Woodbury Park

Two years after winning the Formula 1 World Championship in 1992, Nigel Mansell, an accomplished golfer, visited the newly opened Woodbury Park Golf and Country Club and such was the impression the 500-acre site made on him, he decided to buy it, lock stock and barrel. Mansell has since sold the property which is now part of The Club Company portfolio.

Configured in two returning loops of nine with holes 1 to 9 encircling the inward half, the Oaks at Woodbury Park is a testing, if somewhat hilly, parkland course that extends to a monstrous 7,314 yards from the championship tees – the standard scratch score is two strokes more than the par of 73 – with the more realistic regular gents tees playing almost 750 yards shorter.

Golfers face an intimidating tee shot at two of the three one-shot holes on the card as the greens at hole 3 (“Kingfisher”) and 18 (“The Splash”) are fronted by ponds. The third short hole (“Little Badger,” the 15th) is not exactly a pushover either, measuring over 200 yards from the front tee markers.