I have just spent a few days playing golf on a mini-tour of the gorgeous Northumberland coast, mostly in lovely sunshine with very occasional brutal squalls. Anyway, this is just to report that my enthusiasm for Goswick has gone up even further, after 36 holes on a perfect day for seaside golf: the subtle bending that Ran refers to in his Course Description becomes even more noticeable when you can actually see where you are going, and the greens were in superb condition, making the short game a real and treasurable challenge. Indeed, the Goswick greens (as of this writing) comfortably outshone those at Prestwick, Muirfield, Hoylake and Harlech, all of which have been sampled in recent weeks. My fellow tourists (all based at the Gogs in Cambridge, with a strong concentration of Category Two golfers, basically between 5 and 12ish in handicap) were all hugely impressed, and not least by the price of the day.
I still think that the three holes near the clubhouse (9, 18, and the drive at the first) are not as good as the other 15, and overall my evaluation is 'very good' rather than 'great' (so not up with Silloth) but overall Goswick is a gorgeous, remote, tranquil (save for the East Coast Main Line) and properly testing links which all GCAers should try if heading from England up towards the Lothians and Edinburgh.
If Goswick was an anticipated delight, then Dunstanburgh Castle (which I had last played in 1986, when you put £5 into an honesty envelope) was an unexpected highlight. Played (again) on the most perfect day for seaside golf, and for the princely sum of £27 apiece, and (again) in lovely condition with generally excellent greens, Dunstaburgh is a proper old-school holiday course, but with enough interest around the greens to motivate even the most wizened critic. The stretch from the 4th to the 13th, hugging the bay with a sequence of lovely shots, culminating in a drop-short 100-yarder straight at the castle ruins, is just super, natural, unfussy, largely unbunkered seaside golf. And the other really engaging thing about Dunstanburgh (which sits on land owned by the National Trust) is the clubhouse arrangement - basically a local facility, for walkers and birders as much as golfers, with a terrific short menu (e.g. proper steak pie with shortcrust pastry, not a stew with a puff pastry hat), super staff, and a really nice local atmosphere in a well-designed small facility. As a pair of courses for a golfing weekend by the sea, Goswick and Dunstanburgh would be (genuinely) an absolute treat, and the whole thing (for 72 holes) would cost you the same at current rates as 9 holes at one or two of our Open venues.
Our other two Northumberland courses sampled were Seahouses (nice local club atmosphere, about six good holes, but with the classic '18 squeezed into 9' problem) which made a reasonable warm-up venue on the first afternoon, and Bamburgh Castle, which (interestingly) was far and away the most 'Marmite' venue amongst my fellow-tourists. I had last played at Bamburgh in 1978, and was looking forward to a return.
We drove off into a strong non-prevailing-wind, which made the Bamburgh start, even from the yellow tees, absolutely vicious, and the 14 blind or semi-blind holes were just too much for some, who really didn't like the course at all, even after 36 holes, but for others the spectacular views and the springy turf and general 'sportiness' more than compensated. What was striking was that Bamburgh seemed notably the most affluent and well-presented of the four clubs and courses sampled (and still has an artisan section), with a smart new clubhouse extension, but driving away our general sense was that it was, and remains, a pity that earlier attempts to launch a club on the spectacular duneland between Bamburgh and Seahouses failed. I know that Bamburgh has many GCA adherents, and having played at Goswick the day before and Dunstanburgh the day after renders the local competitor context challenging, but I don't see it as more than a Doak 2 or3 at most as a golf course. To that extent, I was reminded of Nefyn, which is a gorgeous place to hit golf shots but which is emphatically not a very good golf course. I await the GCA backlash with trepidation!
Overall though this was a smashing trip in lovely weather (which helped a lot, obviously). And The Olde Ship in Seahouses made a really congenial base for operations. All (very) highly recommended.