Banstead Downs Golf Club
Burdon Lane, Belmont,
Sutton, Greater London SM2 7DD
Tel : +44(0) 181 642 2284 Fax : +44(0) 181 642 5252

JAMES DOWNEY wrote on: Nov 24, 2006

HI I COLLECT SCORE CARD FROM AROUND THE WORLD IF ANYONE HAS A XTRA PLEASE SEND TO JAMES DOWNEY 19 BRENTHAM RD N BILLERICA MA 01862 THANKS JIM

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wrote on: Jan 30, 2004

I like to be one of the golfers

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. wrote on: Nov 30, 2000

I was once playing a bland but expensive parkland course in Surrey where I heard a lady member criticise Banstead Downs. She called it 'hilly, worn, chalky and only suitable for goats'.
Well, many of my good friends play golf. And all of them know a good course when they play one.
Any one who wants to fully test his or her golf game might chose Banstead Downs. Contrary to the views of others, Banstead isn't hilly - I have played enough other courses, many in Scotland, to make this remark weak. Undulating, but not hilly. Those who chose to play Banstead Downs because they thought it would be hilly would wander down the 18th fairway, 'I wouldn't call this hilly, would you?'.
Banstead is based on chalk, which helps with the drainage and with indigestion, so I am assured by the elderly Secretary. The fairways are rolling and bumpy but preferable to the club-tangling rough and the ball-bearing trees. It isn't long, but that doesn't make it easy. Neither of the two par fives are regularly reached in two... even by professional golfers. And one of the par threes is at least a 3 wood for most of us.

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Ben Cheetham hcp 12 wrote on: Feb 28, 1999

I guess the chalk gives it a linksy-feel, as everyone knows, the coasts of the British Isles looking for particularly chalky, worn and hilly golf courses to test their golfing repertoire.
Sadly, slow golfers are tolerated at Banstead, but that may be a reflection on the difficulty of the course on a blustery day. But most of us, including single-figure golfers, can get round in less than two and a half hours, which is about right for any course.
There are hardly any blind shots and no water to worry about. Even the bunkers are straightforward - they are not difficult to see, find or escape. Most of the time. The greens are usually true enough, but rarely perfect.
And finally,to answer to any suggestion that Banstead Downs is 'worn'. Well, it has suffered walkers, horse-riders, cyclists, golfers and, of course, goats for over 100 years. Yet, on a sunny summer evening, Banstead outshines most other courses in Surrey and is an authentic and attractive proposition for golfers.

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