Royal Cornwall GC

[Tommy Williamsen]

Does anyone know anything about this club? I found the following online.
Royal Cornwall Golf Club. Bodmin. Cornwall (1889 - 1950s)
Founded in 1889 as the Cornwall County Golf Club, it had a nine-hole course situated on the site of the old Bodmin Racecourse on Bodmin Moor. It was an undulating moorland course 600 to 700 feet above sea level, hazards were roads and gorse. At a meeting in 1892 it was announced H.R.H the Prince of Wales had consented to become the club’s patron, and H.M the Queen commanded that the club should be known as “The Royal Cornwall Golf Club”.
https://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php/england/south-west/cornwall/1025-cor-royal-cornwall-golf-club-bodmin

[Duncan Cheslett]

I'd never heard of Royal Cornwall, and it is fascinating that such an apparently modest set-up was ever granted Royal status. Something to do with the Prince of Wales/Duchy of Cornwall connection?  It seems that the club was one of many that failed to survive the Second World War.

Golf's Missing Links really is the most excellent website and John & Marie Llewellyn do a fantastic job in preserving the memory of lost golf courses. I doubt that there is much information out there about Royal Cornwall (or any other NLE course) that John and Marie haven't already discovered.

I suspect that they might be busier than ever in coming years.

[Richard Fisher]

I completely agree with Duncan about the Missing Links website, which is a source of endless pleasure (and seems still to have information and images added on a regular basis - see e.g. the entry for the much-missed Bramshot).

Missing Links also has much to say about the only other royal club to have ceased to exist (hitherto, anyway), namely the celebrated Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club on the Duver opposite Bembridge: indeed such has been the interest in this organisation (the specialist subject of the distinguished British golf historian and collector Philip Truett) that a wholly new history has been commissioned - remarkable really for a golf club that expired nearly sixty years ago. It is also now possible to rent out and stay in The Old Club House of the RIoWGC, a National Trust pavilion property.

As for Royal Cornwall, it was the venue for the very first Cornwall Amateur Championship in 1896, and for the very first Cornwall Ladies' Championship in the same year: the latter returned on three further occasions, lastly in 1910. As a course RCGC was clearly never held in anything like the same esteem as Bembridge, and the royal connection was indeed through the Duchy: neither Bodmin Moor, Exmoor or Dartmoor has ever proved particularly fertile golfing ground, with the exception perhaps of Moretonhampstead on the edge of Dartmoor, the Abercromby course of 1926 known nowadays as Bovey Castle and emphatically worth a detour (warmly endorsed by Henry Longhurst) for any GCA readers in search of an appealing stopover en route to or from St Enedoc or Westward Ho!

[Matthew Rose]

How is golf overall in the Cornwall region?

My wife's surname and lineage are Cornish so any trip to the UK would include some time there.

Not surprisingly I have a desire to play golf in the UK should I get the opportunity, but Cornwall doesn't appear to be close to anything of note.

[Tommy Williamsen]

How is golf overall in the Cornwall region?

My wife's surname and lineage are Cornish so any trip to the UK would include some time there.

Not surprisingly I have a desire to play golf in the UK should I get the opportunity, but Cornwall doesn't appear to be close to anything of note.

Devon and Cornwall are great places to play. On the way to Cornwall you'd drive past Burnham & Berrow in Somerset, Royal North Devon and Saunton in Devon, and play one of my favorite courses in the world, St. Enodoc in Cornwall. There are also Trevose and Perranporth. I used to go to Devon and Cornwall for a week every year.

[Richard Fisher]

Very glad that Tommy has chimed in as Cornwall and the South West (see e.g the work of Jim Finegan, and indeed of Ran M himself) is actually one of the best golf destinations in the UK. In addition to the courses Tommy cites, there are also stretches of pretty good golf at West Cornwall at Lelant and East Devon near Budleigh Salterton, plus some notable holes at Bude, Mullion and elsewhere. You'll have fun wherever, and very reasonably-priced fun too, in the main.

Incidentally (and to avoid upsetting anyone locally) Cornwall itself is emphatically not 'a region'. 'The Duchy', or a county or a shire, but not a region (which would be 'the South West', which usually includes Cornwall, Devon and parts of West Somerset and West Dorset). Hope this all makes sense.

[Thomas Dai]

Yelverton, by Herbert Fowler, is a really cracking moorland course well worth playing and there’s nearby Tavistock too and a bit further north Teignmouth by Dr MacKenzie. Others worth a mention include Newquay, Thurlestone and quirky Dawlish Warren with its totally wacky, unlikely ever to be forgotten 18th!
There’s also Tiverton, by Braid, that I’ve heard is worth a play.
Lots of nice golf in the South West.
Atb

[Matt Dawson]

Very glad that Tommy has chimed in as Cornwall and the South West (see e.g the work of Jim Finegan, and indeed of Ran M himself) is actually one of the best golf destinations in the UK.

Hmmm.  Is it really? I'm going to be controversial here and say I think it's actually pretty poorly served for decent golf courses.

Devon & Cornwall together cover approx 4000 sq miles, and I would say there are roughly 3 or maybe 4 "good" courses (Saunton, RND & St Enedoc). This area is probably England's top tourist destination, and is undeniably beautiful - but that strikes me as a pretty poor yield. It doesn't get much better even if you widen the scope to cover Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire

I would say the next tier of courses mentioned (Newquay, Perranporth et al) are OK, but no more than acceptable holiday golf.

In the other thread about concentration of courses in the South vs North of USA, money and accessibility were factors raised. This is one of the poorest parts of the UK with low average incomes & seasonal tourist economy, which was (and still is relatively) geographically isolated from main population centres with poor road and rail networks

[Jon Wiggett]

Wow, no one has mentioned St. Mellion even though its a UK top 100


Seriously, there are very few places where there isn't a good portion of excellent golf in the UK unless you are looking for the US country club style experience.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Devon and Cornwall are so much more than golf. I love the golf there but the entire area is just stunning. I have walked the Southeast Coast Path that leads you along high rocky cliffs and pasture land. The seaside villages make you want to buy a house. While other areas may have more of the Open Rota courses the courses in this area are just fun. I've played over a hundred courses in England. Surrey and Liverpool/Manchester might be my two favorite places to play, I still wander down to the Southeast. It is just grand.

[Duncan Cheslett]

Devon and Cornwall are so much more than golf. I love the golf there but the entire area is just stunning. I have walked the Southeast Coast Path that leads you along high rocky cliffs and pasture land. The seaside villages make you want to buy a house. While other areas may have more of the Open Rota courses the courses in this area are just fun. I've played over a hundred courses in England. Surrey and Liverpool/Manchester might be my two favorite places to play, I still wander down to the Southeast. It is just grand.

Southeast?