Paul, you slack jawed English Beatle, where is my credit for demanding we go to Perranporth!!!!! And I am not a poser in those pictures, you are such a spiteful fellow!
Without a doubt, Paul and my visit to Perranporth was the highlight of our recent trip. The course actually was originally mentioned to me by my friend Russell Talley but we did not have the chance to visit it during a trip to St. Enodoc last year.
There is almost nothing in the world of golf and in the British Isles that prepared me for Perranporth. Having seen so many quirky golf courses and loved them, this one does indeed make Painswick and Pennard look benign in spots.
The great thing about P-porth is you realize the sportyness of the course right from the get go. The fairway at the first slopes right to left like the Titanic before it went down and during the summer I wonder how you hold the fairway. The green is no bargain either and falls away from you.
The 2nd hole is in my opinion the craziest on the course and should be a compendium of ALL WORLD quirky holes. The first shot is blind over the dunes and I reckon you need to hit a high cut about 270ish. If you can hit it near 300 you'll have a shot at seeing the green. If not, then you have
another blind shot that must be hit with a draw to the green over another sand hill.. And the green? As Paul Turner stated, it is double hollowed and looks right out of NGLA! One of the best greens I've seen in the United Kingdom.
The 3rd has one of the best skyline greens on the course, but don't worry you still have about 10 more after you finish that hole. It very much reminded me of the approach to Ballybunion #2. It looks like you can never hit a ball that high to hold the green, it is like approaching a green in heaven.
Paul Turner, that slack jawed John Lennon lookalike, is too proud to admit it but he almost aced the 4th hole knocking it to 3 inches from 200 yards with a 1 iron-- where is Lee Trevino?- cause only G-d and Paul Turner can hit that club.. We never saw it though as the hole is semi blind and
Paul figured it had redannish qualities which it did and he hit the softest draw with a 1 iron I'll ever see.
The 5th is another crazy par 5 which is a way reminded me of #16 at St. Enodoc because a great drive will go almost 350+ yards with the fairway's borrow and roll. The tee shot frame is awesome b/t some sand hills and over another hill in the distance.
The 6th played into the wind and reminded me a bit of Doak's #11 at Pac Dunes as bunkers short can catch a short iron approach. Paul and I both could not read the wind and wound up in the bunkers. Same thing (being short) happened to me at Pac Dunes.
The 8th is reachable but during the summer you'd have to play the opposite strategy of playing a hard fade to hold the fairway. Right now the slope aids a draw with a long iron-see Paul Turner 1 iron to hold the green.
At the 9th you see one of the drawbacks of Perranporth..There is a caravan on the course, yes a caravan, Paul and I even saw some crazy bloke driving on the sand dunes!
The back 9 is no less quirky than the front but I'd like to highlight some things.
The great par 5s continue with the 11th where it is OB to the right and a hard cut is needed again.
The 13th reaches the closest point to the ocean (although like Pennard the course is in the sky albeit probably only 100 feet or so--again like Pac Dunes). We played the 13th into the setting sun over Perranporth beach which is one of the most fabulous views in golf. The tri level green is
another Braid special. Who creates all of these blind shots and then these crazy greens???
The 14th was when I realized Paul Turner was a sick man, a spiteful man! He hit a hook that went over a sand hill and yet somehow despite being 50 yards left wound up in the middle of the fairway. Yes, the middle of the fairway for a hole that asked for a fade. Now, I don't know what
divine power was in control here, I mean I prayed at the Church of St. Enodoc earlier that day for my golf game was shite and was rewarded by an amazing eagle at the 16th at St.Enodoc but this was spectacular. Paul Turner can tell the story but there was someone listening to me in that heavenly church on hallowed turf.
Yardage, slope, hell everything in modern golf is thrown out at Perranporth. It is like golf in the old days in the books that show British links in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Sporty, fun against nature. We told Tom Doak to go there at Painswick, I wonder what he thought. Perhaps,
even too quirky for him.
James Braid should be considered the king of quirky golf--Perranporth, Pennard and St. Enodoc, what a resume!
One last thing, Perranporth has perhaps the coolest symbol in golf, very akin to the golf we played there. In truth, it is a black shadowy saint with a halo and staff facing the sun with a shark below him. In reality, it looks like the grim reaper. Quite spectacular.
PPS-those are NOT cart paths, they are crushed sea shell paths.. I don't like the look either, but it is natural.