Top 20 Golf Courses in Devon 2015 Devon Best in County rankings updated Devon, in the southwest of England, is the fourth largest of England’s counties by area but, because there are only around a million people living in the region, it’s also one of the country’s least densely populated territories. With the Bristol Channel coastline to the north, the English Riviera to the south plus Dartmoor and Exmoor national parks in between, there’s plenty of scope to indulge in all sorts of outdoor activities when visiting Devon. A glance at the Visit Devon official guide will throw up lots of sporting options, from angling to cycling, horse riding to water sports. Search under “g” for golf and you’ll discover next to nothing (though you’ll find out all about “geocaching” and “glamping”) so perhaps it’s just as well that we have a handle on a wide range of golf courses just waiting to be discovered. The third edition of our Devon Top 20 chart has now been finalised and the results of this re-ranking process can now be revealed. All of the top five positions remain the same. Indeed, these courses have been placed in the same order since regional rankings were first introduced in 2012. Herbert Fowler’s mighty East links at Saunton Golf Club heads the Devon listings, with its younger sibling, the West course, edged into 3rd place by the oldest course in England still utilising its original fairways, Royal North Devon, or “Westward Ho!” as it’s more affectionately known. Top 100’s Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter lives nearby and he played the old girl last month, with his review of the course touching on the natural allure of the links layout: “It is not the best course I’ve played but few have more charm and fewer still were established by Providence.” East Devon occupies the number 4 position and the course dates back to 1902, when it was first brought into play. Subsequently altered by Herbert Fowler then remodelled by Harry Colt, it commands fantastic coastal views from its cliff top location above Budleigh Salterton, on the edge of the Jurassic Coast. Bovey Castle remains at number 5 and this 1920s J. F. Abercromby track, revitalised by Tom MacKenzie and Donald Steel early in the new millennium, is set inside a beautiful wooded estate within Dartmoor National Park. The ground floor of the club’s hotel has also just been refurbished as part of an ambitious renovation programme so it looks like exciting times lie ahead for this particular golfing venue. The Championship layout at Dartmouth Golf & Country Club moves up one place to number 7 and it’s an early 1990s design from French-based British architect Jeremy Pern, regarded by many as one of his best. Teignmouth also rises one spot to number 8 and this Alister MacKenzie-designed track lies on Haldon Moor, a location which many locals thought would be unsuitable for a golf course back in the 1920s. Further down the chart, a couple of 18-hole layouts make a significant leap up the listings: Yelverton (up seven to 10) is an old Herbert Fowler layout, with fifteen of the original holes remaining in play, and the Oaks course at Woodbury Park Hotel & Golf Club (up six to 11), which sits in a magnificent 500-acre estate, with the front nine holes laid out around the inward nine. Two courses make their first appearance in the regional rankings. The first one, Tavistock, lies on Whitchurch Down, on land owned by the Duke of Bedford where he gave the twelve founding members of the club permission to set out the original 9-hole layout in 1890. The other debutant is Honiton, a pleasant parkland track that’s routed across the hills to the east of Honiton, with splendid views across to the Blackdown Hills. We’d like to thank the clubs and professional golfers that assisted with our re-ranking process for this county. To view more details about our Devon Top 20 rankings click this link. If you have extensive experience of playing across the south west region of England and would like to contribute to our next re-ranking exercise then please email Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter at keith@top100golfcourses.com. We never claim to publish definitive golf course listings but we do like to think they’re the most informed. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses

Welcome to the latest of our regional updates for England as we now move into the more southern parts of the country. Following our recent revision of three counties in the northeast, we now focus on six counties in the southwest, namely Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Over five million people live here in an area extending to over nine thousand square miles, with easily the longest coastline of any English region. More than two hundred clubs are registered with the various local golfing authorities and we feature courses from nearly half those clubs across the six county listings. Five counties retain the same number one but there’s a new top dog to contend with in Gloucestershire. We’ve also added twenty-five new tracks which now means we profile almost a hundred in this region. If there’s somewhere we’ve overlooked then please let us know – we don’t do “ultimate” or “definitive” lists so please get in touch and we’ll check out any recommendations. Cornwall The Church course at St Enodoc Golf Club (pictured above) entered our World Top 100 chart at #87 in 2018 and it’s since risen to #74 in that esteemed global listing – with that in mind, it’ll be no surprise to learn that it’s still our #1 for Cornwall. A recent reviewer summed up the golfing charms of St Enodoc pretty well when they wrote: “an exceptional course, matched by a lovely clubhouse with great service, in a stunning part of the country.” Trevose Only two courses make upward moves in the revised standings and the foremost of these is the Championship course at Trevose Golf Club, advancing one place to the runner-up spot. Tom Mackenzie has completed a renovation project at the club, rejuvenating most of the holes on the layout, and such is the quality of the work undertaken, a reviewer has posted that the rankings of St Enodoc and Trevose should, in their opinion, be switched. The Harry Colt-designed 18-hole layout at Newquay is the other Cornwall climber, and it also rises by one place to #6. St Austell The highest of our six new entries for Cornwall is the course at St Austell Golf Club, arriving at #10. The club was established in 1911 with an 18-hole layout in play three years later. James Braid visited in November 1926 to advise on course improvements but it took more than a decade before his plans were implemented, with the remodelled layout opening on 25th September 1937. The other new entries for this county are St Mellion (Kernow) at #12, Truro at #13, Looe at #14, Lanhydrock at #15 and Carylon Bay at #16. Click the following link to see the newly updated county rankings for Cornwall. Devon The East course at Saunton Golf Club (pictured above) remains our #1 for Devon and it also ranks very highly in both our English national chart (at #24) and our Britain & Ireland chart (at #53). A reviewer from a couple of months ago was impressed, writing: “a spectacular piece of land greets you at Saunton… but don’t let the terrain be what you judge the East on as the layout of the course is spectacular in itself, with hole after hole of golfing splendour!” Eight courses advance in our new table, with all of them making just a one-place improvement. The highest of these climbers is the West course at Saunton (at #2), swapping places with the old links at Royal North Devon Golf Club.  Honiton There are two newcomers to the Devon chart and the leading course is the 18-hole layout at Honiton Golf Club, making its first appearance at #19. The course dates back to when the club was founded in 1896, starting out with nine holes but quickly becoming an 18-hole track, and it occupies a compact property of around 90 acres, with glorious views across the Blackdown Hills. The other Devon new entry is Ilfracombe at #22. Click the following link to see the newly updated county rankings for Devon. Dorset Retaining its status as number one course in Dorset, the short 18-hole heathland layout at Broadstone Golf Club (pictured above) is an old Tom Dunn design from 1898 that Harry Colt remodelled during and just after the Great War. Like Saunton (East) the course is well regarded in both our English (#36) and Britan & Ireland (87) Top 100 charts. Unfortunately, it’s a little too short to host most elite amateur or professional events but it has staged other important tournaments in the past, including the English Women’s Amateur (three times) and the Women’s Amateur back in 1951. Knighton Heath Progressing two spots from #10 to #8, the course at Knighton Heath Golf Club was described in a post a few weeks ago as “great fun and well worth finding the time to play… it may be built in a compact area of just 90 acres but there is little feeling of holes being squeezed in… the clever bunkering is a feature and the mainly flat greens are a dream to putt on.” Came Down The first of five new entries for Dorset is the course at Came Down Golf Club at #10. Set out by Tom Dunn in 1896, when the club was called Dorchester Golf Club, the original 9-hole course was extended to eighteen holes by J.H. Taylor before Harry Colt was engaged to redesign the course in the late 1920s. The other four Dorset new entries are Lyme Regis (at #11), Rushmore (at #12), Meyrick Park (at #13) and Weymouth (at #14). Click the following link to see the newly updated county rankings for Dorset. Gloucestershire We have a new #1 for Gloucestershire and it’s the 18-hole Cherington course at Minchinhampton Golf Club (pictured above), where Fred Hawtree laid out eighteen holes in the mid-1970s then his son Martin added another eighteen in 1995. The Cherington and Avening courses utilize a combination of holes from father and son, with a composite course used in the past for Regional Open Qualifying. Cleeve Hill The biggest jump in this county re-ranking is made by the course at Cleeve Hill Golf Club (up three to #3) which Old Tom Morris laid out in 1891. Another Tom, architect Tom Doak, had this to say about the course a while back: “here is a chance to appreciate golf as you may never have understood it – an energizing walk over glorious open countryside, with some unique hazards to overcome along the way.” Lilley Brook The first of three new Gloucestershire entries in this updated county table is the course at Lilley Brook Golf Club, where Alister MacKenzie fashioned a new 18-hole course for the club shortly after it was established in 1921. For some reason, the layout was remodelled in 1964, so that only nine of the original holes from the Good Doctor are still in play today. The other two newcomers in this county are Cirencester (at #17) and Henbury (at #18). Click the following link to see the newly updated county rankings for Gloucestershire. Somerset The Championship course at Burnham & Berrow Golf Club (pictured above) is still our #1 in Somerset. Also ranked #26 in England and #62 in Britain & Ireland, this 18-hole track has been refined down the years by a number of eminent golf course architects, including former members Herbert Fowler and Hugh Alison. Currently, Tom Mackenzie is overseeing a long-term upgrade project on the course. Minehead & West Somerset The best upward move in this updated county chart is made by the 18-hole layout at Minehead & West Somerset Golf Club (up two to #8). The course was laid out as a 9-hole affair by Royal North Devon professional John Allan in 1882 before it was expanded to eighteen holes in 1901. Nowadays, it plays to just over 6,200 yards, with par set at 72. Oake Manor The first of thee new Somerset chart entries, the course at Oake Manor Golf Club enters at #10, slightly ahead of Mendip Spring (Brinsea) at #12, Burnham & Berrow (Channel) at #13 and Farrington (Duchy) at #14. An early 1990s Adrian Stiff design, Oake Manor features water hazards at half the holes on the scorecard. Click the following link to see the newly updated county rankings for Somerset. Wiltshire Retaining the Wiltshire #1 spot that it first captured in 2016, the course at Bowood Estate (pictured above) is an early 1990s Dave Thomas design that is now designated as the PGA Official Golf Course and Academy Course for the South West of England. It can be stretched to just over 7,300 yards from the back tees, where the old Standard Scratch Score is 76 (against a par of 72) so choose your tees very carefully if you decide to tee it up here. High Post The course at High Post Golf Club makes the greatest headway in the new Wiltshire standings, shooting four places up the chart to #5. Located on chalk downland, the layout is a J.H. Taylor and F.G. Hawtree production which celebrated a hundred years in operation last year. Many of the original design traits, like grassy hollows and subtly contoured greens, are still very much in evidence here. Ogbourne Downs The first of the Wiltshire new entries is the course at Ogbourne Downs Golf Club, arriving at #10. It’s another Taylor/Hawtree co-production that was built when the club moved to its current location in 1929. Initially founded as North Wilts in 1907, the club changed name to Swindon Golf Club before it finally became Ogbourne Downs in 1995. The other Wiltshire new entries are Upavon (at #12), West Wilts (at #13), Chippenham (at #14) and Marlborough (at #15). Click the following link to see the newly updated county rankings for Wiltshire. Jim McCann Editor Top 100 Golf Courses

Atlantic Coast Links Golf Trip By Richard Smith, Knoxville, Tennessee I have been traveling to the United Kingdom and Ireland for the past thirty years to play many of the tremendous links courses as well as a number of the excellent inland courses. The Atlantic links courses along England’s Southwest coast from Somerset to Devon and Cornwall had intrigued me for many years. I was looking for an opportunity to play here, especially after my wife Ruth and I became enamored with Cornwall through the wonderful BBC TV show “Doc Martin”. As luck would have it, I was able to convince her to join me for a golfing adventure along the Atlantic Coast. I began researching the courses in the area and planning the trip. Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter helped hugely by providing recommendations concerning courses, accommodation and dining. Eventually we decided on an itinerary and planned the trip for late May 2015. We flew into Heathrow from the USA landing in London early on Saturday morning. After passing through customs and collecting our rental car we drove directly to our first stop for the trip, the excellent links at Burnham & Berrow. Burnham sits on the Bristol Channel and is an excellent starting point for either a trip to Devon and Cornwall or to South Wales. The course is about a 2 and ½-hour drive from Heathrow (almost all the way on the M4 and M5), although traffic was bad that day and it took us quite a bit longer to get to Burnham & Berrow. Thankfully we easily made the tee time after an enjoyable lunch in the clubhouse. This was a tough start and a tough course right after flying all night and the lengthy car journey. The first tee shot must be threaded between dunes on both sides of the fairway and bunkers on the left and a sharp drop off to the right guard the green. The wind was against and off the right off the first tee and was generally against the entire front nine. However this is an excellent links that only got better as the round went on. Burnham & Berrow has an excellent balance of strong par fours, well-designed par threes, and two very different and interesting par fives. There is some flat land out around 7 and 8 but I still found these holes interesting and challenging. The front nine plays between the dunes but there is more elevation change on the back nine. Although the layout is basically a classic out and back design, each hole has a subtle change of direction so the wind never seems to come at you from quite the same direction. Burnham provides a great challenge and is a classic links course. The feel of the layout reminds me of another links course I hold in very high regard, Royal Cinque Ports in Deal. This was a tough outing considering the circumstances and I would love to play here again in a more rested state. You could take Burnham in at the end of a trip to Devon and Cornwall and it might not be a bad idea to get a few rounds in before taking on this difficult but fair track. After our round at Burnham we had an hour and a half drive down to Devon. I chose the small village of Instow as our base for Devon since it was just about halfway between the courses I planned to play at Saunton and Westward Ho! We stayed at The Springfield House a lovely B&B. The house was built in 1879 as a gentleman’s residence and has been updated with all modern conveniences. The main house has two B&B rooms as well as an upstairs apartment with a kitchen, living room area and two bedrooms. There is also a cottage in the back of the property as well. The house can accommodate a reasonable number of people if you’re planning a golf outing in Devon and it would be hard to find two more warm and charming hosts than Edward and Lucinda. There are quite a few animals in residence, including the hens which lay the fresh eggs provided for breakfast every morning. On Sunday my wife had her introduction to links golf at the famous links of the Royal North Devon Golf Club at Westward Ho! Royal North Devon has a strong history of supporting women’s golf and provides two sets of ladies tees which allowed my wife to enjoy the nuances of links golf while avoiding any forced carries or overly intimidating shots. I was anxious that morning since heavy rains hit the area, although the bad weather was predicted to clear by our 1:30 tee time. The heavy rain did stop but a thick mist soaked us which was worse than when the rain came in for two or three holes. The weather eventually cleared and allowed to enjoy the course. Royal North Devon sits on the common land of the Northam Burrows which means that your round is shared in the companionship of sheep and horses as well as numerous walkers. In fact the first thing you notice upon walking up to the first tee are the sheep grazing to the right of the tee behind the 18th green. Westward Ho! itself is a wonderful fun challenge. The opening holes are somewhat flat, but by the time you reach the 4th you realize you are in for a special experience. The blind drive over the Cape bunker is reminiscent of the drive on #3 at Prestwick and sets the tone for the fun and high quality golf which follows. Holes 6 and 7 are excellent par fours that play up into some nice dunes. At 9 you are introduced into the rushes that dominate the remaining holes. At times it seems as if you are hitting into a sea of rushes but the holes are well marked and you are well advised to keep to the line of the marker. Royal North Devon provides a great experience of classic old style links golf. The fairways are all rumpled and uneven yet the course is incredibly fair and fun to play. My wife never felt intimidated and enjoyed her round tremendously. On Monday I joined Editor-in-Chief Keith Baxter for 36 holes at Saunton. There is certainly no better 36 holes of links golf in the UK and Ireland. The East course is a championship layout, and the West course is an underrated and excellent course in its own right. Keith was rusty after a fairly long layoff, but he managed his game well and our matches at both courses went down to the final hole. We played the West course in the morning and I really enjoyed the subtle doglegs and interesting greens. The course plays up towards some excellent dunes. The patient and accurate golfer is well rewarded here. The West is an excellent course that would be well regarded if it sat alone. After lunch on the patio Keith and I took on the demanding East course. Edward from Springfield House had generously given Ruth a lift up to the course and she walked with us though the afternoon round. The East course is a championship layout. One excellent par four after another is the theme. The holes are classic examples of strategic golf and they are balanced by three excellent par threes at 5, 13 and 17. The short 5th (122 yards from the blue tee) matches the famous postage stamp 8th at Troon as a great short hole. Steep slopes front and back guard the hole and absolute control of your distance is mandatory. Playing both courses at Saunton is a memorable experience. Tuesday was our travel day to Cornwall. We took in Tintagel Castle and visited Port Isaac. They were filming a scene for the next season of “Doc Martin” and we blundered upon the shoot. The coast of Cornwall is stunning and it’s easy to see why this area is favored as a UK holiday destination. We wound up that afternoon at our base in Cornwall, Treverbyn House B&B in Padstow. Padstow is quite a place. It hosts several world-class restaurants yet the village still has a charm all of its own. Treverbyn House is a first class B&B managed by Gary. It has three rooms and sits with a beautiful view across the river Camel over to the village of Rock and St. Enodoc Golf Club. Gary was a wonderful host and the rooms were beautiful, large and comfortable. Playing golf in Cornwall means that you are entering into James Braid heaven. He designed the links at St. Enodoc and Perranporth – both are first class examples of great design, great golf and great fun. I took on St. Enodoc on Wednesday morning. Even in a benign light wind this course was a tremendous challenge. It may be one of the most difficult driving courses I’ve ever played. The course runs up and down some severe hills even more dramatic than those at Gullane. The drive at the 10th must be played to be believed, yet there are many other demanding yet fair holes. The views from the course back across the Camel to Padstow are beautiful. The course ends with a wonderful par five, demanding par three and excellent par four 18th that runs down and then back up a steep hill. Ruth played Perranporth with me on Thursday and I’m not sure if I’ve had that much fun on a golf course in a long time. Perranporth runs up and down steep hills as well as around and through dramatic dunes. Blind shots abound but each hole has a unique and distinctive personality. The hills and dunes were probably a bit much for my wife but she enjoyed the day. There are dramatic views of the ocean and coast as well as the town of Perranporth that make the course a special experience. I was edging to try out West Cornwall on Friday, but the weather was bad and my wife was worn out from Perranporth, so we took an easy day off and went sight seeing. Saturday was our last full day and I played Trevose in the morning. Trevose is a nice links. The course is fairly open but still demands good golf to play well. This course allows you to use your imagination including the opportunity to play bump and run shots. I think my wife would have enjoyed playing Trevose since there are few forced carries over hazards and the greens allow for shots to run up to the hole. After Trevose we drove up to Heathrow (about 250 miles) returned our rental car and spent the night at one of the airport hotels. Our flight left the next morning and we returned tired yet exhilarated following our trip. Most Americans are aware of the Open venues and some of the better-known courses such as Royal Dornoch and Kingsbarns. The Atlantic Coast courses are “off the radar” for most Americans, and this is truly a shame. Each course is unique and offers a distinct challenge. Within the space of a week you can sample all of the nuances that make links golf such a special experience. This is a beautiful corner of the world with excellent golf courses to boot. A lover of golf, and links golf in particular would be well rewarded to consider this area in their future golf plans. Richard Smith To read my reviews for each course and view a few more pictures, click on any of the links below: Burnham & Berrow Royal North Devon Saunton (West) Saunton (East) St Enodoc (Church) Perranporth Trevose (Championship)