The usual band of tourists from the Gogs in Cambridge found their way to Cumbria this spring, following outings to South Wales, Northumberland, and Sussex in recent years, and had a wonderful time, in glorious weather. Indeed, as of last week this whole Cumbrian coastline desperately needed rain, which is not (I suspect) a statement made very often.
Anyway we started, following the Arble recommendation, at Appleby, which I can't endorse warmly enough as a fun, playable, rustic golf course with moorland turf, stunning views, consistently interesting green sites, and a surprisingly substantial clubhouse complex with good catering ( I had been expecting more in common with the tiny pavilions of rural Wales). The fact that at Sean's stand-out 15th I hit the teeshot to two feet for a birdie may have influenced my response, but all of my friends really enjoyed the round on a spring Sunday afternoon, played in wonderful quiet and solitude. For anybody driving from the south-east towards the west of Scotland and looking for a slightly different sort of golfing stop-off en route, Appleby absolutely hits the spot.
As, of course, and at an altogether higher level of golfing pleasure, does Silloth, where we played 36 holes the next day. I hadn't been to Silloth in nearly two decades, since when it has been 'discovered' (not least by GCA), but it's still amazing value and an enchanting golf course. Not over-long, and with not much space to expand, but with no weak holes and a succession of fascinating shots to some brilliant greens. Anthony Shone of Hoylake always cites Silloth as somewhere you could show a complete non-golfer 'what golf is all about', and he or she would get the point, and certainly on a sunny, windy Monday every facet of our game was in evidence. It was (very) dry, and the fairways very tight indeed, and everybody we spoke to wanted rain, urgently (I suspect it has come over the past few days).
Silloth is a very economical walk, and the fact that everybody (aged between 55 and 70) came smiling off the course after 36 holes of quite competitive golf speaks volumes. I won't add to the various Silloth threads already on GCA, other than to say that I can't think of a better day's golf for the green fee charged anywhere in the UK. Catering again friendly and generous.
The last seaside stop on our Cumbrian adventure was Seascale, where again GCA visitors have been active. Another 36 holes on another bright and increasingly breezy day, and again we really enjoyed ourselves, although inevitably anywhere would seem slightly tame compared to Silloth the day before. Parts of the opening, on the rising ground, reminded me of Porthcawl, and other bits were closer to Prestwick, but even the rather more inland hole towards Sellafield Power Station had a splendid green site, and overall we were impressed, even if we thought that some of the holes (including the 18th) didn't perhaps quite work, and it's certainly not somewhere you would want to play on a very busy day.
Sitting in the chandeliered clubhouse, with the new and rather grand 'Nineteenth' facility just opened in adjacent rooms, we did wonder what Seascale had been like prior to the advent of Sellafield, and further research reveals that it was indeed the swanky small resort on this bit of coastline, with very substantial lodging houses of the sort that are clearly visible from the 18th fairway. The 'small' clubhouse fish and chips, by the way, was enough to satisfy even the neediest of our party.
That was the end of our seaside odyssey, and we returned to Cambridge with a stop-off at Sand Moor (Leeds) on the way home. After the quiet of Cumbria, this was a big, busy, suburban golf club and I strongly suspect (as do other GCA commentators on Sand Moor) that this was a better and more consistent golf course prior to the sale of land, loss of four holes, and clubhouse removal, than in its current incarnation, which has perhaps a dozen good holes (especially the short ones) but another six which were amongst the least distinguished we played on the entire trip.
Anyway, Cumbria itself had been blissful. Based in the Allerdale Court Hotel in Cockermouth (excellent golfer's lodgings) the cost of the whole trip including 108 holes of golf, accommodation, meals, and copious beverages of various kinds, came to less than £600 all up. Amazing value, in a part of the UK where portion control is but a distant rumour. Thanks, as always, to GCA friends for leading us to some courses which we might otherwise have missed, and I would say to American visitors to these shores looking for the Real Seaside Thing that (as with Wales) Cumbria provides a fabulous, quiet, great-value alternative to some of the more stored destinations of Scotland and Ireland.