Old Thorns design was originally the given to John Harris but after his death in 1976 the task of overseeing Old Thorns completion was given to Peter Alliss who obviously held all the attributes required to design a great golf course. Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas took over the construction of the course and saw it through to completion in 1981.The official opening of the golf course was endorsed by a competitive four-ball between Isao Aoki, Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus and reigning Open champion, Bill Rogers. Aoki shot 69 to win, and the match scorecard was framed for posterity. Today they are proudly displayed in the Sports Bar.

In October of 1983, Old Thorns Golf Club attracted the interest of Mr Sakurai, chairman of the Kosaido Company, which owns and operates 25 golf courses around the world. On April 6, 1984, Kosaido Development Company became owners of Old Thorns. The club continued success over the next ten years until 2007, when it was bought from the Kosaido Development Company, by the Shaw family.

Since then the resort has undergone a multi-million pound development seeing numerous world-class facilities being built including a brand new 52-bedroom block, named the Alliss Family Suites, after the honorary president of the resort, and the BBC’s ‘Voice of Golf’, Peter Alliss, bringing the number of bedrooms at the resort to 86, with a fur-ther 70 bedrooms planned to be built in 2011/12.

New facilities for these guests now include a champagne and cocktail bar, purpose-built to serve the newly created rooms, offering premium beers, wines, spirits and champagnes.In addition to the champagne bar, a brand new sports bar has also opened in spring 2011. The sports bar, offers everything you would want from a traditional sports bar, with live sporting events shown daily as well as being one of the few elite venues to broadcast sports in 3D, offering a tradi-tional pub feel and a friendly relaxed environment to unwind in.

Other planned new facilities at the resort include a purpose-built new health club, with saunas, steam rooms, indoor pool, gymnasium, fitness studio and 16 treatment rooms in the newly created spa, all using the very latest treatments and Espa products.The resort now also boasts nine conference rooms, catering from two to 300 delegates, enabling the resort to cater for all levels of conference. Old Thorns is also fast gaining an established reputation as one of the most sought after wedding venues in the South of England, with 130 weddings booked in 2011. The Grand Ball Room and Hampshire Suite offer either an intimate or grand setting, to suit all styles, taste, and budget of wedding.

Today the resort although significantly changed since the original vision of Ken Wood, still retains its heart in golf.