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‘Heaven
In Devon’
Golf on the North Devon Coast
ROYAL
NORTH DEVON GOLF CLUB
We have to start
at Royal North Devon (known affectionately as ‘RND’) which has long
held a special place in the hearts of golfing traditionalists being
the first links built outside Scotland. Established in 1864, golf
had already been played on this exhilarating stretch of the Northam
Burrows for some 15 years. Meanwhile the ladies club here opened
in 1870, making it the oldest ladies golf club in the world on a
spot first described by the founders of RND as “designed by providence
for a golf links”. Nature had indeed done her stuff long before
Old Tom Morris sketched out his initial designs which would later
be upgraded by Herbert Fowler who made some minor routing changes
in 1919. And this 6,653-yard, par 71 gem remains a rare museum piece
in the history of golf.
OK, so RND has
never enjoyed the commercial accolades reserved for the hallowed
Scottish links courses, but real golfers will know that it is all
the better for that.
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This
barren windswept linksland beneath the Victorian charms of Westward
Ho! was even used for bombing practice during the war and remains
to this day ‘common land’ for locals highly protective of the
grazing rights of the sheep that still roam the course. But
it all contributes to a rural charm |
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an aura of bygone days that makes for a truly historical experience. |
Blind shots
and awkward lies abound - just as they did when J.H. Taylor learned
his golf here as a caddie before going on to win four Open championships.
Most of the deep revetted bunkers are landmarks that have been here
for well over a century. Most famous is the ‘Cape’, a vast railway-sleepered
golfing grave awaiting the meek at 170 yards from the 4th
tee, and every bit as daunting as ‘Hell’ at St. Andrews or ‘The
Cardinal’ at Prestwick.
And, like St
Andrews, RND is a links for the discerning golfer. The initially
bleak terrain at both courses has had its critics over the years,
and both challenge the golfer to find his own definition among the
uncompromising moonscapes. Both also share flat, featureless opening
and closing holes – though in RND’s case the Swilken-esque ‘trip-wire’
guards the 18th green rather than the 1st. Even the members
have on occasions discussed moving the clubhouse into the heart
of the dunes and building some new holes with modern design methods.
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such tampering with nature would, of course, border on sacrilege.
As we know, golf - like life itself - is as much about anticipation
and apprehension as it is relentless excitement. And the prosaic
- if stern - start and finish at RND merely serve to highlight
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The
3rd Green |
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the stunning stretch of rollercoaster golf between the 3rd
and 16th which forms the centrepiece of the round. |
Famous visitors
to RND down the years have included Bernard Darwin, the father of
golf course writing, who famously nominated the par 3, 16th
over a ditch to a teasing, saucer-shaped plateau as “probably the
best short hole in the world”. That was in 1910 -several decades
before the Carlsberg catch-phrase.
Meanwhile, this
writer suggests that the approach to the green at the 400-yard par
4 7th, deep in the heart of the roughest dune country
and backed by an army of Sea Rushes (the notorious local flora),
will set the pulse racing.
Almost as much
as a short climb to the tiger boxes at the 5th. Not the
walk you understand, but the view that greets you from the tee:
precisely the mirror image of the one swooned about earlier.
This time as
we look east, right back to the Saunton Sands Hotel itself that
sits like a gleaming white matchbox on the horizon beyond those
same Braunton Burrows that time forgot.
It’s the same
aspect J.H. Taylor would have enjoyed to his dying day from the
hilltop home behind the links, and which claimed had “the finest
view in Christendom.” We told you so.
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Taylor’s
legacy is just part of the great RND heritage, much of it on
display in the small museum in the disarmingly unpretentious
clubhouse. There’ll you’ll find priceless long-nosed clubs some
dating back to 1782 (and recreated in splendid miniature by
local craftsman Nick Pearce); along with assorted |
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medals and lithographs depicting The Great Triumvirate of Braid,
Vardon and, of course, local hero Taylor himself. |
It’s no wonder
that former US Masters champion and confirmed golf history buff,
Ben Crenshaw, is an honorary member here, while the Club President
is our very own HRH The Duke Of York.
FACT FILE
Royal
North Devon Golf Club
Golf Links
Road
Westward
Ho!
Bideford
Devon
EX39 1HD
Email: info@rndgolfclub.com
Green
fees:
£30 per
round; £36 per day.
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