Woburn Golf Club

The Marquess Course at Woburn, opened in 2000, is the youngest of the three layouts and was designed by Peter Alliss, Clive Clark, Alex Hay and John Morrison. Set across 200 acres of woodland, it has a spacious feel with wide corridors off the tee, but still demands accuracy and smart positioning to avoid the numerous bunkers and subtle slopes. The back nine brings more undulation and variety, adding both challenge and visual appeal. The greens are excellent, quick and true, rewarding well-struck approach shots. Off the course, the facilities are exceptional. The clubhouse is spacious and modern, with a very large and well-stocked pro shop and a bright café-style lounge area. Warm-up and practice areas are some of the best you’ll find in the UK, and the on-site Titleist Performance Centre makes Woburn stand out even more. The Marquess although the youngest, is a strong addition to the Woburn portfolio and a course that fully lives up to its reputation. A return visit to play the other two courses would be highly worthwhile.

I played the marquess with a member so the cost was decent.

As a top 100 course it was exactly what you expect. The staff were amazing and friendly and always welcoming.

The course itself was fantastic and in such great condition. You weren’t punished for a poor shot unless you went really wide.

The Duchess is seen by many as less exciting than its siblings, The Marquess and Duke's.

I can understand why – it doesn't quite have their levels of drama. Nevertheless, it still has plenty of attributes and its opening and closing holes are of particular merit.

It also adds a different dimension to the trio of tracks that make up England's finest corporate golf venue.

I had struggled to score well on my previous visits to Woburn and feared a repeat because of the very tough start on the Duchess.

The opener is a long par-four down an avenue of Woburn's hallmark tall pines with a fairway which dips before a steep ascent to the target.

It is followed by a devilishly narrow par-three, with bunkers and trees waiting for anyone who doesn't strike a straight ball.

One of the atypical elements of The Duchess is the difficulty of the four par-threes (three are among the most challenging holes on the course, according to the stroke index) against the apparent generosity of the four par-fives (all under 500 yards).

That said, I didn't yield as many points on the latter as I should because of slack course management.

An owner of one top-100 course remarked that he didn't understand how Woburn's team could grow grass, let alone achieve its high level of conditioning, given the amount of shade cast by the massive trees.

They are particularly evident on the furthest side of the course on holes eight and, especially, the ninth – a very tricky par-four where length and fairway placement are necessary to yield a good score.

By the time I hit the back nine, I was looking for some quirky holes that would make The Duchess more memorable than it had been.

Thus, after a testing par-five and two difficult par-fours comes an excellent six-hole run-in.

The 13th is another long par-three through the omnipresent trees to a sunken green with a false front. It is followed by a stroke-index-one par-four, which requires every sinew to find the target and avoid menacing bunkers on the fairway and greenside.

The 15th has been changed to a fun par-five from a mindbending par-four and the 16th offers no res;pite despite being the shortest par-three on the course.

We were told the 17th is The Duchess's Marmite hole because it is so quirky – a short, curving par-four down a dale, before climbing to a flag in a bowl green. I loved it.

The 18th is a splendid finale – a bending par-four with plenty of trouble down the right and bunkers all around a sloping green.

It polished off an excellent round before a quick sup in Woburn's modern but most welcoming clubhouse, which has huge indoor rooms (including ones dedicated to Alex Hay and touring pro, Ian Poulter) and a gorgeous verandah.

Woburn is an impressive corporate venue with a five-year waiting list for memberships and is a place to be seen as well as play.

Being at Woburn is an event, so we had a gentle lunch in its huge modern clubhouse which shows off memorabilia of past tournament winners and sampled its impressive practice area before embarking upon our round.

I played the Dukes two years ago and more recently enjoyed the Marquess which was in fine fettle when we tackled it on an early June day.

This was before it was in full bloom but it was certainly attracting an unusual array of wildlife.

Muntjac deer, originally imported into Woburn Abbey from China at the end of the 19th century, a BLACK squirrel, ducks and a kite were course companions.

I confess, there were moments when any of them might have yielded better results with my golf clubs than I did. Nevertheless, we had a spectacular day.

Immediately, it was clear that the Marquess has wider fairways than the Dukes which I found so tough a couple of years ago.

The first wow-factor hole is the dogleg fifth with handily placed beech trees lurking to thwart those who try to cut the corner while the fairway dips down to a green protected by one of Woburn’s many devilishly placed bunkers.

The greens have plenty of slopes and borrows and judging pace is a real test. This is especially evident on the par-three sixth where balls are attracted to a hollow on the left-hand side.

This is followed by the most dramatic hole on the course – the signature par-five seventh which divides into two fairways around a central copse.

The ninth is nearly as exciting with its sharp descent and then rise into an angled green. Shot selection is trickier here than on any hole on the course.

When I played on Woburn’s Dukes track, my disappointing round was revived by the sausage roll with its special marmalade ingredient at the halfway hut.

This time around, it failed to pep me up but clearly had an impact on my compadre who went on to play the best nine holes of his life.

My wheels really came off on the truly memorable short par-four 12th which demands a carry of 190 yards to an island fairway between two ponds connected by a brook.

Commentator Ewan Murray described the final five holes on the Marquess as the toughest of the European Tour when Woburn was part of the circuit.

I empathise.

Regardless, they were the climax of a truly glorious day in which the company was every bit as good as a course which was in super condition.

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