One of the busiest and most successful DWGD designed developments is the 9 hole Par 3 course at Duke’s Meadows in Chiswick, West London, on the banks of the Thames immediately adjacent to the finish line of the famous Varsity Boat Race.

When David Williams was approached by the owners of the adjacent Duke’s Meadows Driving Range in the mid-1990s, the brief was to construct a high quality Par 3 golf course to complement the Driving Range facilities. As David Williams explains …”Given the West London location, the site, previously absolutely level cricket/football pitches, appeared an ideal one on which to build a Par 3 course aimed at all standards of player. Not only would the layout afford a good introduction to the game for the novice or beginner, but the well-designed and highly specified greens, constructed to USGA specification, meant that the putting surfaces were the equal, if not better, than on many well renowned 18 hole courses in the area”.

Situated with a catchment area of many millions in the immediate vicinity, the course offered “Golf without the drive!” – in both senses. The high quality of construction and ongoing maintenance means that the putting surfaces enable good golfers to practice their short games, even if they only have an hour or so available in the evening. With the greens surrounded by properly designed and constructed bunkers, grassy hollows and swales, the holes are the equal of Par 3 holes on the neighbouring London and Surrey layouts.

Some of the holes played around a newly created lake and, with extensive tree and shrub planting, the previously flat featureless ground has been transformed to a delightful Par 3 facility.

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