De Vere Belton Woods - Lakes Golf Club

Feature Review - De Vere Belton Woods

Posted by: Tom Furniss on Tue 04 Nov 2008

"The Golfshake event held here in Spring 2008 wet my appetite for another bash at the Lakes course and I was very hopeful of undercutting my previous 110 there on a dry(!) summer day in August. Having scuttled home with a miserable 116 today I think I can say that this is truly a difficult and challenging course that won't be easily beaten by any mere mortal golfer.

Though the fairways are wide and forgiving, heavy rain makes the bunkers set hard and any attempt to "take sand" will soon result in very sore wrists. Part of the joy (and pain) of this course are the water features which appear with pleasing regularity on the eye but which inevitably mean a trip to the shops to replenish your ball supply after a day spent here. A number of greens are well protected behind lakes sometimes 50 - 60 yards across and laying up isn't always the best or easiest option when the fairway often slopes straight down into the water and you've only got 10 yards of green width to play with anyway.

The greens themselves are generally flat though they played slower than expected due to the large amounts of dressing used. As this is a corporate & short break complex rather than a private club, you can unfortunately expect to find that each green is peppered with unsightly pitchmarks which some less caring souls have left for others to repair. Do yourself and others a favour by taking care of some of these on your way round.

There are many good deals here from the De Vere golfing breaks through to the excellent reductions on greenfees to be had via the "teeofftimes" website. Overall, this is a long and constantly demanding course which I'm determined to break 100 on one day. Anyone care to join me in this potentially life-long quest?"

Peter Wilson, 20th August 2008