting nines at Hanbury Manor: the front half is open, exposed and undulating while the flatter homeward stretch weaves its way through woodland and a variety of water hazards.

The nearest golf resort to an airport—five minutes’ drive away—is Luton Hoo, where a luxury hotel has been fashioned from the 18th century mansion house built by neoclassical architect Robert Adam and a challenging 18-hole course sculpted within grounds originally laid out by landscape designer Capability Brown. Not one tree on the 1,065-acre estate was removed to accommodate the recently re-opened course which began as a nine-holer in Victorian times but was closed during World War II when Winston Churchill commandeered the land for military training. It meanders through the shadows of giant oak and beech trees to sweeping open ground and back again, and, unusually, it has no bunkers.

From Luton Hoo, it’s a short hop up the M1 freeway to Woburn G&CC, scene of many a European Tour event. Its three excellent courses thread through a pine forest on a 3,000-acre estate owned by the Dukes of Bedford since 1547.

Back on the M25 and heading east, we soon arrive in Essex. Three resorts stand out in this afforested county with Stoke-by-Nayland on the border with Suffolk leading the way. Just 20 minutes from Stansted and spread over 300 acres of woodland, lakes and rolling countryside are two 18-hole courses—named after the celebrated Romantic painters, Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable—plus an 80-room hotel and spa.

A similar range of facilities is on offer at Five Lakes near the coastal town of Maldon, though the two courses could not be more different. Exposed to the elements and with few trees on site, the style of play is more akin to links golf; the main hazards are the eponymous quintet of lakes and an abundance of penal sand traps.

Another 80-room hotel near to Stansted can be found at Manor of Groves where a delightfully strategic course wends its way through an idyllic setting, partly within an old manor garden and across a nearby hillside. Other courses in the vicinity worth a visit include Bishop’s Stortford, the Harry Colt-designed Thorndon Park and a charming heathland layout at Woodbridge near the Suffolk town of Ipswich.

We are now heading south and cross the River Thames into the county of Kent on the Queen Elizabeth II (cable-stayed) Bridge at Dartford. The main golf resort in this self-styled Garden of England is Marriott Tudor Park in Maidstone whence historic attractions like Leeds Castle, dating back to 1119, and the even older Canterbury Cathedral are easily accessible. The best inland golf in the county, though, is further west, around the town of Sevenoaks. Knole Park, laid out by James Braid and J.F. Abercromby in England’s largest deer park in 1924, has more recently been joined by The London Golf Club on the North Downs where both 18-hole courses were designed by Nicklaus, with the ‘Heritage’ staging the European Open over the past two years.

The most famous clubs in Kent, though, are on its south coast—Royal St George’s, where the 2011 British Open will be held, Prince’s, also in Sandwich, Royal Cinque Ports just outside Deal and Littlestone. These four traditional links have recently rebranded themselves as the Regal Golf Coast and hope eventually to involve Rye, just across the border in East Sussex. Those wishing to sample this experience are advised to stay at the Blazing Donkey Country Hotel near Sandwich where the resident chef , along with his colleagues at the nearby Harvey’s Fishmarket & Oyster Bar and Dog Inn at Wingham, have been trained by multi-Michelin-starred John Burton Race.

Moving back inside the M25, south-east London offers two real gems. Royal Blackheath, England’s oldest golf club with a 17th century clubhouse formerly known as Eltham Lodge, is teeming with history while those seeking a sterner test of their on-course skills are advised to spend a day playing the 36 holes on offer at Sundridge Park in Bromley.

A few miles west, near Croydon, lies Selsdon Park where the scenic 18-hole course designed by five-time British Open champion J.H. Taylor in 1929 has elevated greens and luscious fairways bordered by banks of sycamore, beech, oak, cedar and silver birch. Its 200-room hotel retains an Elizabethan aura despite many facelifts, the suit of armor in the lobby and copious tapestries depicting former glories.

The Addington, another Abercromby creation, and Colt’s Dulwich & Sydenham Hill, where CBS analyst Peter Oosterhuis learned the game, are both located nearby.

Back to the M25 we continue clockwise into Surrey, golf’s heartland in southeast England and a county abounding with century-old courses that are always in pristine condition. The most prominent are St George’s Hill, Burhill, Walton Heath, RAC Epsom, West Hill, Woking, Worplesdon, The Wisley and New Zealand while further back up the river towards London are Royal Mid-Surrey, Royal Wimbledon and Coombe Hill. Heading in the opposite direction down into Hampshire, the options boil down to Royal Winchester, Hankley Common, Hindhead, Liphook, Old Thorns and North Hants. We are now in Gatwick territory and due south leads to Mannings Heath, located in 500 acres of rolling Sussex downland with two courses—the Waterfall (1905) and the Kingfisher (1996)—and the five-star South Lodge.

A scout around Sussex reveals several other potential rounds—Goodwood, Royal Eastbourne, Seaford, East Sussex National, Royal Ashdown Forest (again no bunkers) and West Sussex. The ideal base for such an odyssey, surely, is Dale Hill, home to a well-appointed four-star hotel and two 18-hole courses of its own, the more recent of which was designed by former Masters champion Ian Woosnam. With stunning views across the High Weald, the Woosnam Course is partly linksy and partly parkland in design, while overall a buggy is recommended for those who don’t fancy the numerous steep inclines that must be negotiated.

The Nick Faldo-designed Chart Hills, a truly fascinating test of golf little more than 20 minutes’ drive away in west Kent, is also owned by Dale Hill’s proprietors, the Leaderboard Group, as is the U.K.’s only Rees Jones design, The Oxfordshire, which nestles just off the M40 freeway, to the west of the M25, near the picture-box town of Thame, 15 or so miles south of Oxford. Previously under Japanese ownership (the clubhouse has a massive sunken bath), this one-time European Tour venue will hope for a swift return to the big time once its new hotel has opened next summer.

Another imminent five-star (350-room) unveiling—next October—is part of an $80 million project at Heythrop Park, the former home of the Duke of Shrewsbury, half an hour’s drive northwest of Oxford towards William Shakespeare’s home town of Stratford-upon-Avon. The 18-hole Bainbridge Course is already open on the 440-acre estate.

Before returning to the M25’s immediate environs it’s worth heading due south towards Newbury in Berkshire where a friendly welcome is guaranteed at Donnington Valley which has an 18-hole hillside course, Victorian clubhouse and four-star hotel and spa. The portfolio of owner, electronics tycoon Sir Peter Michael, also includes a 2-Michelin-star restaurant, The Vineyard at Stockcross.

Descending back into Heathrow, we come across Stocks, housed in a Georgian mansion near the Buckinghamshire village of Aldbury. This 182-acre estate, the U.K. weekend retreat of the Playboy Club during the 1980s, has a course which, at 7,015 yards from the tips and routed across rolling hillside with panoramic views, is not for the faint-hearted. At least the only Bunnies seen there these days are furry rodents scurrying across the greensward!

Stocks also has some serious neighbors—Frilford Heath, Burnham Beeches, Ashridge, Berkhamsted (no bunkers here either), Bearwood Lakes and The Buckinghamshire.

Finally, we’re back at Heathrow. Six nearby courses are among the U.K.’s poshest: Sunningdale and Wentworth, acclaimed for staging great championships; The Berkshire, a prolific venue for society and corporate days; the reclusive Swinley Forest; and the ultra-expensive Queenwood and Windlesham.

Now we must bid farewell to the M25 and check into Heathrow. Our journey might have seemed like a cross between The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and an outtake from the film Speed, a fantasy which cannot be realized in one visit. But what’s to stop you coming over again, and again?