The Lambourne Golf Club

Situated in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, just 25 miles from London, The Lambourne Golf Club is one of the region’s most prestigious private golf clubs.

Designed by Donald Steel and opened in 1991 The Lambourne is a superb championship standard course.

Established: 1991
Length: 6,978
Par: 72

Augusta in Buckinghamshire?

The club states that if you visit in spring when the rhododendrons and azaleas are in bloom there is a real feel of Augusta. It’s a pretty course during the warmer months but I wouldn’t go that far.

Everything about this course, from the clubhouse, lockers rooms to the tees, fairways and greens is of the highest standard. Winding through mature parkland accompanied by six lakes it is a joy to walk around even if you play badly.

Measuring some 6,798 yards from the back tees this course can be a challenge to even the lognest of hitters. Fear not though as three other sets of tees allow golfers to find their comfort zone. I visited Lambourne with my dad Ken and my cousin Tony. We chose to play off the yellow tees.

The course

The opening few holes were nice to play but none really stood out for me. Things get intereting when you reach the 7th though. A par 3 over water at just over 150 yards from the back tees. The long narrow putting surface slopes from right to left towards a bunker so you just feel yourself aiming right of the green.

The next memorable hole for us is the 10th, a sloping left to right fairway means many will approach the green from the right. However approaches from the left side of the fairway, over the lake, give the best angle into the green. Both Tony & Ken found the water troublesome, both struck turf before ball with their approaches meaning the ball had no chance to clear the water.

A deep bunker strecthes all the way in front of the 17th green, which just happens to be the shortest hole on the course. The putting surface looks quite shallow from the tee so club selection is vital, if it is windy this hole can become a nightmare.

The final hole plays down to the fairway from an elevated tee then back up to an elevated green that is protected by deep bunkers on both sides a five on this par 4 really isn”t a bad result.

We really enjoyed our round at The Lambourne Club, the condition of the course was superb. I did think that with the course being described as an “Exclusive Members Club” the people we would meet on the course would be a little shall we say ”snooty” but that was far from the case. Most of the members we met were extremely friendly apart from one woman on the eighteenth green who was a little abrupt with me.