Dewstow Golf Club
Dewstow Golf Club, Chepstow, South East Wales, Wales, NP26 5AH
01291430444 | E-mail golf course | Golf course website
13 reviews of Dewstow Golf Club
we played the valley course after some some rather bad weather but the course was in great nick. we really enjoyed the golf and freindly staff in the pro shop and clubhouse.
played this course on the 27/10/12 all i can say is their nothing you can fault about dewstow golf club the staff in the shop are so helpful when booking in when out on the course the condition for this time of the year is out standing yes their is parts worse in places but hey its winter and having played st andrews major mud bath the week before and then playing dewstow for a third of the price you cannot go wrong first played this course when it first opened it matured over the years and is a fantastic set up on both courses and clubhouse the owners should be proud of running the club in such a excellent manner cannot wait to play again thanks for a great day see you soon
17th, Sept. 2011 Dear Sirs, I played the Valley course here with my Cousin on Sept. 15th, and have very mixed feelings. The course is very pretty indeed, being densely populated with (thick) bushes and trees, many of the trees being magnificent old mature oaks. Most of the fairways form avenues between these bushes and trees, making straightness vital, and at least one of them is actually in the middle of a fairway, (my ball is still up in it somewhere!). The course is rather ‘undulating’ in places, but buggies are available, and, at least so far as I’m concerned, needed. The holes are well laid out and challenging, making good use of the contours, and with many greens not being visible from the tee. There are also several optical illusions with things seeming to be a lot nearer or farther than they actually are, but this is no doubt a question of local knowledge. The Clubhouse is well appointed, the service friendly, the food good, and the prices very reasonable. But, …… and it’s a very big but. The tees were a bit ‘woolly’ to say the least. Many of the fairways were also too long-cut for my preference (I tend to hit it low and let it run, and that doesn’t work well here). Also, to get a bit technical, the soil is very heavy hereabouts, so if you try a crisp punch shot the clubhead tends to dig in and turn. That’s just the way it is though, and you just have to adjust to it. The real killer though, was the condition of the greens. They’d recently been ‘Gradened’ (thousands of little narrow ‘tram-line’ grooves), and then heavily sanded, so that, to be blunt, they were just about unputtable and the ball just bobbled about and went wherever it wanted. My Cousin tells me that the greens are usually quite good, and I totally accept that the work has to be done. It was just our bad luck to draw the short straw, but inevitably it rather took the edge off our play. My motto is “A bad day’s golf is always better than a good day’s work” and to be fair, with good company, good weather, and very pleasant surroundings it wasn’t really a bad day. I was impressed enough that I’d perhaps like to give it another try sometime, but I’d be sure to check that the greens were back to normal. Yours faithfully John Stephens, Stourbridge
I am a member of Dewstow and uphold most of the comments - good and bad, with a couple of exceptions. Mr Sweets comment re the 12th is strange for an 8 handicapper, the green is easily reachable in three and even I have reached it in two several times but is takes a good and accurate drive (250yds +) and a brave and very accurate 5wood + to reach in dry conditions. All the holes are reachable in regulation with the hardest being the Park par5 across the bridge which requires very accurate placement as well as length (and a bit of luck). The Valley 14th is a strange hole and I agree that it does not seem to fit but it is still a challenge. Overall most of the greens are slower than most and allthough the Park course is the shorter it requires long and accurate shots and is not favoured by many, personnaly it is my favourite with some lovely views over the Severn and if you want to play millionaire golf try it early on a Sunday - you might not see another player for half the course. I agree that much of the furniture - winter tees etc leave a lot to be desired. I think Mr Cotter must have come on a bad day as most of the course and the greens drain very well and we do not have any winter greens, that said, in fours years of membership I only know of a few days when the course has been unplayable. There are better courses but we do have two very good courses and a great club atmosphere.
The Valley course at Dewstow has matured into a very pleasant golfing experience. Most holes have a substantial number of large trees dominating the sides of the fairways. The fairways are well maintained, green and lush and the greens ok; though a touch slow when we played, unlike the crazy golf practice putting green. There are some memorable holes particularly those with the greens on the top of mounds and the 7th and 8th with water in front of the greens. Some of the par 4's on the back nine are on the short side, but the trees make them more difficult than the distance suggests. The short par 3 14th is the only disappointing hole as it is not clear why they replaced the previous version of the hole with one with cramped tees and trees obscuring your the vision of the pin. The clubhouse facilities are well geared up for visitors and societies and the staff are very welcoming.
I have played a lot of challenging courses but the Valley course has a subtle combination of being both challenging and a pleasure to walk. The layout is both good and bad. The holes are well laid out but sometimes the walk to the next tee can be tiring as several are more than a few yards away. For me the mark of a good course is memorable holes and how fair the course plays. The valley course has a good number of memorable holes and plays very fair. It is a shame that it seems to be an 18 hole course with only 17 holes - a short par 3 on the back nine seems to be there only to make up the numbers. That said, I would thoroughly recommend it to golfers with a good long game.
I'll begin with the positives... Played 'Valley' in February 2003 and agree with previous comments about the quality of the layout and the excellent value-for-money which this course COULD represent. However, there were a couple of major negatives. Firstly, at least half of the greens were absolutely saturated. I don't know if there were any greenkeeping staff on duty this particular day, but I would guess that those greens were unplayable... a hotch-potch of footmarks and pitchmark craters. No-one likes temporary greens, but some of these proper greens were truly awful. Also, the course featured the worst temporary teeing mats I've ever seen. They were ancient, wobbly, almost always misaligned, far too small, and constructed from a curious combination of rubber and metal. I know the green fee's only £19, but surely they can stretch to 18 new astro-turf mats? And preferably a model built AFTER the second world war...
I have been playing Dewstow weekly for the last four months now and have just decided to become a member. I would agree with the posters that state Valley is a challenging course, but even though I would be lucky to play off 28 on a good day - I still manage to leave the course having snapped any clubs as at no point does it punish my good shots (Rare as they are!). Personally, I would say that Park is the harder of the two courses for novice players as shot placement is extremely important on most of the holes. Probably the worst holes on the course are those after the bridge (With the exception of the Par 3) which are all long for the sake of being long and really do not add much to the course at all. I do not play park unless I am feeling particularly brave. :-) I think the greatest testament there is to Dewstow is that everyone I have taken with me to play has said that they are great courses... If a bit challenging. Two people I know specifically have it marked down as their challenge course and are eagerly awaiting another chance to beat it into submission!
We played the valley course as a society on the 8 June 2002. Well what can i say for a short course it is certainly tougher then i thought it would be. Very narrow fairways, tight greens and some very beautiful holes made for a very pleasant afternoons golf in the sun. I especially liked the par 3 7th hole where you stand about 50ft above the green with just a narrow gap for you to aim betweem the trees to get to the green, the green also has water in front of it where several of my fellow players ended up.. thank you for such a wonderful day dewstow i will be playing this course again... James
Played the valley course on the 20/08/01. Throughly enjoyed it though it was tricky and I didn't play it well. Mr. Sweet sounds like he had a very bad day as it was much better than expected after reading his description. Some hard holes, some not so hard, nice condition and consistent greens.
The Park Course is a great course, worth a visit to play but forget about the valley course, It's horrible, possibly the unfairest 18 holes of golf I think I have ever played. Tree lined fairways give you no shot even if you're only 1 yard off the fairway and the 12th is a par 5 which is only just reachable in 3, thus giving you no chance to go for it in two, it's not the length, its the layout, if you've played it you'll know what I mean. Go and play the Park but the valley would be best dug up!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a well kept course which is challenging to any standard of golfer, my first visit but definatley not my last
I recently played the Valley course and it is in excellent condition and well worth a game. I found it a tough test off 15.
Course information
Tee information
Tees | Yards | Par | SSS |
---|---|---|---|
Competition | |||
Men's | 6226 | 70 | |
Ladies' |
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