South-West England - links tour

[b101]

So, a friend and I are doing a short links tour of the South West. Given the positive response I had from @RandallT, @iSank and others to my previous thread about a Scotland trip, I figured I'd post some photos and video of these three. The courses we're playing are:

Day 1: Burnham and Berrow (Channel) and Burnham and Berrow (Championship)

My home course - some absolute stunners of holes here and you need every club in the bag. The wind is pretty much ever-changing, so each hole tends to play differently. The par threes in particular are outstanding and it has one of the toughest closing stretches you can imagine. The facilities are good, so we'll start on the putting greens (which are currently lightning as they hosted the British Schools Championships last week) and short game area, before playing the 9 hole Channel course in the morning. Championship course - below - in the afternoon. Weather looks sunny with a 12-15mph wind.

I could have put pictures of loads of holes up, but just chose my favourite of the par 4 second hole.

Course tour, with so many good pictures, here: http://burnhamandberrowgolfclub.co.uk/course/1/

Day 2: Saunton (East) and Saunton (West)

Aiming to play both in one day is adventurous, but the clocks are about to go back, so it's just about doable. Widely reputed to be the best 36 holes of links golf in the UK, so I'm really looking forward to this. 

There's been the odd Crossfield special on here as well, which tend to be worth a watch: 

 

The golf course itself: http://www.sauntongolf.co.uk/east_1

Day 3: Royal North Devon

Last leg is the oldest course in England. From the reviews I've read, it's probably not the most varied of courses, but will prove a really good test of our games. Plus, there are sheep wandering around all over the place!

Again, for more information: http://www.royalnorthdevongolfclub.co.uk/course

Will keep you posted!

[iSank]

Looks like a worthy few days out, thanks for sharing. We are almost 2 months out from Scotland road trip. 

[b101]

22 hours ago, iSank said:

Looks like a worthy few days out, thanks for sharing. We are almost 2 months out from Scotland road trip. 

Excellent news - where did you end up going for? Look forward to hearing about it!

[RandallT]

I'll be following! Drop some notes on how it's going! Let's hope all the practice will pay some dividends soon. Not sure how you focus on the golf with sights like that. Just stunning 

[iSank]

1 hour ago, b101 said:

Excellent news - where did you end up going for? Look forward to hearing about it!

Gleneagles, Dornach, and St Andrews with a few stops along the way. Trying to get my game together, and not think about it too much. 

[DaveP043]

20 hours ago, iSank said:

Gleneagles, Dornach, and St Andrews with a few stops along the way. Trying to get my game together, and not think about it too much. 

You'll have a brilliant time.  Royal Dornoch is my favorite course ever, and the town of St Andrews is fabulous.  Its been a couple of years since I was there, but I can recommend a couple of pubs and restaurants if you want.  Sorry to hijack @b101's thread for that.

And what did I see in that first video at West Staunton, was that golfers in buggies, in England??  Somehow, that just seems wrong.  No matter, it looks like some great golf planned, have a great time!

[iSank]

b101 thanks for the link to Burnham and Berrow course looks great, such beauty. Look forward to hearing how it went and seeing proof. 

Dave, Big Mahalo's for the kind offer. We got 4 nights in Dornach by design playing both Brora and Royal Dornach. That's our most unplanned time for dining/ drinks. Kept it open to check out the area. Staying near 1st tee.

again great foto's keep them coming.

Aloha,

iSank

[b101]

Well, I can't recommend any of those courses highly enough. The best three days of golf I could have imagined and every one of our matches went down to the last two holes, with three of the five being decided on the 18th. Both of us played in stops and starts, but it was seriously windy and we had a proper biblical storm on Saunton (East)'s 16th tee. I'll go course by course, but for anyone planning a golf trip, you could do far worse for value than these at the end of March. In total, it cost us £35 for Burnham (admittedly as a member's guest), £65 for both Saunton courses and £50 for Royal North Devon. You'll be hard pushed to find better value for money than that.

Day 1 - Burnham and Berrow (Channel):

The best day (weather-wise) of the three. Started off on the Channel course, which is not long, but really tight with some good holes that force accuracy into the greens. I only hit two greens in reg, but was delighted to be just off most of the time. The greens were fantastic; probably the best of any of the courses we played. My pictures don't do it justice, but the one below gives you an idea of the green complexes - really narrow entrance as you look at it, but it does open out more than you think. 

I played this course pretty well - 5 over was good going after a horrific first drive off the crown of the club. Otherwise, tee shots were excellent, but short game pretty average. 

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1460478

Championship Course:

It really brightened up for this and although I know it well, this course beat me up a bit. I managed to lose having been 2 up on the 12th with a real shot at going 3. To be honest, having practised and played the first nine, I just got tired - I was carrying as well and this was the last time that I did this tour; my tee shots became really scrappy late on and, to be honest, my driving was pretty average all day. Turning point was a good 8 iron on 13 that just didn't turn when I expected it to (ball above my feet), which rolled off the green into a bush for an unplayable and a double where it wasn't far off an easy par. From there, I just hit one awful shot per hole, which made life tough. It's a great, great course though and definitely the best full 18 we played (a combination of both Saunton courses could produce a better 18 though). Below are shots of the best (in my opinion) par three we played - the 9th hole. It also happened to be my best shot of the day - a punch-draw 5 iron into wind.

It's hard to recommend this course enough - it's stunning, varied and interesting and has the best greens I've ever putted on (high praise having played Walton Heath, Hankley, Turnberry (Ailsa), Rye, Saunton and others). There isn't a weak hole on the course and you are forced to hit every type of shot you can, but never in a contrived way. It also has the toughest 18th imaginable.

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1460479

Saunton and RND to come later!

[b101]

Day 2 - Saunton:

East Course:

So, the second day took us to Saunton and we started on the East course at 9.30. The first hole is an absolute stunner and a brute of a par four at 460 yards - not an easy opener! It might also be my best ever tee shot on an opening hole given that it was also a raised tee with a lot of members watching! 

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1461159?shot_id=88528263&hole_id=30102394

Pictures again simply don't do the place justice - the holes bent and wound through the dunes leaving you facing different wind directions on practically every shot. The views were spectacular and there are some really tricky, tight holes with great green complexes. I would have put it just below Burnham in terms of a stand-alone 18 hole track, but the better holes were right up there. For me, the par 3s were not quite at the same level (except for the Postage Stamp-esque 5th) and I found the 11th and 12th to be slightly weaker holes that didn't grab me as much. Burnham simply doesn't have any weak holes. There were some stunners though - the first is the best opening hole I've ever played, whilst the 18th probably has the most impressive green I've seen, right in front of the clubhouse. Helps that I drained a 20 footer for birdie as well . You had a great variety of good par 4s, from an 'open your shoulders' straight-down par 4 on the 7th, to a plotter on the 6th where you had to get the angle right and two real tough approaches in the 3rd (below) and 14th, which required a good driver and 3 wood to get near to. The par fives were good and we loved the 17th in particular, which required a clever lay-up before a ditch. 

The below (approach to the 3rd) was a great example of what Saunton (East) is about: a testing par 4 which was into wind, meaning I was hitting driver, hybrid into what looked like a tiny gap, but actually expanded out into a larger landing area and a big green which required you to hit the right portion above the tier.

View back from the 2nd green:

I played about as well as I could from the tee with 47% fairways, but it was really tough getting into the greens in regulation (22%) with the amount of wind and hitting big clubs to get in. Equally, my wedge shots weren't great when I was downwind and this is a work in progress. I did putt really well though from start to finish (with a couple of exceptions) and I definitely saved a few shots with my lag putting. The shot of the round was actually the putt down the slope on the 10th - it was a downwind 49 footer with 20 feet before a steep tier with next to no chance of keeping it on the green. I managed to stop it one foot away from the hole, having practically stopped it at the top of the tier - give me another 10 gos and I wouldn't do it again. It was a fantastic green and the sort of clutch putt that leaves you with a huge grin.

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1461159

Saunton (West):

After about an hour's break for lunch, we headed out to the West course, which is a subtly different beast. The first few tee shots required more precision and the greens are noticeably smaller. It's a great opening few holes though with my particular favourite the par 5 3rd hole, which had a really narrow lay-up area for your second shot and a pin position cut round the corner. It made me play the odds the whole way and I loved the feel of thinking my way round a hole to really avoid trouble. In fact, all four par fives were fantastic in different ways and would have graced any course. Again, there were a couple of odd holes - the par 3 ninth with water just in front of the green took you suddenly into a copse of trees, which jarred slightly with the rest of the round. The next par 3 at the 11th also didn't do much for me - I think that 200 yard single-shotters really need to fit perfectly in the round and have a great backdrop and this one didn't. I'd probably change my mind on another day, but it just felt a weak hole at the time. 

That said, two of the other par threes on the West were outstanding - there was a real range and two in particular were stunners. The 16th and 18th (an odd choice to finish on a par 3) were brilliant holes, with the former from an elevated tee, which made club selection really interesting in a 15mph wind and the latter a straight-up 200 yard one-shotter with danger all around. I managed to hit to 2 feet on the 18th to finish the round off, before missing the putt...!

The view from the 16th tee:

And the 18th:

As for the round itself - I got very tired towards the end and my tee shots from the 10th onwards, when I suddenly developed a weak fade, put me in a world of trouble. I managed my short game really well though to minimise a lot of the damage. My putting wasn't as good as it had been at the start of the day, but I put that down to tiredness and losing concentration. It's been a long time since I played 36 holes in a day and it showed! A simply brilliant day of golf, though and I'd recommend Saunton to anyone.

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1461160

[b101]

Day 3 - Royal North Devon

We were actually quite close to not playing RND. The day before, having so much fun at Saunton, we contemplated doing the same again the next day and giving RND a miss, as we'd heard a lot of negative comments about it being like 'playing in a field'. Ignoring that and going ahead with RND was one of the best decisions I've made; it was probably the most enjoyable round of golf I've played in a long time. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it forced you to play really good shots the whole time and just battle through. 

I found the first two holes slightly bland (not helped by finding ditches with both good tee shots), but from the third onwards, I simply loved it. It's a seriously long course and two of the par fives (9 and 17) played absurdly hard into the teeth of the wind. For context, I hit driver, 3 wood and 5 iron into the 556 yard 17th and just made the green... It was never 100% clear where you were going and I loved that aspect of the course - you really needed to think about how and where you were putting the ball. I'd have properly struggled to play this course even a year ago as I just couldn't control my ball flight apart from my stock shot, but being able to now hit low draws with a driver, knock-down irons, long distance putts and bump and run shots made this course so much fun. I got very angry on the 12th at 4 down - having hit a really good drive, 3 wood and 80 foot putt to miss the six footer for par - when I didn't feel I was playing badly, but managed to recover to halve the match. It was simply the most challenging and exhilarating course that I've played. It doesn't have the beauty of Saunton or Burnham, but it's possibly a better test of your game. I've played worse than this and broken 80; it was just a punishing course in a wind of 15-25mph.

Sheep by the 4th tee:

Tee shot on the 6th - right by the sea:

As mentioned before, I felt I played really well, but just didn't hole many putts other than the birdie on the 3rd. Everything else was pretty good and I got some really hard breaks - an impossible stance in a bunker on 11 after a decent iron shot in that just couldn't stop downwind, the marker post on 15 being in the wrong place behind the green meaning that my 3 wood landed in a bunker rather than on the green and the frustration of the ditches on 1 and 2 to name but a few. That said, I shook the anger off quickly - it's just a great golfing canvas and a fitting way to finish the trip.

https://www.gamegolf.com/player/benpage101/round/1462401

Finally - some videos to give you an idea of the wind! Do ask any questions you may have; I simply can't recommend these courses highly enough and would play any one of them every day if I could.

[DaveP043]

Looks like a great time, on fabulous golf courses.  Looking at these courses in Google Earth, I remember that a friend of mine is co-owner of a pub in Bristol.  If I ever visit him there, I now know of a few places for golf pretty close.  Great descriptions, great photos, thanks!

[iSank]

That is some nice golf, thanks for sharing the game golf links. Took me a couple days but enjoyed it, what a enjoyable way to live a few days. Note to self, pack wool cap, 53 degrees. But I guess it is still early, living in Hawaii I forget other places have seasons. I adjusted my 4 hybrid and driver to 1 degree lower and I'll see how that plays tomorrow, gotta stay out of that wind. 

 

Aloha,

iSank

[DaveP043]

38 minutes ago, iSank said:

That is some nice golf, thanks for sharing the game golf links. Took me a couple days but enjoyed it, what a enjoyable way to live a few days. Note to self, pack wool cap, 53 degrees. But I guess it is still early, living in Hawaii I forget other places have seasons. I adjusted my 4 hybrid and driver to 1 degree lower and I'll see how that plays tomorrow, gotta stay out of that wind. 

 

Aloha,

iSank

Wool hat, long underwear, rain gloves, waterproof shoes (2 pairs) wind shirts, umbrella, take it all, and hope you don't need it.  Practice low shots, putt from everywhere, land the ball way short, all of those things.  Golf on real links like those are really different from anything I've ever seen in the states, but it's a great experience. Thanks again to @b101 for the great report, I want to go back right now.