Feature review: De Vere Staverton Park

Staverton Park is John Harris designed course set in 140 acres of the Northamptonshire countryside. The mature PGA championship style course offers a great challenge to golfers of all abilities. With 60 American style-bunkers and four lakes coming into play, Staverton is certainly a great test.

The Course

You don’t get an easy start as the first tee shot is quite daunting. You have to miss the big tree to get your drive away then shape it left to right to stay on the fairway.
There’s a couple of blind tee shots on the front nine and two tough par 3’s which make the outward nine very tough. The 8th especially is 200 yard par 3, you have to fly the front bunker to reach the green whilst contending with the swirling winds.The par 4 3rd is I believe is the pick of the holes on the front nine, a dog-leg left blind tee shot with a well placed bunker allows you to be aggressive, cautious players can also hit to the left of the bunkers and still be in good position. A lovely looking hole has a lake to the right of the green and another well placed bunker to the left of the green.
The 437 yard par 4 7th is the hardest hole on the course on length alone. Long straight and uphill you will run off the green laughing with a par here.

The back nine gives you a relatively nice and easy start, the downhill par 4 10th should give you a wedge in after a good drive, then you have the very reachable par 5 11th, just be careful not to over hit your approach in as danger lurks behind the green.
The par 3 12th hole is somewhat of a signature hole at Staverton. Looking very daunting from the tee with one of the four large lakes in front of you, you have to carry it all the way to the green as well as anything short will start to roll back. Bunkers either side of the green certainly makes a par on this hole very good.
There are some tough holes coming down the stretch, long dog-legs on 14 and 15 followed by the last par 3 at 16.
The two remaining holes are short par 4’s but you have to be accurate. Both have very tight fairways and very tough shots in. 17 is guarded by three large bunkers and if you don’t fly it over the front left one, then you only have a small gap to get through before you hit the bunker front right.
18 is guarded by the biggest of the four lakes right in front, if you are more aggressive off the tee and take the fairway bunkers out of play then you will leave a short wedge in which should be easier to hold on a very narrow green.

Facilities / Thoughts

Facilities include putting green, practice bunkers, chipping areas as well as a driving range to get loose before you head off.
If I was to have one criticism it would be the length of walks between some of the tee’s including a good 2/3 minute walk between the ninth green to the tenth tee, it’s not particularly the walking but the lack of signs telling you where the next tee is. When I played we must have walked to the wrong tee a couple of times.

All in all though a very well designed course with some great challenging holes. I would still say that Staverton is still a date for your diary.

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