Woburn?

[David_Tepper]

Watching a bit of the Ladies Open from Woburn this morning, it occurred to me the 3 Woburn courses have rarely if, ever, been discussed here. Based on what I saw, the Marquess course seems to be a parkland venue.

What can anyone tell us about Woburn? Are the other two courses there much different? What kind of play does the place get? Members? Visitors? Society outings? 

Monty likes it, "It's a simply magnificent course in the best of locations."

[Matthew Rose]

Without judging the merits of this course, because I know literally nothing about it, I have to say that I am kinda disappointed they are playing the Open here, just because of what it is.


I'm sure I share the opinion with a lot of people here that I'd much rather watch the ladies knock it around some of the same tracks as the lads, although the occasional Sunningdale is fine too.

[David_Tepper]

Matthew -

What is it? That is what I am trying to find out.

In fact last year "the lads" played the British Masters on the same Marquess course.

DT

[Mark Chaplin]

The ladies Open goes to the sponsors choice of course, it's as simple as that.

[jeffwarne]

Without judging the merits of this course, because I know literally nothing about it, I have to say that I am kinda disappointed they are playing the Open here, just because of what it is.


I'm sure I share the opinion with a lot of people here that I'd much rather watch the ladies knock it around some of the same tracks as the lads, although the occasional Sunningdale is fine too.

Woburn looks great,
but I'm with you
would like to see it on a links.


Somewhat OT, but The Senior Open is at Porthcawl in 2017 and St Andrews in 2018.
Those guys do it right and lately Senior Golf is the only way to see great courses in unbastardized form

[Tony_Muldoon]

There some places you just have an unreasonable grudge against.

I was due to play 27 holes there on a Monday when I was planning to use a day in the fresh air to help overcome jet lag from a two week holiday in the sun.

ON the morning after arriving back I looked out the window and saw thick snow. So I went back to bed, completely forgetting that I was not in the free daytime parking area in our street. Most expensive round I never played and I still haven’t been to Woburn.

[Thomas Dai]

Woburn has a long history of hosting the Ladies British Open. I believe this is the 10th year it has hosted the event including an extended year-after-year period through much of the 1990's.


Quite a few men's pro tour events have also been held there going back to the 1970's plus senior's events as well.


There are three courses. The Dukes came first, and held the British Masters for many, many years until the event kind of disappeared for a period only recently to reappear a couple of times on the Marquiss course. There is also the Duchess course.


Atb

[David_Tepper]

Has anyone from our sizable UK contingent actually played any of the courses there?

[Matt Dawson]

David
I played the Duke & Duchess courses a couple of times as an undergraduate 20+ years ago, so my memory is a little sketchy. At that time they had not built the Marquess, so it was just the Duke & Duchess

It was considered a treat, because at that time they held a Tour event on the Duke's, and the conditioning was a notch up from most other UK parkland courses in Autumn.

However, thinking back there was nothing exceptional about the architecture. The Duchess' course was extraordinarily tight, through narrow avenues of pines.

The whole set up was very corporate, and I believe it is popular with societies. I would put it in a similar bracket as a facility to Wentworth, if you have ever been there.

Perfectly pleasant in all, but nothing special IMHO

[Mike_Clayton]

I've played many tournaments on the Dukes - which is a better course than the one the women are playing this week with its very American mowing lines - and seeming love for bunkers on the outside of the doglegs.
The Dukes is a decent course on some interesting land and using some massive valleys really well.
I played the Duchess once - narrow and forgettable.
Marquis was a miss really given the quality of the land - a miss when you consider what Colt,Simpson, Fowler or MacKenzie might have done there - and did within an hour to the south.


Woburn has always been a great tournament venue because it attracts terrific crowds.

[David_Tepper]

Matt & Mike -

Thanks for your responses. The fact that none of our well-traveled GCA-ers appear to have played at Woburn in the past 5-10 years says something about the place.

DT

Mike - By the way, what can you tell me about Min Woo Lee, who won the USGA Juniors this past week? 

[Mike_Clayton]

David,


There is no reason to really visit Woburn for the architecture given the greatness of the heathlands is so close - and more easily accessed from London and Heathrow
It's a pity the courses are not better  (not that they are poor by any stretch) as the site is expansive, perfectly contoured and with ideal soil and vegetation. Mike Keiser would have made it the public golfing destination in England and it would have made fortunes.



Min Woo Lee is Minjee's younger brother. They were both born in Perth  (unlike Su Oh, Minjee's contemporary and Olympic teammate whose family moved to Melbourne when she was eight) and he has been in the shadow of his sister all along - hardly surprisingly as MinJee was a big amateur star in Australia.
He is the typical modern player - long,strong and a swing with really good lines. He's a really nice kid too - good fun and he has a chance to be a real player.

[David_Tepper]

Mike -

As always, thanks for your feedback.

I was fortunate to play a number of the great Heathland courses many years ago. While I am not expecting to play Woburn any time soon (or any time at all ), I was curious about the courses there. It seemed a little odd that, given the sizable number of high levels events held there over the years, the course have received almost no discussion here.

DT 

[Greg Taylor]

I've played the Marquess.


It's an over watered parkland lay out with iffy bunkering. The par 3's lack character and offset some of the interesting holes like #5 and 7. Greens are the cookie cutter round/flat style with little movement.


More could have been done with that property IMHO.


Dukes I played a while back, a better course with the short par 3 down the hill. It couldn't handle crowds however. The Duchess I have not played but the member told me it was too narrow and no fun.

[Ed Tilley]

I've played the Duchess. It was very pleasant with plenty of undulation and in excellent condition. However, it was the narrowest course I've ever seen. If you miss the fairway you're in the trees - on every hole.

[James Boon]

I've played all 3 courses there and I used to go and watch professional events on both the Dukes and Duchess (the Ladies used to play an event round there) though I've not seen a pro event there since they switched to the Marquess.


The Duchess is as mentioned earlier very tight, almost too tight in places! The Dukes is probably my favourite and has some good holes, with the drop shot 3rd (often played as second in pro events) being well photographed for magazines back in the 90s. The Marquess probably has some of the best holes on the property but overall is a bit dull and also has the worst hole for me, a short par 4 with an island fairway, that kind of comes out of nowhere in the flow and character of the place. 


It occurred to me last time I was there that to go with the 3 courses its a very big clubhouse and so you could play a round spend some time in the bar and yet never see a fellow member who is also there that same day and time? Also the clubhouse doesn't have a view of ANY of the 3 courses!  [size=78%] [/size]


Cheers,


James

[Thomas Dai]

Nice but not wonderful and rather pricey was how some folk I know described it after a short-stay visit.
Atb

[David Stamm]

I was struck with the lousy mowing lines. Just awful and detracted from what otherwise looks like a solid piece of property

[Matt_Cohn]

On the Golf Channel telecast they called it the "mar-KWIS" course and then the "MAR-kis" course. Is it not the "mar-KEE" course? What is it???

[David_Tepper]

Like a number of words, Marquis has both an English and an American pronunciation:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/marquis