Links golf and surf

[Bernie Bell]

What are the best spots on Earth for the combination of links golf and surfing/bodyboarding?  Accessible, affordable, not packed, not overly penal.  Watering holes where the two tribes overlap.


I know this has been touched on in earlier threads but with various restrictions. 

[Adam Lawrence]

I'm not a surfer but I have to figure the west of Ireland.

[Kalen Braley]

They were showing some folks out in the water on boards earlier in the telecast from Lahinch...


And Bandon probably has decent surfing during/after a storm comes thru...

[Ally Mcintosh]

The best combination of a golfing / surfing town is by some distance Lahinch.


Strandhill and Enniscrone are not a million miles behind though.


If you aren’t fussy about the golf and the surfing being right in the centre of the village / town, there are plenty of great options:


Saunton (Croyde) and St Enedoc (Polzeath) are two of the best options in South-West England


North Sligo and a lot of Donegal are other wonderful combinations in Ireland, given the nearby golf. Ballyliffin is one village where both species cross regularly.


A surfing / golfing town wins every day for me.

[Stan Dodd]

I've seen surfers at the river mouth off the first tee at Brora.

[Thomas Dai]

There’s a price point issue too. And seasonal factors too, although with Goretex for golf and surfing suits the effects of the offseason have maybe been mitigated over the last few years.
Bigger name courses when combined with and better surfing locations tends to mean considerable £$£$. Places that are good for one but maybe somewhat lessor for the other or are particularly remote are going to be more economical. And golfers usually like comfy rooms and power showers whilst surfers are often okay with tents and VW Combi’s!
Atb

[Joe_Tucholski]

Not mentioned yet is anywhere in Australia.  The beach at barnbougle looks good for surfing.  We walked for hours and never saw anyone else.

[Mark Pearce]

It's a shame there's no good golf near Bondi.


<Ducks for cover>

[MKrohn]

I'm going to Ireland next year but won't be taking a surfboard. If you broaden out the definition of links, Long Reef in Sydney is what the OP is after.

[Mike Sweeney]

I am sitting at surf camp in Pacific Beach and obviously Torrey Pines is outside the traditional links definition. I loved Torrey South and can't believe all those post ripping into Torrey and Rees I get that the 18th hole is freaky with the Florida pond, but the course and the place was lots of fun !!

[MClutterbuck]

Can we give Rio Olympic a pass on the links definition?

[Pat Burke]

Any links in South Africa that could qualify!?

[Stephen Britton]

The Dunes, Cape Schanck, The National in Victoria, Australia all have solid surf beaches.

[Shane Gurnett]

Port Fairy, Victoria, Australia.

[James Bennett]

and Barwon Heads on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia.13th Beach has good surf (it is named after the nearby par 3 - the end of the run from the clubhouse at Barwon Heads).

[James Brown]

I’m gonna go big on the waves and throw out Royal Obidos in Portugal.  20 miles from Nazare. 

[Adam Lawrence]

I’m gonna go big on the waves and throw out Royal Obidos in Portugal.  20 miles from Nazare.

Lovely part of the world but West Cliffs is by far the best golf in that area.

[Thomas Dai]

and Barwon Heads on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia.13th Beach has good surf (it is named after the nearby par 3 - the end of the run from the clubhouse at Barwon Heads).

Bells Beach isn’t far away either.
Atb

[Ally Mcintosh]

The key for me here is whether there is a village where surfers and golfers mingle together in the various boozers...


Cross-pollination is critical.

[Peter Pallotta]

Remarkably to me, no one has yet betrayed even a hint of surprise that one of our golfers is also a surfer. To me that's like discovering that Ira loves both bourbon and pina coladas, and that in his spare time runs an organization called 'People Befriending People & Turning  Strangers into Friends'

[Mike Sweeney]

The key for me here is whether there is a village where surfers and golfers mingle together in the various boozers...


Cross-pollination is critical.

John Ashworth really has created that up at Goat Hill in Oceanside, CA. This was Jasmine my caddy and I hung after the round with her parents who work the concession stand there:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BzhbrSOFDq2/


They are Somoan heritage so we had a lot to talk about as Jasmine's grandmother severed in the US Navy.


Former PGA Tour pro Dean Wilson from Hawaii is always at Goat Hill with his son at the range, and Kelly Slater hangs out on occasion:

[Tom_Doak]

Not mentioned yet is anywhere in Australia.  The beach at barnbougle looks good for surfing.  We walked for hours and never saw anyone else.

The sharks would love for you to drop in for a visit!


Tara Iti may have the best combination of golf and surfing in the world.  When I was there last month to walk through the routing for the new course, there were at least 25 surfers in the water off Te Arai Point.  The waves aren't big but they are pretty reliable.

[James Brown]

I’m gonna go big on the waves and throw out Royal Obidos in Portugal.  20 miles from Nazare.

Lovely part of the world but West Cliffs is by far the best golf in that area.

Nope, but it’s the closest course to 100 foot waves in November!

[Kalen Braley]

Crazy big waves and even more insane surfers jumping on em..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p63NEdTbaCM

[Tony_Muldoon]

Biarritz is the home of surfing in Europe. The GC no longer plays to the beach but Chiberta has some nice Oceanside holes.


The get huge waves off Bundoran but the course is meh.



Portrush is he best surfing beach on the north coast of Ireland and in a couple of weeks we could see some action behind the 5th green.
 In the right winds Portstewart strand is also vg.