n Crashing waves off Trevose
Seaside specials For some of the finest seaside golf you’re ever likely to play, head down to the West Country’s Atlantic coast. Peter Ellegard packed his bucket and spade as well as his clubs inks golf: the mere mention can make sentimental golfers go misty-eyed and daydream about the likes of the Old Course, Carnoustie and Turnberry. Or 2011 and 2012 Open Championship hosts Royal St George’s and Royal Lytham. England’s West Country is very unlikely to figure, though. Which is a shame, because there are some wonderful links gems that more than match up to their famous counterparts. Some of the region’s top clubs are trying to change all that. Forming an alliance called England’s Atlantic Links, these five clubs offer six of the most historic seaside courses along the scenic Atlantic coastline of Somerset, North Devon and North Cornwall. And you would be hard-pressed to find a better collective test of golf in such magnificent settings anywhere in the world, let alone on your doorstep. You can play one or two of them on a short break, but to see the region in all its glory and experience the best of its traditional links golf, take a touring holiday to play them all while adding some sightseeing along the way.
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That is exactly what I did, starting at Cornish holiday resort Padstow to play James Braid classic St Enodoc and Harry Colt’s Trevose, then driving up the Atlantic coast to North Devon, where I played both Saunton courses and made a pilgrimage to Royal North Devon – England’s oldest links course – before completing my tour in Somerset to test my mettle against another Colt beauty, Burnham & Berrow. I did my tour in July, just before the annual summer school holidays. Sadly, the great British weather didn’t play ball all the time and I had to brave rain and wind on some days. Yet at other times, such as the day I played Saunton’s duo, the sky was wall-to-wall blue, and I couldn’t have wished for a more perfect setting.
tallest bunker In Padstow, I based myself at the imposing Metropole Hotel, close to the harbour. The fairways of St Enodoc line the cliffs across the Camel Estuary directly opposite and you can take a ferry from the harbour over to Rock with your clubs and walk to up to the golf club. I got there via a pleasant country drive. My drive on
Peter Ellegard
88 tlm n the travel & leisure magazine
www.tlm-magazine.co.uk
Spring 2012
England's Atlantic Links
pack your clubs n england’s atlantic links