Cornwall, Devon, & Somerset Links

[Brian Finn]

Having finalized most major details of an upcoming trip to SW England, I wanted to ask a handful of questions to ensure we don't miss anything significant, as I am not sure when I will be back in this region.  Thanks to many great Sean Arble tours, several terrific "Courses by Country" essays by Ran, and a handful of threads found via the search function, I feel pretty good about the trip, but there always seems to be something special added by the community here, so I am checking. 

"Core" golf itinerary includes:  West Cornwall, Perranporth, Trevose, St. Enodoc Church (2x), Bude & North Cornwall, Royal North Devon, Saunton East & West, Burnham & Berrow Championship, B&B Channel. 

While we were planning to then play a course or two in Surrey before flying back to the USA, we decided to spend the last few rounds playing Minchinhampton Old, Painswick, and Cleeve Hill instead.  So, the itinerary is pretty packed. 

My primary ("core" itinerary) focus was on links courses in the Southwest.  Seeing what I have arranged, am I missing anything?  How is Newquay?  Weston Super Mare?  Any other links?  Would you swap anything?

Did I neglect any non-links courses in the Southwest, which would be worth seeing instead of (or in addition to) the courses scheduled?  How good is the Holywell course at St. Enodoc?  We hope to at least take a peek, but really want to play the Church course 2+ times, so may not have time.  Any others I may have neglected?

What other advice might you give to someone visiting these areas (golf-wise, and non...)?  All input is appreciated.

Finally, we have already connected with a couple of gca locals, but if anyone else is in the area and interested in meeting up for a round, let me know.  I can send dates and times if anyone is available.

[Tony Dear]

What an amazing itinerary. So much good golf in there. Newquay is a lovely round, but you won't fly home too upset if you miss it. Same with WSM. The Holywell is certainly fun, but definitely play the Church twice. Great Cotswolds additions. The only course I might try to find time for is Mullion, a really enjoyable clifftop course down near the Lizard.

[jeffwarne]

Jealous.
What an itinerary.
As Tony mentioned, Mullion.
Also Yelverton(below), which I've never been to, looks intriguing

[Craig Disher]

Brian,
If you are pressed for time at St. Enodoc and would like a look at the Holywell course, there is an excellent 9-hole loop that contains the best holes. Assuming there aren't other golfers playing 12, after the 3rd don't go through the hedge and walk down to the 13th tee and play in. The 14th and 15th holes are absolutely terrific. The Holywell was expanded some time ago and the additional land was not as compelling as that nearer the clubhouse. The holes I described were the original 9.

[Sean_A]

I've not played it, but if I were playing West Cornwall I would make an effort to see Mullion. It can't be be more than 45 minutes.

Yelverton may be a bridge too far, but it's a pretty cool ciurse.

Although, I don't know which course to suggest dropping to make time. B&B Channel is the obvious choice, but it's a very easy add on when playing the championship course. I guess ya can't play em all.

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

Brian,


Feel comfortable that you shouldn’t swap anything out.


Extra time means the 9 hole loop on Holywell that Craig mentions (you will play this in 75 minutes). Any of the others you would just be adding for completeness if you have time to kill.

[Thomas Dai]

You have the main South West candidates nicely covered.
Should time (and tiredness!!) permit the Holywell course (esp holes 1-3, 13-18) at St Enodoc and the Channel-9 at Burnham & Berrow are worth playing. So are the inland moorland courses at Yelverton, and Tavistock and Teignmouth. The links at Dawlish Warren is surprisingly good and has an 18th hole you're unlikely to ever forget.
Note that once off the main dual-carriageway roads the pace of driving drops quite a bit and shortcut narrow lanes abound in Cornwall and Devon.
atb

[Ben Voelker]

Brian,


I’m probably in the minority here, and certainly not as well travelled as many folks on here but I thought Newquay was really good when I was down there.  It’s pretty different to the other Cornwall links in that it’s not as severe and feels like you are right in the middle of the town.  The paths to the beach are a really unique feature that I thought integrate into the golf course really well.


I’m not necessarily suggesting you dump one of your other courses but if you had time to fit another, I would do Newquay before Weston Super Mare (appreciating logistics may dictate because they are opposite ends of your geography).


Have fun; looks like a great trip!

[Brett Meyer]

Brian,

I did this trip with a buddy from the US a few years ago starting in London but instead of doing some of the 'lesser' course in the southwest like West Cornwall and Bude & North Cornwall we went straight from Cleeve Hill into Wales and played Southerndown and Pennard. Now I can't comment on the courses we missed but Pennard was perhaps my favorite course of the trip (30 mph. winds at St. Enodoc may have dampened my enjoyment) and I liked Southerndown a lot more than I expected I would--a very strong test of golf with one of the more interesting sets of greens in S.England/Wales. These courses are only 1-1.5 hrs. out of the way so you could play Cleeve Hill and Painswick (both are as essential as St. Enodoc to me), play the Welsh courses, then loop back and start the southwest with Burnham and Berrow (also highly recommended). We also played the Sauntons, Royal North Devon, and Perranporth and I wouldn't want to skip any of them except Saunton-West...but you might as well play it since you'll be there.

I also tried to fit Kington into my trip, which is about 1.5 hrs. north of Southerndown on the England/Wales border but they had a competition on the one day I could fit it in so we skipped that.

We did Yelverton on the way back to London and I know that others on here like it but I wasn't too impressed. It's very pleasant and there are a few good holes, but it's going to be a bit of a letdown compared to the others that you're playing.

I would recommend doing a course on the way back to London and I would recommend that that course be Stoneham outside of Southampton. It's a heathland course and to me it's up there with Woking in tier 1a of the heathland courses, but it doesn't get the attention or the love because it isn't in the London area. I also looked into Broadstone, which is on the way back and a bit closer to the southwest, but never got to play it. They've done some renovations recently and it looks great.

If you're interested in exploring any of these (except Saunton-West and Yelverton) further, I have extensive write-ups with pictures on my website in the link below.

[Scott Warren]

That’s a terrific itinerary and an incredible part of the world. You’ll have a blast.

Somehow I have been to St Ives twice and not played West Cornwall but I did spend an hour walking around it one morning and there’s enough cool holes there that if I happen to be there for a third time, I’ll play. The opener is a funky long three that sets the tone.

The Channel course at B&B is a real treat IMO, but if dropping it allows a totally new place to be added to the itinerary then you’re not going to lose sleep on the flight home.

If time were squeezed and you could only play the front nine at Trevose then you’ll not miss too much. There’s a fun back to back short four and long par three late on the back nine but for the most part the best holes are done by the turn.

If there were time after finishing with the courses around Stroud, Huntercombe is handy to both of the main routes back to London and would be a worthwhile diversion.

[jeffwarne]

Brian,


I’m probably in the minority here, and certainly not as well travelled as many folks on here but I thought Newquay was really good when I was down there.  It’s pretty different to the other Cornwall links in that it’s not as severe and feels like you are right in the middle of the town.  The paths to the beach are a really unique feature that I thought integrate into the golf course really well.

I stayed in Newquay and didn't even know about the course!
The pictures look great and your description makes me want to play it more

[Tommy Williamsen]

I have spent a lot of time down there. There is a lot to do that is not golf related. A trip to the seaside villages of Clovelly and Port Isaac are nice. Tintagel is the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. The walk along the coast there is pretty special, although the town is a tourist trap.


I love the Southwest Coast Path, especially near Hartland. There are some amazing views. I often would take an afternoon off to walk it. You can do it around sunset a watch the sun disappear into the sea.

[mike_malone]

Brian,


I love how you made your bragging look like a search for recommendations. I do it all the time.

[Brian Finn]

Brian,
I love how you made your bragging look like a search for recommendations. I do it all the time.

Mayday, as you well know, we Irish Catholics can't just straight-up boast, so we must somehow veil our pride, one way or another. I do feel we have a pretty solid trip lines up, though.

As to all of the other comments and suggestions, thank you.  While we certainly don't have unlimited time, we do have some flexibility, so my two biggest takeaways are to try to see Mullion and the 1-3, 13-18 loop at St. E Holywell, both of which got multiple recommendations.  We are staying in Newquay a couple of nights, so may at least walk over to see it, but daylight (and my lower back) will dictate exactly how far we can push things. 

Regarding Wales, I do really want to get there, but don't believe we can pull it off on this trip.  It looks like it will take at least two trips to Wales to see everything there, so that will come some time in the future.  I've decided over the last couple of years to see GB&I by region, as I am not interested only in zipping around to big name courses.  So far, I've done Fife, East Lothian, parts of Surrey and SE England.  I finally got to Lancashire last Fall, and will see much of Ayshire this coming Summer (more not so subtle bragging, I guess, Mayday).  This trip will involve far more driving than I generally prefer, but it seems necessary to get around the SW region.  I love that each of these trips has mixed world famous courses with local favorites, and everything in between.  Now, just hoping for some reasonable weather.

Finally, while the thread has provided me some great input (and allowed me to brag, I guess), hopefully it can be a good source of information for others in the future.  It takes lots of time to research all of these places, so these central threads for given regions always seem a good kicking off point for me, before digging into the Arble and Ran tours of specific courses.  Thank you!

[David Kelly]

The only other courses in the Southwest that I've played but which are not on your list are Mullion and Yelverton.  Mullion is in a great setting right on the Celtic Sea about 5 miles north of Lizard.  It is pretty run of the mill golf until you get to the 6th hole which kicks off a series of interesting holes culminating in the awesome 10th hole which is one of the coolest holes in England.  11-14 are fun but its pretty boring the rest of the way and the 18th hole is particularly banal.


Yelverton is not really in the SW of England though as it is just north of Plymouth but it is an interesting Moorland course complete with wild horses and untended cattle roaming the course.  It will always have a place in my heart because I went eagle-eagle on the par 4s #3 and #4.


If you have the time you should see a show (doesn't matter what) at the Minick Theater, which is an outdoor ampitheater overlooking the sea way down by Land's End at the far SW end of the country. The closest course would be West Cornwall.  https://www.minack.com/visit-us/come-show

[Richard Fisher]

Those of us who are Devon-born would I think demur at the suggestion that 'Yelverton is not really in the SW of England'!!
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More seriously this looks like a fabulous trip, with my usual caveat on GCA that driving in the West Country can often take (even) longer than in the rest of the UK, as the only dual-carriageways tend to be east-west, and getting across Devon from (e.g.) Ilfracombe to Dartmouth can take well more than a couple of hours during holiday periods. So do allow enough time for what may (as with e.g. Saunton to the Ho!) seem like a short hop, but is actually (at least) 45 minutes in the car.


As all commenters have said, there is a huge amount of non-golf stuff to do in all three counties, and you can't fail not to have a good time. I also completely agree that Wales needs two separate trips, one northish and one southish, to do it proper justice.


We'll be interested to have your informal pecking order after the trip, and which of St Enedoc or Saunton East or B&B or RND comes to the top. And Huntercombe is very nicely positioned between the Cotswolds and London, en route back to Heathrow, to end the trip on a properly classy note.

[Richard Fisher]

'Yelverton is not really in the SW of England though as it is just north of Plymouth'
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[/size]seems to have cut itself out of my post above![/color]

[Sean_A]

The only other courses in the Southwest that I've played but which are not on your list are Mullion and Yelverton.  Mullion is in a great setting right on the Celtic Sea about 5 miles north of Lizard.  It is pretty run of the mill golf until you get to the 6th hole which kicks off a series of interesting holes culminating in the awesome 10th hole which is one of the coolest holes in England.  11-14 are fun but its pretty boring the rest of the way and the 18th hole is particularly banal.


Yelverton is not really in the SW of England though as it is just north of Plymouth but it is an interesting Moorland course complete with wild horses and untended cattle roaming the course.  It will always have a place in my heart because I went eagle-eagle on the par 4s #3 and #4.


If you have the time you should see a show (doesn't matter what) at the Minick Theater, which is an outdoor ampitheater overlooking the sea way down by Land's End at the far SW end of the country. The closest course would be West Cornwall.  https://www.minack.com/visit-us/come-show

Yelverton is in Devon. That's as West Country as it gets.

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

Yelverton, mostly by Herbert Fowler, which in itself ought to be a recommendation, is very fine indeed and no pushover either. And it’s little sister 10 miles up the road Tavistock GC is rather nice too.
Any thoughts on the parkland course at Tiverton (with its Joyce Wethered connections)?
Clifftop Ilfracombe and and the links at Minhead too?
Atb

[Tommy Williamsen]

Brian, no matter what you end up doing you will enjoy Devon, and Cornwall. They are my favorite places in England.

[Garland Bayley]

I certainly prefer Newquay to Saunton East. For that matter I prefer my drive though Dartmoor NP to Saunton East. From my research on the topic, most posters here prefer Saunton West to Saunton East. I notice no one here mentions Minehead, which I chose to play over Weston Super Mare after reading here that most thought skipping Weston Super Mare would be fine. Even Minehead slightly tips Saunton East IMNSHO.

[David_Tepper]

A different perspective on Saunton East.

https://www.top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/saunton-east

[Brett Meyer]

From my research on the topic, most posters here prefer Saunton West to Saunton East.

You can certainly count me as not in that group. While Saunton East isn't always the best from tee-to-green, its main problem, the dullness of the ground, is also a problem on the West. The East has a few excellent holes (3, 9, 11, 16-18) and one of the best sets of greens across the whole southern England. The West has its share of good holes too but its best can't compete with the East and the dull ones are duller.

[Adrian_Stiff]

'Yelverton is not really in the SW of England though as it is just north of Plymouth'

seems to have cut itself out of my post above!

When did they move Plymouth? It was there last time I checked.

[Garland Bayley]

A different perspective on Saunton East.

https://www.top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/saunton-east

Yep, that says the design was devastated by WW2, and now they sing its praises by saying it's tough, and they have been lengthening it. How long is it going to live on its pre-war laurels?