Dunstable Downs - Bedfordshire - England
Whipsnade Road,
Dunstable,
Bedfordshire,
LU6 2NB,
England
+44 (0) 1582 604472
6 miles W of Luton
Welcome
Stephen Bryan 
James Braid
Darren Charlton
The course at Dunstable Downs sits at an elevation of nearly eight hundred feet above sea level and it occupies a spectacular setting in the Chiltern Hills with commanding vistas across several counties, from Surrey in the south to Northamptonshire in the north. Twenty-four years after its formation, the club acquired land at Downs Farm, close to where its course was set out on common land, before engaging James Braid to design a new 18-hole layout for the membership. According to the book James Braid and his Four Hundred Golf Courses by John F. Moreton and Iain Cumming, “by designing nine holes in the valley and nine on the high ground Braid maximised the variety of the terrain available while taking advantage of the views.” It continues: “The course was opened without ceremony on 26th September 1931, its yardage being 6,579 yards, longer than today. The course today is virtually the same, only the numbering changed, to fit in with the changed site of the clubhouse.” The modern day configuration of the course sees golfers tackle the only two par fives on the card at holes 1 and 3. Later on, they face the most difficult hole on the course at the 452-yard 8th (“Braid’s Best”), a long, left doglegged par four. On the back nine – where holes 10 to 17 are all par fours – the round concludes with a very testing, 170-yard par three (“Death or Glory”), where the home green is encircled by no fewer than nine bunkers. |
Reviews for Dunstable Downs
fun but it is the 8th and 9th that are the stand-out holes on the front. The 8th is a big par-4 at 452 yards that runs along the south of the course, turns a little left and has an uphill approach to a very small green – the obvious SI-1 hole where a bogey is very good score. After the beating that you take on the 8th, the par-3 9th is SI-18 and only 122 yards and is a delightful short hole with great green-side bunkering all around. The back nine starts with three par-4’s all 400 yards+ which is tough for most but the biggest observation is that these three are the start of a run of eight par-4’s. I would like to see one of these lengthened to a par-5, with the 11th, 12th or the 16th the obvious possibilities. Although the run of all of these par-4’s may not be that common, these is a decent mix of short and long holes. The 14th, named ‘California’ the best of the short style; slightly dog-legging to the right and at 317 yards needs a very accurate tee shot, anything less will leave a blind approach to the green. The round ends with a 170 yard 1-shotter but with ten bunkers protecting, where the green needs to be hit rather than ran up to. A decent course towards the top end of the Bedfordshire rankings and a friendly club too.
