Don’t expect to bump into many Americans at Woburn
Abbey. This secluded English estate (located about an hour northwest of
London) is inexplicably overlooked by wayfaring
Yanks—even though Woburn Golf and Country Club’s three parkland layouts are
consistently ranked among the top 75 in the British
Isles.
Were it not for the perfidy of a wayward religious
leader, Woburn Abbey may never have become a golf destination at all. In 1538
Abbot Robert Hobbes was hanged for treason from one of the big oaks near the
massive Great House and the Cistercian monastery was confiscated. Bad tidings
for Hobbes and his fellow monks; good news for the Dukes of Bedford, who were
granted the estate by Henry VIII. In the 1970s the 14th Duke brought golf to the
property. It was a fitting complement to the 3,000-acre deer park, 22-acre flower
gardens and 300-acre safari park filled with exotic
animals.
The Dukes and Duchess layouts were designed by
Charles Lawrie and opened in 1976 and 1979, respectively. A former venue for the
Women’s British Open, the Dukes has also hosted the British Masters 14 times.
With wind an almost guaranteed factor, the 6,963-yard course plays long and
difficult. Highlights include the par-3 third, which spans a 130-yard sea of
rhododendrons to a green flanked by bunkers and flowering
shrubs.
The Duchess Course is shorter (6,651 yards), but
its gauntlet of tight fairways deals harshly with imprecise ballstriking. The
7,214-yard Marquess Course opened in 2000. It ranges through oak, beech and
chestnut copses along a plateau with superb views and plenty of
water.
Accommodations are found at the Inn at Woburn, built in 1724 as a
Royal Mail coach stop and elegantly refurbished in 2002. The property’s
centerpiece, the Great House, remains the home of the current Duke and Duchess
of Bedford, but
is open to visitors from March through October. The house contains one of
England’s finest collections of art,
furniture, silver, gold and porcelain—all treasures to rival the golf holes
contained on the grounds outside.
For more information, call
011-44-1908-370756 or visit woburnabbey.co.uk.
