Women’s British Open – Woburn Golf Club

It’s time for the Ricoh Women’s British Open and, for a change of pace, some parkland golf. Let’s have a look at the luxurious Woburn Golf Club.

2016 will be the 10th time that Woburn has hosted the Women’s British Open. While all previous stagings of the Open have occurred on the Dukes Course, the 2016 Championship will be contended on the Marquess Course.

Opened for play in 2000, the Marquess is the newest of Woburn’s three championship tracks. Set within 200 acres of mixed woodland, the Marquess overlaps the county boundary dividing Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire and presents a variety of rolling and undulating terrain. The predominant tree species are pine, spruce, sweet chestnut and oak, while there are a number of rare specimens such as Corsican pine, yew, rowan and beech.

Designed by Peter Alliss and Clive Clark, European Golf Design, the Marquess is no stranger to championship play. The course has hosted 2 British Masters’ and the English Amateur Championship and was one of four tracks used to stage final qualifying rounds for the 2014 Open Championship.

With wide fairways and an undulating landscape, Marquess is a very classy place for a round of golf as well as a very challenging track. This is a golf course where the “rip it and grip it” girls like Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson, and Sei Young Kim will have an advantage, at least in advancing the ball down the fairway.

There are some strategically placed bunkers along the way from tee to green, located at just about the right spot to catch the long hitters and equalize play for the short girls in the field. Charley Hull, and Ariya Jutanugarn, beware!

Then there are the greens. They’re large and very well manicured and hellishly contoured.  They’re also surrounded by those huge trees, further complicating efforts to read the breaks and accurately judge the pace. In other words, getting there is only the first challenge. Finishing the job is going to be another matter entirely. Even Cristie Kerr, who just doesn’t misread putts and wields her flat stick with utter authority, may be pressed to prevail.

This Championship is not going to play like links golf. This is lush, luxurious parkland-style golf on a superb and demanding track that will test the field’s long game and short game alike.

Cover Photo via Instagram