Dave Thomas: Golf at Bowood. Interested?

[Robin_Hiseman]

As something of a tribute to the late Dave Thomas, who would be interested in heading over to play one of his best tracks, Bowood in Wiltshire, whilst there is still some heat in the sun?  

If you don't know Bowood, it is certainly one of his prettiest sites, within the grounds of Bowood House.  Like many of Dave's courses, it is big and muscular, a bit like Dave himself!  it's been a long while since I played there, but I remember it being a good test of golf in lovely surroundings, with Dave's trademark bunkers and strategic stamps in abundance.

I was very saddened to hear of his passing.  His course at Westerwood was the first course I ever saw in construction, so he was quite an early influence on me and one way or another, I seemed to have played more of his courses than any other contemporary architect.  

If you fancy a game, drop me a PM or reply here.

[Robin_Hiseman]

I'm going to give myself a reply so as not to be the only one on the front page without one!

Expressions of interest from 3 people so far, so that's one tee time sorted out.

[Niall C]

Robin

Allow me to give your thread a bump. Sorry I can't join you but hope you get a good turnout.

Niall

[Robin_Hiseman]

Thanks Niall.

We have a fourball of GCA stalwarts.

Looking at Sunday September 15, in the afternoon.

[Ben Stephens]

Robin,

Thanks for the invite. To be honest I am not a fan of playing Dave Thomas courses and I am sure you would have fun at Bowood with fellow GCAers. I started playing golf at Thorpe Wood in Peterborough which is probably the most natural looking Dave Thomas course (he worked alongside Peter Alliss)

Most time I come off a Dave Thomas course I just feel like 'yeah that was ok' and think it was overrated.

The following Dave Thomas courses I have played are:

Belfry (Brabazon)
Slaley Hall
Mottram Hall
Roxburghe

The shaping and bunker style at the above courses gives a bad taste in my mouth as they don't look natural but repetitive which is not attractive to the eye.


The ones that were a pleasant surprise were:

Blairgowrie (Landsdowne)
Kings Lynn

Its a shame that Thomas looked like he was influenced by second half of 20th century American Golf Course Design rather than use influences of the courses in the UK. Think what the Belfry would look like if it had more natural looking shaping and bunkers.

Cheers
Ben

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Robin,

I should have loved to join you but I'm not free on that day.

I have only played Bowood once and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was taken round by a young assistant pro who, intelligently, didn't try to show me how low he could score, but instead to show me the shots on the course - playing balls from various different spots. Very informative.

I also played Slaley Hall with one of the assistants and he took lots of risks to show off some of the golfing challenges. I know that many are quite rude about Slaley Hall on this site, but I enjoyed that experience also.

Mottram Hall is local to me, but I've only played it once. The front nine are pretty dull, going round and round a flat field. However, seven of the back nine holes are really quite good and seriously challenging on interesting, undulating ground.

I have played the Brabazon at the Belfry (13 years ago when I was not as feeble as these days) and I enjoyed the challenges of the good holes (notably 10th and 18th) but the rest of it was hard work as it was in a damp autumn. It took me ages to clean my clothes, clubs and bag.

I don't know how much of Dunham Forest is Dave's, but I really like most of the course. Many say that it is too tight between the trees but I have never suffered at its hands. It is a Jewish club and if I am a guest there I know I will be very well fed and thoroughly entertained with the humour. The code number for their locker room was 1939 - you get the gist.

Thomas did quite a bit of remodelling work around the Manchester area when he was pro at Dunham, sometimes with Alliss. They combined on a rebuild of Didsbury when major upheaval was caused by the building of the (now) M60. It was a MacKenzie course, but it is now rather a sad mixture of some classic holes and a load of less satisfactory stuff crammed into corners here and there.

I have also played Dewsbury and District a few times, and it has some exciting holes and some really oddball jobs!

Enjoy your day out!
I've not played any of his Spanish or Portuguese courses, but I have played Cannes-Mougins in the south of France. It was an oddball course with one utterly ridiculous hole turning through a right-angle. I think it was an Alliss/Thomas duet.

[Robin_Hiseman]

Ben and Mark

Thanks for your comments on the Thomas courses you've played.  I've had mixed experiences on Thomas courses in the UK,although a common theme is that I get thoroughly beaten up.  I particularly remember my first round at Westerwood, before it officially opened.  I was very excited at playing this new 'American' style course in Scotland (I was still a teenager). It was big, bold, full of huge mounds and exciting water hazards...and it absolutely murdered me!  I've still got the scorecard and I was north of 100 well before the end!

To Westerwood I can add both his courses at Newmachar, Cardrona, The Belfry, Donnington Grove and Bowood.  Bowood is the best of that lot.

The Bowood offer is fully subscribed now.  We have a GCA fourball consisting of myself, Neil White, James Boon and Tom Kelly.

[Thomas Dai]

I played Newmacher near Aberdeen several times in the years after it first opened and liked it. The site was a bit boggy in places but there were some nice holes routed through the trees. I recall a rather awkward/evil/nice short par-4 towards the start, 4th-hole perhaps, and some strong par-4's as well. Not so keen on the holes near the clubhouse over the ponds though.
Hope the four of you have a good time at Bowood.
All the best.