Golf in London

Crowlands Heath Golf Club in Dagenham has a short ‘links-style’ 9-hole golf course. The course is privately owned, operated on a pay-and-play basis, and membership of the club is also available.

Crowlands Heath Golf Club   
Wood Lane
Dagenham
Essex
RM8 1JX
Tel. (020) 8984 7373
Website: http://www.chrisjenkinsgolf.com/crowlands.html

Course(s)  

• Holes: 9 hole golf course
• Par: 33
• Yardage: 2,738 yards
• Established: 2000
• Architect: Pinner Design

The course is laid over open parkland and features contoured landscaping, bunkers, water hazards, greens and tees to USGA standard, and variable tee positions. 

Green fees

£9.00 /£12.50 (weekdays 9/18 holes)
£11.00 / £15.00 (weekends 9/18 holes) 

Various discounts are also available.

Photographs

Photographs from the course taken in January 2008 can be viewed here.

Facilities

• 9 hole golf course (2738 yards, par 33)
• 30-bay covered ‘Aqua’ driving range (over water)
• Short game practice area (2 practice greens)
• Bar
• Small shop
• Buggies
• Changing rooms
• Tuition from PGA professionals

Directions

View Larger Map

Turn off the A12 at the junction with for Whalebone Lane North (A1112) and head south towards Dagenham. Take the turning for Wood Lane (A124) and continue on this road until you see the golf club on your left.

Turn off the A13 for Ripple Road (A1306) headed northbound, then take Heathway (A1240) to Dagenham, turn into Wood Lane (A124) and continue until you see the golf club on your left.

Course review - January 2008

These 9 holes are laid out on a small plot of land containing Wantz Lake and bounded Crowlands Sports Ground, Ford Sports Ground, and Crow Lane. It’s a small but perfectly formed oasis among industry. Where golf is played out against a backdrop of neighbouring sports facilities, container storage, and the imposing beauty of the gasometers of Romford Gas Works.

Dagenham was once a rural area associated with fishing and farming until the docks and railway made it an attractive location for industry. Becontree Heath where the course is situated was the site of the meeting place for the historic Becontree hundred (at the ‘tree of a man named Beohha’) . It’s all a bit gnomic to me. I know a man, yes, he’s name’s Rory Beohha…I expect these days they meet at Burger King.

Another clue to its past lies in the evocative street name - Whalebone Lane, which takes its name from the bones of a whale set up at a cross-roads nearby, as far back as the 17th Century. This story was revived recently when a whale found its way up the Thames as far as Battersea…Gill Gapers, or whatever fishy fanatics are called, can find out more about dem bones here.

Dagenham’s rural character was altered dramatically by the 1930s, when it was transformed by two construction projects of unprecedented scale - The Becontree Estate (‘Corned Beef City’) and the Ford Car Manufacturing Plant, which conspired to cause a population explosion in the area.

Whilst the estate survives and thrives, the Plant has been wound down as far as churning out new Fords is concerned. Goodbye production line Fiestas and Mondeos, hello diesel engines. You can easily spot Ford’s new(ish) Diesel Engine Centre as it’s powered by a couple of huge wind turbines set amongst the cars.

Other new developments, such as Crossrail, Thames Gateway and the Thames Gateway Bridge are all set to further transform the fortunes of Dagenham. But no doubt its association with sport will also continue, having long been established.

Until recently Dagenham has been known more for its football than its golf. Alf Ramsey (Manager of the ‘66 England team) was a Becontree boy, as was Jimmy Greaves, who wrote about growing up here in his authobiography.

‘When I was a kid, the only thing to do in Dageham was play football’.
Jimmy Greaves

They weren’t the only ones. Terry Venables grew up in Dagehmam, and Bobby Moore in Barking. Over Rainham Road South lies the Daggers ground, and the Hammers have their training ground in Chadwell Heath to the North West.

Crowlands Heath Golf Club maybe turning more heads from the terraces to the fairways based on their recent form. First Tommy Hunter  (taught by Nick Rose) and now Oliver Fisher (taught by Chris Jenkins) from Crowlands Heath have become golf professionals. Hunter, who holds the course record of 63 at Crowlands Heath, is playing on the EuroPro Tour; and Fisher has become the youngest ever to qualify for the European Tour. Also, over the road at Central Park Pitch and Putt, John Deeble, Steve Deeble and Ron Cope have all represented their country in the European Pitch and Putt Championships. 

Golf tuition is clearly a strong point at the Club and is available on the driving range, the short game area (completed in 2007), and out on the course. The range uses lighter golf balls called ‘floaters’ which are gathered up in nets by the club outside playing hours. Small islands float on the water with flags showing distances from the tees on the range. The water ends around 170 yards from the teeing area, when the ground climbs up in a bank behind the lake, giving a full distance of around 250 yards. Some of bays on the range have power tees, which tee up each ball for you.

Other nearby golf facilities are: Romford Golf Club, Fairlop Waters and  Warren Park Driving Range (on Whalebone Lane North).

Crowlands Heath Course was completed in June 2000 to a design created by Michael Pinner. Pinner, now living in Essex, has previously worked with Jack Nicklaus’s course design company. He is credited with several courses in Europe, including courses in Austria and Mallorca.

As you can see from the low-lying surrounding landscape, the contours of this course are not natural features. They are the result of landfill work, but unlike other developers, they don’t seem excessive in terms of their height. The contours define the separate holes and create slopes and dips around the greens. If anything the size of the plot, the quality of the greens and tees, and the unexpected attractiveness of the course reminds me of Northwick Park. They have both transformed a wasteland plot into a quality golf course.

In keeping with the ‘links style’ I don’t recall any trees on the course, although perhaps there was some planting around the back of the 4th and by the 8th. So the course is wide open with all holes visible from one another. The course’s defences are therefore bunkers, some water hazards, the rough and wind.

The bunkers are well positioned from the tee for most players, generous in size, reasonably deep,  and well-maintained. They are shaped in keeping with the course’s links style and are often arranged in groups of two or three (rather than combined into one long American style bunker). What’s noticeable, is that there is often a bunker to the rear of the green, which is not so common on many of the courses I play (most are placed short and to the right for us weak slappers and slicers).

There are some areas of the course which have been left grow wild, around the 6th and 7th tees for instance. This gives the course a more natural look, without being the cause of delays on the course whilst golfers hunt for their balls.

There are also some water hazards in play. The par 3 2nd has a large water hazard to the right of the fairway, and there’s another between the the par 4 7th and the par 3 5th.   The water between the 1st and 3rd greens may give the big hitters pause for thought before they attempt to launch a big hit for these greens. It is more likely to catch second shots to the 9th, as it prepares a watery grave for anyone trying to hug the left side too closely looking for a shorter route to the green.

The teeing areas are worth mentioning for their size, number and USGA quality. They were all in good condition and playable during my visit, which was on a wet and windy winter’s day. Apparently the designer has purposefully created four distinct tee positions using two separate teeing areas (in most cases) presumably so that the course set up can be altered for the day’s play and conditions.

The greens, as seems to be de rigeur now, are constructed to USGA standards. I’m not sure, but I think this means the greesn are constructed on a base of some kind of sand-mix. Making them firm and quick draining. Their large size helps to give more flexibility to the course set up and they are all in good condition. Anecdotally, I heard that these sand-based greens are expensive to maintain because they don’t hold nutrients very well so need more regular feeding and watering. I don’t know what the arguments are for and against, but these particular greens play very well.

The landscaping around the greens makes the course a real pleasure to play. Giving you any number of aerial or bump-and-run options to negotiate their slopes. And when combined with the wind howling through this open landscape, you can find your shot-making skills are sadly lacking. 

The fairways are quite tight and shaped to give maximum interest in such an open plot of land. During my visit I noticed that they drain well, are playable when many other courses are not, and appear to be well-maintained. However, the volume of golfers and their apparent lack of care meant that on one fairway in particular (3rd) there were a lot of unreplaced divots. 

The course is quite short at 2738 yards. There are four par 3 holes and two short par 4s. The scorecard also shows that the 9th may be set up on some occasions to play as a long par 4. Don’t be decieved though. I didn’t find it at all easy. The deceptively long par 3 fifth hole is likely to be the cause of many bogeys and double-bogeys. The severely sloping first cut of rough around around the sixth green will channel many pulled tee shots way down to the left, leaving a tricky uphill chip. There is also out-of-bounds to catch pulled tee shots on the 8th and 9th.

It’s the kind of course where local knowledge could help a lot, as the landscaping, spaces between bunkers and wind can all conspire to leave your club selection looking decidedly dopey. If you’re out there for the first time, look out for the markers on the course at 150 yards from the green. 

In my opinion, the best holes are the short par 4, 3rd, the par 3 6th, and the par 5 9th. Overall, I think Michael Pinner has created an attractive and challenging course from very unpromising ground. It’s variety and flexibility afforded by tee positions and big greens means it can be set up in different ways and give golfers of all abilities the chance to play a wide range of shots, particularly when the wind is blowing.