Richard Pennell on Westward Ho!

[John Mayhugh]

Back in January, Ran mentioned reading Richard Pennell's new blog. I followed his advice and have enjoyed the frequent posts. Richard is a good writer and seemingly every topic he writes about is worth sharing.

Late last week, he posted about his first visit to Westward Ho! Read these two paragraphs and tell me you don't also wish you were there! It's been ten years since my 36+ hole day there, and I am eager to return.

Often the tee shot will seem a little featureless, the minimal definition of rugged links golf in late winter enabling the golfing terrain to blend effortlessly with this stunning chunk of land that sits on the very edge of England, at the mercy of the sea. Erosion forced the club to make sympathetic changes to the end of the front nine in 2018, the club website noting that the course has “undergone a sustained attack from the sea for all of the time it has existed”. As have many of its golfers, no doubt.
The resultant new seventh hole fits in seamlessly with the rest of the course, England’s oldest links, but there is something humbling in that, in this most traditional of golfing destinations, change was forced not by the latest fashion or by some mindless pursuit of distance, but by the raw elements that make up much of the local challenge.

Read the entire post as well as others here.
https://richardpennell.substack.com/p/about-time?s=r

If that's not enough, Ran's profile is quite enticing.
https://golfclubatlas.com/countries/royal-north-devon/
DSC03134 by john mayhugh, on Flickr
DSC03137 by john mayhugh, on Flickr

[Jeff Schley]

John thanks for the photos, golf as it was meant to be played.

[mike_malone]

Classic

[Mark Chaplin]

I met Richard for lunch in Sevenoaks last week, he is in good form and enjoying his writing. He has a great eye for the game and the skill to convert it to paper.

[/size]He’s been a good friend for around 15 years and it was great to catch up. [size=78%]

[Tommy Williamsen]

The author mentions that going to RND is like a pilgrimage. Everytime I went there I felt the same thing. There is something ineffable about playing there and having lunch in the museum like clubhouse. The course is its own thing. It doesn't try tpo be anythng more than a way to spend a few hours paying silent homage.


It has my favorite fairway in the game.