I've given St Enodoc a lot of thought since I played there, and my grievances have softened. I have to take some of the blame myself for making my way around the course so obsessed as I was with pencil and scorecard. In hindsight, playing match play or merely hitting golf shots and enjoying each one as it was played might have been a better way to "consume the potion".
The more I think of it the more I feel the pull, luring me back to make peace with the holes I disliked and fall deeper in love with the 1st, 6th, 8th, 14th and final three holes.
1st - a par five where blindness and width combine to give you challenging shots that offer a sign of what's to come, with enough room to make sure the opening hole shouldn't wreck your card. The green is tantalisingly raised above the fairway, with enough movement to keep you thinking with flatstick in hand.
2nd - a par 4.5, listed on the card as a four. Tight off the tee, and then a long iron to a green that's hard to hit and stick. In reality, if you walk off the 2nd green with an aggregate of 10, you're going well. Pictured are the view from the tee, and from the green looking back. The tee shoty is played directly into the rising sun.
3rd - another blind tee shot greets you, the fairway running downhill and left around a mammoth dune typical of the Rock site, across a road and over a wall (lots of features). Right is OOB, left is lost. The green (seen from behind) is full of movement, not the type at bashes you over the head, but rather leaves you scratching your head after putting a good stroke on a 15-footer, only to see it break three times as much as you thought it would - perhaps the opposite way!
4th - apparently I'm the only person in the English-speaking world who doesn't rate this hole. Evidenced by the fact this pic - taken as an afterthought after I drove into the greenside cabbage - was the only I took of the hole. I am but a padowan!! If they cut the left-hand rough shorter, would the hole tempt sufficuently for the greenside traps to come into play more?
5th - this short par three has bunkers lurking behind the green that don't immediately identify themselves to you on the tee. The green is much steeper than it looks, looking flat compared to the terrain surrounding it, but is far from flat. Staying below the hole while ensuring you carry to the putting surface is the challenge.
6th - the Himalaya hole. What more do I need to say?! The drive is amazing, the second shot will stay in your mind until you draw your dying breath, and the greensite is just as brutal - so it's a good thing you aren't likely to see it until after you've hit your approach!
7th - another f**king blind drive?! For f**k sake! At this point I feel drained. So much concentration in such a short space of time. But the brilliance of the hole, in my opinion, is how open the hole reveals itself to be when you emerge through the dunes. A good drive will leave you a wedge to a flat green, and an awe-inspiring view over Padstow that stirs the soul.
8th - similar much to the 8th at Deal? A mid iron to a green surrounded by pots. The view of meadow beyond shows in detail just how - as with Trevose over the estuary - the line between links and meadow is so crisp and stark.
9th - Laying back off the tee is wise, as the closer you drive to the dune that crosses the fairway, the more your view is obscured, and your depth perception is toyed with.
10th - a controversial 467yd par four. I'll go on record as not being a fan. As a two-shotter it's brutal (the fairways at the driving zone is 8yds wide!) and as a three-shotter the landing zones are too wide to pose much challenge. No one likes being forced to hit three six irons.
11th - a par three calling for extreme accuracy - OOB left, bunker right and a beautiful view off in the distance distracting you as best it can.
12th - a hedge encroaching to the fairway from the left obscures the view of the landing zone and makes what is in reality a pretty roomy drive feel claustrophobic. The green's movement demands the approach be struck to a precise yardage. Doesn't look like much from the tee, but what a great hole.
13th - the first of back-to-back uphill short dogleg right par fours with OOB left. This one to a plateau green defended at the back by two bunkers. Built more on meadow than links, it's a good use of the land.
Take a break - Take a deep breath and check that view out. The Camel Estuary runs into the Atlantic, the old church in the foreground. You'd hand over a greenfee for the views alone.
14th - a forced carry to a heavily-cambered fairway, and a green so funky a modern architect would get reamed for building, but somehow it fits the lay of the land. My only gripe is that the running approach is nigh on difficult to play, and in such a high-wind site atop the hill, it would be a nice option to have.
15th - this par three has shades of the 5th, but is sufficiently different by playing downhill. The road directly in front of the green brings a touch of luck into the result, but, as they say "it's all there in front of you", and so's the view.
16th - this par five, playing over a rollercoaster crumpled fairway, has a new green that sits naturally in a gently-sloping duneside adjoining the water. As with the 14th, the running approach is stymied slightly by the length of the grass and angle of the land on the uphill side of the putting surface. I obviously never played the old hole, but this is a genuine three-shotter - perhaps the only one (the 1st and 10th ares for shorter hitters) for all golfers. The bunkers await a shot hit weakly from the hanging lie you're likely to encounter on the approach. As you walk to the 17th tee, the view over the 16th takes your breath away.
17th - much of the putting surface on this 200yd par three hides behind the left-hand dune, and a ripple cutting through the green centre adds to the need for accuracy. The best par three on the course, in my book.
18th - this par four shares all the fantastic attributes of the adjoining 1st - rollicking dunes, some room to miss and a hell of a second shot to the green atop a dune - a gentler version of the shot you've just hit on the 17th, albeit with more running options.
I will make a point of getting back to St Enodoc before I leave the UK, and next time, the pencil stays zipped away, and I won't be taking a scorecard.
A par 69, but at no point dows this feel like "a short course".