Devon and Cornwall

[balaclava]

Hi

I've had it with northern winters. I'm retired, I don't have to live here, why don't I move? Which place has the best weather (mildest winters) with affordable golf membership (currently paying £1,000 per year)?

 

[AuburnWarrior]

Which place has the best weather (mildest winters) with affordable golf membership (currently paying £1,000 per year)?

Dubai?

 

[The_LHC]

I've had it with northern winters. I'm retired, I don't have to live here, why don't I move? Which place has the best weather (mildest winters) with affordable golf membership (currently paying £1,000 per year)?

North Devon is pretty cheap for golf membership, certainly compared to anywhere around Bristol for example. You could join just about every course in the area for about £500.

However our last two winters have been pretty rotten, heavy snow, really cold, most courses shut, so I don't know how much you'll benefit.

Cornwall wasn't much better from what I can determine.

 

[Redwood]

You've got your answer mate, Cornwall!!!

Dependent on club membership is very reasonable.

Saunton I think is £780 for full membership!!!

 

[Redwood]

Although Saunton is in Devon!!!

 

[The_LHC]

Although Saunton is in Devon!!!

Yes and is far and away the most expensive course in the region, although it's still a bargain, if it was anywhere else it'd probably be more like £1500.

Areas of Cornwall were pretty badly hit by snow this winter I believe, worse than North Devon (and earlier, they had it several days before we did I think).

 

[mjsw13]

We had a few days frost down here in the far west, but we never get any snow. When I moved down here from Orkney I thought I'd be putting my clubs away for 5 months of the year as per at home, but the truth is it's a year round game down here - happy days.

West Cornwall GC is about £600 inclusive of all levies etc. and is a great course, but not the longest. I'd reckon Trevose or St Enodoc would be about a grand, with Perranporth about £550.

Bargain links golf, open pretty much 365 days a year (occasional closures due to frost), with full tees and greens year round.

 

[balaclava]

The best weather seams to be in a place called St Marys, Brixham. Looking at it on Google earth it looks like a giant caravan park! Can't see any golf clubs there?

 

[balaclava]

West Cornwall GC is about £600 inclusive of all levies etc.

Looks like a nice spot - and where, within striking distance, would you choose to buy a house?

 

[Redwood]

Depends what you are after, but I guess the nearest town is St Ives.

 

[The_LHC]

Depends what you are after, but I guess the nearest town is St Ives.

Bear in mind that far into Cornwall you are a long way from what a lot of people would regard as civilization (rightly or wrongly). You're also a VERY long way from the nearest motorway if you need to go anywhere else in the country.

 

[mjsw13]

You certainly are a fair distance from 'civilisation' as most people know it, to be honest I thought Devon was the bottom county before I came for a job interview down here. West Cornwall GC is a bit over 3 hours from Bristol, 2 hours from Exeter and the M5 - oh how I hate that A30, especially in summer. We have trains to Plymouth / London almost every hour, but they stop EVERYWHERE until they're east of the Tamar, and Newquay Airport is guff!

But apart from that... It is a very nice place to live. St Ives is the main town, about 3 miles away, with Hayle and Penzance not far away either. The golf club is just outside the village of Lelant which is lovely, but very expensive. The nearest 'city' is Truro, about half an hour away.

I love living down here, cheapish golf, quality courses, beach within walking distance for surfing etc. A lot of people moving out here from London or other cities can't get into it, as they often find it too remote, but obviously as I'm from Orkney, this suits me fine.

 

[The_LHC]

Yes, it's not so much the distance as the roads that makes West Cornwall a little awkward. I'm 45 minutes away from the M5 in North Devon but at least the A361 Link Road makes it a half decent journey, you almost never get the sort of jams that you see on the A38 after you get over the Tamar Bridge for example.

Having said that we've been for long weekends down in Cornwall about 4 times in the last couple of years and I do like it, if I didn't have to be in Bristol for work I'd consider moving down there.

Got to say I do miss the trees though, that seems to be the biggest difference, geographically speaking, between Devon and Cornwall, Devon has a lot more trees!

 

[richart]

You've got your answer mate, Cornwall!!!

Dependent on club membership is very reasonable.

Saunton I think is £780 for full membership!!!

That's for two top 100 course. Royal North Devon just down the road is about £450, but i would go with Saunton.

We have members who have joined Saunton as Country members, and must admit i am tempted. Already have two trips a year there, and would like to do more

 

[The_LHC]

You've got your answer mate, Cornwall!!!

Dependent on club membership is very reasonable.

Saunton I think is £780 for full membership!!!

That's for two top 100 course. Royal North Devon just down the road is about £450,

No it's £530 now, you can get reciprocal membership with Saunton for another £270 though.

but i would go with Saunton.

I was a member at RND in 2007, I loved it but I can understand why some think it's dull, it isn't but it's not the most visually stimulating perhaps (very flat). The course is all about the history (it's the oldest playing course in England), all about the greens which I was still struggling to read after 12 months and about the wind, it's a completely different course if the wind is blowing.

Saunton is a more traditional links as far as the sand dunes and so forth are concerned.

 

[richart]

You've got your answer mate, Cornwall!!!

Dependent on club membership is very reasonable.

Saunton I think is £780 for full membership!!!

That's for two top 100 course. Royal North Devon just down the road is about £450,

No it's £530 now, you can get reciprocal membership with Saunton for another £270 though.

but i would go with Saunton.

I was a member at RND in 2007, I loved it but I can understand why some think it's dull, it isn't but it's not the most visually stimulating perhaps (very flat). The course is all about the history (it's the oldest playing course in England), all about the greens which I was still struggling to read after 12 months and about the wind, it's a completely different course if the wind is blowing.

Saunton is a more traditional links as far as the sand dunes and so forth are concerned.

Both memberships are great deals in my opinion. Courses around me are about £1200 per annum, and the deeper you get into Surrey the more you will pay.

We were a group of 6 that played Royal North Devon, and we were all a bit disappointed. There are some great holes mid way through the front nine, but the holes near the clubhouse going out and coming back were bland. Even though the course is fairly flat the strange wild grasses meant quite a few blind shots. The ropes around the greens are also a menace, when you forget they are there !

 

[The_LHC]

We were a group of 6 that played Royal North Devon, and we were all a bit disappointed. There are some great holes mid way through the front nine, but the holes near the clubhouse going out and coming back were bland.

Yes the 3 (and a half) holes on the clubhouse side of the road are much flatter (and get a lot soggier when it rains as they're on a somewhat different type of ground, less sandy), however the 18th is still a good finishing hole, especially in competition if you need a good finish. The wide burn that runs in front of it means the second shot needs to be struck very well, especially if you don't get a good drive away, more than a few times I've been stood there knowing I need two points and wondering whether to go for it with a four iron or lay up with a seven and hope I don't duff the pitch into the water.

The first is fairly easy par 5 start but the green is pretty big and a 3 putt is quite easy to achieve to turn even a potential eagle putt into a disappointing par or a birdie chance into a dropped shot. I'm not sure you could call the 2nd bland, the rushes on the left and the road and ditch that closes the right hand side of the fairway off, making the landing area narrower the further you hit it, mean it was always a nervous drive for me, especially as it's quite a long par 4 (412 off the yellows and plays into the wind), which means a good drive is essential to have any chance of a par, an upturned bowl of a green (one of several on the course) making the shot in even harder to hold on the green. In a year of playing I think I only parred it twice and only one of them was with 2 putts.

Even though the course is fairly flat the strange wild grasses meant quite a few blind shots. The ropes around the greens are also a menace, when you forget they are there !

They're there for a reason though, to keep the horses and sheep off the greens (It's common ground and local shepherds have grazing rights!).

It's not an obvious course, it's a subtle place, you might not notice what makes it great at first but all the ingredients are there.

 

[mjsw13]

Yes, it's not so much the distance as the roads that makes West Cornwall a little awkward. I'm 45 minutes away from the M5 in North Devon but at least the A361 Link Road makes it a half decent journey, you almost never get the sort of jams that you see on the A38 after you get over the Tamar Bridge for example.

Having said that we've been for long weekends down in Cornwall about 4 times in the last couple of years and I do like it, if I didn't have to be in Bristol for work I'd consider moving down there.

Got to say I do miss the trees though, that seems to be the biggest difference, geographically speaking, between Devon and Cornwall, Devon has a lot more trees!

There are LOADS of trees in Cornwall......compared to Orkney!

Yeah, compared to 'up country' there are a lot less indeed. On the coast it's mostly those fake palm trees (New Zealand cabbage plant).

 

[Twire]

You could always try south Devon, it was a positivly tropical -3 last night

Then there's my place you could play at, it's just come in at 61 in Englands top 100. If you can get past the waiting list the subs are just under £700 or Woodbury Park (Nigel Mansells old place) that comes in at about £850. There's plenty of good courses in Devon and Cornwall.

 

[balaclava]

You could always try south Devon, it was a positivly tropical -3 last night
Then there's my place you could play at, it's just come in at 61 in Englands top 100. If you can get past the waiting list the subs are just under £700

Sounds lovely and looking at google earth there looks to be some nice (expensive) houses nearby!! Waiting list - is that a 'who you know waiting list' or a take a number and wait for that number of members to die list?