[Ben Stephens]

STAPLEFORD PARK – Leicestershire’s most ‘stately’ golf course.


Stapleford Park Country House Hotel

I was given the opportunity of playing Stapleford Park twice this year. It is a ‘stately’ house south of Melton Mowbray. The grounds were designed by Capability Brown. The golf course was built for then owner Peter De Savary who had created/owned Cherokee Plantantion, Carnegie Abbey, Skibo Castle and currently owns Bovey Castle.

The course originated as a practice 3 hole loop which I had the opportunity to do maintenance work a decade ago. The 1st, 17th and 18th greens remain from the original loop with a practice area in between.

The current 18 hole course was designed by Donald Steel with Tom Mackenzie and Martin Ebert who all have been involved in the other de Savary owned golf courses.

Here is Donald Steel’s Design Philosophy for Stapleford Park

The course wraps around the heart of the parkland in two extended loops, never being more than two holes wide, making it unusually spacious and peaceful. This configuration is reminiscent of the great links courses, such as the Old Course at St Andrews, as it provides continuing variety in the direction of the holes, as well as producing a series of stunning views.

Woods, ponds and streams, all teeming with wildlife, feature on many holes, although the meandering River Eye perhaps adds greatest strategic interest to the golf, coming into play on four holes.

Enjoyment is the crucial factor and on every hole, all standards of player are given a fair crack of the whip, with approaches on which the ball can be run onto the green.
 
Particular care has been taken during the design of the course to ensure that this exceptional historic landscape remains pristine.

The distinctive Scottish-style revetted bunkers have been used to exert maximum influence on the play of the better golfer, who is tempted to flirt with them to gain the advantage of being in prime position for the next shot. Grassy humps and hollows have also been used to shape the holes because they are less intimidating for the higher handicapper and the scratch player knows all too well the hazard that such features present.

This quintessential English golfing experience will enthrall golfers from all over the world

I thought I would put this thread up as it is the Handa Senior Masters by the Stapleford Forum this week (May 12-14)

Hole distances from Medal Tees.

HOLE 1 – 271 yards par 4 SI 4
What a welcoming gentle start to the round of golf with a short risk/reward par 4 with a wide ‘humped’ fairway to a large green protected by a cluster of Scottish style flat faced bunkers. The hole is right alongside the practice range and green a great set up to prepare for a round of golf.


Hole 1 – tee marker


Hole 1 – view from tee (taken earlier in the year)


Hole 1 – fairway bunkers


Hole 1 – rear view


HOLE 2 – 536 yards par 5 SI 16
A bunkerless par 5 turning 90 degrees left of Hole 1. The fairway landing area is surrounded by two set of ‘alpinzation’ mounds. Personally I thought it was overdone and too tight so that you could not clearly see the fairway which is generally flat and a bit bland aesthetically. Then you come to a very interesting large green with a series of fairway mounds that is supposed to reminisce an old fashioned links course. The flag was on the right which was close to the out of bounds ditch.


Hole 2 – view from tee


Hole 2 – view from fairway


Hole 2 – alpinization!


Hole 2 – closer view to green from fairway


Hole 2 – front view of green


Hole 2 – rear view


HOLE 3 – 440 yards par 4 SI 4
Similar to Hole 2 in some ways with ‘alpinzation’ mounds on the right of the fairway. This is a long bunkerless par four uphill to a large interesting green. It is out of bounds ditch all the way on the right hand side.


Hole 3 – view from fairway


Hole 3 – alpinization!


Hole 3 – front view of green


Hole 3 – rear view


HOLE 4 – 547 yards par 5 SI 10
After quite a long walk from the 3rd green to the 4th tee you get to view the mistress house, which has been demolished and a chimney stump remains, in the woods alongside the tee. The hole is a dogleg left par 5. The tee shot is downhill and you attempt to take a shortcut down the left and when on the fairway you then realise the shot is blocked by a large tree! The best line is down the right to allow you for a clear shot to the green which has to carry over a stream 100 yards short of the green.


Hole 4 – view from tee


Hole 4 – view from fairway


Hole 4 – closer view of green from fairway


Hole 4 – front view of green


HOLE 5 – 183 yards par 3 SI 18
A Relatively straightforward downhill par 3 to a large undulating green protected by bunkers front right and left.


Hole 5 – view from tee (poor quality image)


Hole 5 – rear view


HOLE 6 – 436 yards par 4 SI 6
A dogleg long par 4 with fairway bunkers, which have been poorly maintained. The view of the bunkerless green reminds me a bit of the approach to the old 12th at Wentworth (assuming it is without bunkers)


Hole 6 – view from tee


Hole 6 – view from fairway


Hole 6 – front view of green


Hole 6 – rear view


HOLE 7 - 405 yards par 5 SI 2
The first dogleg right of the round. There is a pond inside the dogleg which separates the 7th and 11th fairways. A lone fairway bunker is on the outside. The large long bunkerless green is fronted by artificial shallow fairway mounding.


Hole 7 – view from tee


Hole 7 – view from fairway


Hole 7 – front view of green


Hole 7 – rear view


HOLE 8 – 312 yards par 4 SI 12
What a strategic hole! – a short par 4 with 3 different options off the tee. The River Eye really comes in play. If you are going for the green it is like the tee shot on the 17th at Carnoustie where the Barry Burn crosses the fairway twice. There are bunkers scattered all over the place. I think this is the best hole on the whole course.


Hole 8 – view from tee


Hole 8 – rear view


HOLE 9 – 180 yards par 3 SI 8
This is hole is a soft version of a Redan hole. A large green angled from front right to back left. The green is flanked by 3 deep bunkers on the left hand side.


Hole 9 – view from tee


Hole 9 – closer view from tee


Hole 9 – left of green


Hole 9 – rear view


OUT – 3320 yards par 36
The halfway house is unique here! Its actually a horse trailer which has tee and coffee with garden tables and chairs free of charge with the stately house in the background


Halfway House!


View of House from 10th tee


HOLE 10 – 356 yards par 4 SI 13
A downhill tee shot to a wide fairway made to look narrower by large trees flanked on either side. A stream cuts across the fairway 40 yards short of the green. A pond borders the large bunkerless green on the left hand side.


Hole 10 – view from tee


Hole 10 – view from fairway


Hole 10 – front view of green


Hole 10 – rear view of green


HOLE 11 – 544 yards par 5 SI 1
This is a slight dogleg left par 5 with 3 fairway bunkers in an angular formation plus alpinzation then the pond. The fairway is 10 yards wide at the narrowest point. My view is that it has been overcooked in this area. I would have made it more subtle, spread the bunkers around and widened the fairway to bring the existing pond more in play. The boundary is all the way down the left the well protected green is fronted by a ditch and flanked by bunkers either side.


Hole 11 – view from tee


Hole 11 – view from fairway


Hole 11 – front view of green


HOLE 12 – 427 yards par 4 SI 7
This long par 4 is a visually appealing hole from the tee. There is a bunker 40 yards short of the green which is on an existing raised plateau.


Hole 12 – view from tee


Hole 12 – view from fairway


Hole 12 – closer view of green


Hole 12 – short bunker


Hole 12 – front view of green


Hole 12 – looking down 6th and 12th fairways from 12th green


HOLE 13 – 399 yards par 4 SI 3
This is the tightest tee shot at Stapleford. I had a conservative tee shot which was slightly off centre of the fairway which took a wicked bounce and ended up in the fairway bunker. There is a ravine on the right hand side 100 yards short of the green – its a pity that it was not in play – I would have designed a split fairway and the further right you hit off the tee there is a forced carry over the ravine for the second shot which will make it a more interesting hole.


Hole 13 – view from tee


Hole 13 – rearview


HOLE 14 – 154 yards par 3 SI 17.
This is a bland short par 3 to a large green. I would have made the green narrower or moved it towards the water on the left to create a more scary short par 3


Hole 14 – rear view


HOLE 15 – 519 yards par 5 SI 11
An uphill par 5 with large trees coming into play for the second shot which has to be hit high enough to clear or through the gap between the trees. This is one of the most interesting shaped greens on the course built on a raised level.


Hole 15 – view from tee


Hole 15 – trees all over the place!


Hole 15 – rear view


HOLE 16 – 432 yards par 4 SI 9
A downhill bunkerless long par four with a blind tee shot to fairway even though the green is visible from the tee. The green has a very similar approach to the 7th with undulating fairway area. The view to the house is great from the green.


Hole 16 – view from fairway


Hole 16 – front of green


Hole 16 – rear view


HOLE 17 – 430 yards par 4 SI 5  
A long flat par 4 to the original 3 hole loop par 3 green which has been reverted and extended for this new hole. The fairway is bordered by alpinization mounds on the left. There is a angled ditch 30 to 50 yards in front of the green.


Hole 17 – view of fairway


Hole 17 – view of green from fairway


Hole 17 – rear view


Hole 17 – closer inspection of green slopes


HOLE 18 – 363 yards par 4 SI 15
The closing hole has probably the best green on the course – its enormous and you could have 10 or 12 different pin positions. A ditch comes through just off the centre line of the fairway which is split and it takes the driver out of most hands. A thatched roof clubhouse resembles the older smaller buildings in the grounds of Stapleford Park.  


Hole 18 – view from tee


Hole 18 – view from fairway


Hole 18 – view to front of green


Hole 18 – rear view


IN 3624 yards par 37

TOTAL 6944 yards par 73



Clubhouse
  
    
Stapleford Park is an interesting course but it is bland in areas and there is not that many holes that you can remember after the round. It could do with a few tweaks such as remove one of the alpinzation mounds on the 2nd fairway and make the fairway more visible and relocate the mounds closer to the green. More planting like gorse or a few trees in tactical areas would improve the course visually. I would relocated some bunkers especially those fairway bunkers.

Donald Steel and Co have done a great job shaping the greens but I feel that they are monotonous as each one is similar to the other rather than have more variation in terms of size and slopes.

There has not been much work done over the last 5 years to the course despite being under new ownership. The revetted bunkers have decayed and shortcuts to replace them have been poor. Rather than redo the revetted faced they have covered it up with turf as on the images of the fairway bunkers.


Hole 6 – fairway bunker example of poor maintenance ‘shortcut’

Stapleford Park has great potential to be a very good golf course. Hopefully there will be some comments from experienced pros in this week’s Senior Tour Event that will push the new owner to make further improvements.

It is often used by the Leics + Rutland Golf Union for county matches and events.

www.staplefordpark.com

Cheers
Ben
    

[Paul_Turner]

Ben

Thanks, it looks v interesting and low profile.  I like the open aspect of the course, most of it looks like true old English parkland i.e  like the old deer parks with copses and isolated trees.  Just about all the older parkland courses have lost this because of  too much tree planting.

[Ben Stephens]

Paul,

Yes it looks like an old English Parkland course. I recently played Belton Park in Grantham whose golf course is in the grounds of Belton House. The Tom Williamson designed course is similar in appearance but more mature than Stapleford.

Cheers
Ben

[Tony_Muldoon]

Thank you for the tour Ben.

About 7 years ago I went to a ritzy wedding there and we were supposed to play it that morning.  The GB&I weather had other ideas and in the middle of a July heat wave there was a morning heat haze.  Eventually they let us out when you could see the first flag.
We played 10 holes but I don't remember much as the celebrations went on long into the night. So thanks for showing these.

I too like the idea of an open course and as trees on the course would interrupt the view from the hotel it might stay that way.  However lush turf and pot bunkers don't sit well together in my eyes.  I wonder if the sunken nature of the pot bunkers helps keep them invisible from the main house?  I think we need a new category for inland golf on Open treeless sites. The fairways were generous but surrounded by long waving grasses.   Prairie Golf?

[Ben Stephens]

Thank you for the tour Ben.

About 7 years ago I went to a ritzy wedding there and we were supposed to play it that morning.  The GB&I weather had other ideas and in the middle of a July heat wave there was a morning heat haze.  Eventually they let us out when you could see the first flag.
We played 10 holes but I don't remember much as the celebrations went on long into the night. So thanks for showing these.

I too like the idea of an open course and as trees on the course would interrupt the view from the hotel it might stay that way.  However lush turf and pot bunkers don't sit well together in my eyes.  I wonder if the sunken nature of the pot bunkers helps keep them invisible from the main house?  I think we need a new category for inland golf on Open treeless sites. The fairways were generous but surrounded by long waving grasses.   Prairie Golf?

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the message - I would have though Prarie Golf is in America how about Stately Golf - courses in grounds of stately houses of the UK such as Belton Park, Hampton Court, Heythrop Park, Knowle Park etc. I just think Stapleford needs a bit extra as it is bland in certain parts - more alplinzation or grasy hollows/bunkers or more sand bunkers just to give it a bit extra y'know.

Cheers
Ben

[Sean_A]

The course does look quite unusual in that nearly all the shaping is done for the greens and bunkers despite the flat site.  I sort of like the look as the greens seem to be interesting, but perhaps Ben is right in that maybe a handful of holes could have some bold, but unconventional fairway shaping to add a bit of spice.

Thanks for the pix Ben.

Ciao   

[Mark_Rowlinson]

One of the features advertised when the course opened was that the design was of two extended loops never more than two holes wide.

[Ben Stephens]

One of the features advertised when the course opened was that the design was of two extended loops never more than two holes wide.

Mark,

Here is an aerial photo of the course layout at Stapleford which shows the 2 extended loops



Bill Longmuir won the Handa Senior Masters - 20 under par 199 (64 69 66)!

Cheers
Ben

[James Boon]

Ben,

Did you enjoy the Senior's golf this week. Manage to get any caddying work?

I like the idea of stately courses rather than just parkland courses, with Belton Park being an obvious recent example for us. Looking at the routing, I like the idea that the 9th and 10th are still close to the clubhouse, allowing a facility such as this to run 27 hole corporate days, or 2 tee starts to tournaments, while putting a different spin on it that its almost like an out and back routing with a twist.

Cheers,

James

[Ben Stephens]

Ben,

Did you enjoy the Senior's golf this week. Manage to get any caddying work?

I like the idea of stately courses rather than just parkland courses, with Belton Park being an obvious recent example for us. Looking at the routing, I like the idea that the 9th and 10th are still close to the clubhouse, allowing a facility such as this to run 27 hole corporate days, or 2 tee starts to tournaments, while putting a different spin on it that its almost like an out and back routing with a twist.

Cheers,

James

James

I did not manage to getting some caddying work.

I would agree with your second paragraph. But its not the ideal course of moving spectators around.

Cheers
Ben

[Adrian_Stiff]

Ben - Looks like Donald Steele got the dog land to work with. There seems some more interesting stuff in there unused, I would imagine that was out of bounds to him. Note holes 2, 3, 16 and 17 are bunkerless. I bet that is some planning restriction. I wonder if there is somer archaelogical interest here that perhaps prohibited subsoil movements.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Strangely I spoke with one of the caddies he said "the course was not all that and just like a field, that they just seem to put all the holes in the wrong place." He went on to say how there seemed some interesting stuff there but it was just unused.

[Ben Stephens]

Strangely I spoke with one of the caddies he said "the course was not all that and just like a field, that they just seem to put all the holes in the wrong place." He went on to say how there seemed some interesting stuff there but it was just unused.

I agree in some ways - the 15th green is in the wrong place - people are hitting on to the fourth fairway to get a clear line to the green. The more I play the course - I think the 14th should go and create a new dogleg left par 5 14th and a new par 3 15th.
Stapleford has acres of space that you could build 2 or 3 holes in between. The distance between greens to next tee were long!

Hey - you did not mention that your touring pro is Gordon Brand Jr!!!

Cheers
Ben

[Adrian_Stiff]

David Dixon is actually our touring pro. Gordon is official tea boy now. Gordon still practices every single day and playing on the +50s tour. He still hits it great. He said the course appeared wide but you actually had to be pretty accurate to get the right lines in, I think thats a great design philosophy and a back handed compliment.

[Ben Stephens]

David Dixon is actually our touring pro. Gordon is official tea boy now. Gordon still practices every single day and playing on the +50s tour. He still hits it great. He said the course appeared wide but you actually had to be pretty accurate to get the right lines in, I think thats a great design philosophy and a back handed compliment.

Adi

Junior is probably right in that respect that you have to hit the right line off the tee to get an easier shot to the green. On the 4th - the outside line is the right one to get a clear shot to the green. The 6th + 7th is to hit it tight around the corner. the 11th is to hit it as close to the OOB line to be able to hit it on the green in 2. 15th is either the onto the 4th fairway or as far away from the trees on the right to be able to get a clear height over the trees. 17th is to hit it down the left hand side of the fairway.

Love your comment that Junior is tea boy . David Dixon hits the ball miles doesn't he?

Cheers
Ben

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

I second the "dog land" comment...looks like it used to be a nice cow field at one time.......
not alot to work with there for Mr Steele, surprised he even took the challenge...I think I prefer the land that they had to work with at another stately park....Woburn

[Adrian_Stiff]

Not a mile Ben, but about a quarter of one.

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