Because these holes feel as if they are in a field as they lack a bit of definition. The golf course leases it’s area from the local authority and is subject to the rules of the park. When you look out of the clubhouse across the course, you might struggle to define the holes. Together with Saunton it can form a weekend's golf to rival any in England. Men's Results. I was so interested in the historical golf pieces that I had to run to catch my three playing partners on the first tee. I don’t care for 17 too much, but the shot over the road is always fun if you can hit a car. Register as a Golf Empire member for free to view the full details, including entry information, for this event and 10,000+ other open golf competitions. is the oldest golf course in England, and one of the iconic early links that defined golf in the U.K. Stunningly portrayed in this 3D art print by Joe McDonnell See other reviews from John Sabino. Following this, you head inland to the flatter land and the reeds/gorse. would be complete without a reference to tea at the club-house. The Club are in the middle of creating 2 new holes to mitigate the effects of coastal erosion. I found some of the fairways to be less distinguishable than typically found on a golf course. Unlike Perranporth which suffers from a lack of bunkers, Westward Ho! This is a great, natural golf course that is largely … Royal North Devon at Westward Ho! This routing would build in excitement leading to the holes along the sea, which is typically the holes that golfers favor, as well as build towards holes more in dunes with the more undulating and interesting fairways. Recommended option. If golf is a metaphor for life, then Royal North Devon is its best example: it's not all neat and tidy; rub of the green as it's called. Accept that you’re going to face a pretty sparse terrain when playing here and instead enjoy the intricate test and rugged beauty that the course offers. It is also the oldest links course outside Scotland and home to the second oldest ladies’ golf club in the world, founded in 1868. The par 4 3rd, 4th, 6th, 10th, 11th and 15th are all strong holes which pose different challenges and test every club in the bag, whilst 18 is a tough finisher keeping you honest to the end. This nostalgic and monumental links course fits firmly into the “must-play” category. I was concerned that there was standing water on the 1st and 18th due to exceptional weather (the lowest art of the course), but the rest of the course was bone dry and in really good nick. We played RND last week in the teeth of the storm that swept through the UK, so even walking was tough on some of the holes back into the wind, but we had a blast. This nostalgic and monumental links course fits firmly into the “must-play” category. There is a particular form of roll cut in half and liberally plastered with Devonshire cream and jam. Was this review helpful? The 1st a par five and the 2nd a par four, both play a similar distance more representative of par 4.5 holes. The course has hosted The Amateur Championship on three occasions, in 1912, 1925, and 1931. Definitely give it a go and relish the uniqueness of this golfing monument. The public access road to the beach comes into play on the 2nd as you negotiate these deep sea rushes and unless you have the brawn to make the green in two despite the prevailing wind, will leave you with a pitch that plays to a lovely upturned green. A friend joined me to play it for the 1st time and loved the course. Holes 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are just a field. has been in continuous use since 1864. per night. Playing at Royal North Devon is the antithesis of sitting in a golf cart for a five hour round waiting for the group ahead of you to line up their fourth putt. It is really interesting. From the back tees, the course will challenge even the best of golfers. A different style of course, Royal North Devon is rough-hewn and is not in the least bit polished. For a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the common land, the course is a bit rough around the edges. The Royal North Devon Golf Course in Westward Ho!, Devon, was created in 1864, and has changed little in that time, until now. See other reviews from T P Dean. This is golf from the old school, and although it probably won’t appeal to everyone, it is a special place to enjoy the game and its history. The flatter stretches of the course that come after this, whilst not at the level of the front nine are still well designed and are carved through the sea rushes with strategy still in play, and all the while being enhanced with interesting green complexes that come with drop-offs and in places, some excellently wicked slopes. Haha. Yet we evaluate a course as it is and plays. The reed beds are particularly nasty too, which are nearly as sharp and ball thieving as gorse. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest links layout in the land and is regarded as the St Andrews of England. Whenever I look at Royal North Devon on google maps, I always think about that routing because I think flipping this course would make it much better. Get A Golf Outing Quote 1 person found this review helpful However, at RND you would risk the class of the course - holes 4 through 7 - if you were to reverse the routing. The achievements of these two fabled names, and much more besides, is celebrated in the clubhouse at Royal North Devon, which is also a museum. See other reviews from Peter Handcock, The first 2-3 times I played this course I also thought the back 9 was a flat field. I do rate this as a course one should go out of their way to play if they go to the area a lot, they live in the UK or Ireland, or can easily come through the English tunnel. There are some concerns, however with the Atlantic Sea buffeting the coast that holes 7 & 8 in particular will be eventually eroded. (As an aside, it was only by researching the history of the course and its battle with environmentalists that I discovered it was Herbert Fowler who changed Pebble Beach’s eighteenth hole from a par four to a par five). You won’t find any fancy frills and over exuberant luxury here but rather an extremely downplayed and simple facility, most certainly adequate and full of charm. Royal North Devon is the oldest in England, dating back to 1864. Take the bus from Ilfracombe, The Bastille to Westward Ho!, Kingsley … Was this review helpful? is not to make a mere visit of pleasure as to an ordinary course;” wrote Darwin in his book, The Golf Courses of the British Isles. Royal North Devon Golf Club is the oldest English course still in existence, as Royal North Devon Golf Club at Westward Ho! Was this review helpful? We were only able to play one round due to a mid-morning tee time. Car crashes into Royal North Devon bunker. 7 and 8 then have you playing out to the beachside where sand and fairways merge, 7 playing as a par four over the reeds and 8 a par three playing to the furthest point away from the clubhouse to a green framed by a sea wall. Royal North Devon Golf Club has the oldest golf course in England, often called Westward Ho! is the oldest golf course in England and sometimes referred to as the 'St Andrews of the South'. I favour older courses over newer ones, and they don’t get much older than RND, as its known. Was this review helpful? I don’t disagree with a 4-ball rating, but the devil is in the detail: RND is a flat field of dreams. The most enduring element when discussing Las Vegas Country Club (LVCC) is the storied... Arthur Hills left nothing on the drawing board when he designed The Virtues Golf Club i... Royal North Devon Golf Club, or should we say Westward Ho! View upcoming Fixtures. To my knowledge, only Eugene Country Club was brave enough to do a complete flip. I should say that 11 and 16 are good holes. That feeling of having just driven across the time bridge back into the late 1800’s. Founded in 1864, Royal North Devon is the oldest golf club in England still playing over its original site. However, it is a real pity that Royal North Devon is not appreciated for what it is: a true monument of what the game of golf was at its dawns, and possibly a reference of what it should be in the future. Over-looked by the villages of Westward Ho! A flat, featureless field this is not. It was the oldest continuous golf course in England 3. There are also no yardage markers, but only simple grey rocks to mark off 150 yards. is one of those marmite experiences that either falls well short of expectations for a club with royal pedigree, or for others, provides a unique, traditional encounter like no other. or. Register Now. [3], Royal North Devon, R.N.D., Golf Club is located on Northam Burrows between Northam and Westward Ho! Westward Ho (0.4 miles from Royal North Devon Golf Club) Situated in Westward Ho, 100 metres from Westward Ho! It’s unique, full of history and simply has to be played and experienced by any serious golfer. To start, the locker room is very cool, as is the snooker room. “Finally,” wrote Darwin, “no account of Westward Ho! celebrated its 150 year anniversary in 2014 and its timeless grandeur grows the more starched and pressed and sterile the modern game becomes. Yes, the conditioning won’t be great (not unexpected when you share fairways and greens with sheep and horses). If you let an enthusiastic Springer Spaniel off the leash at the 1st tee, perhaps with a GPS tracker attached, it will return an hour later having followed Fowler’s route back to the clubhouse. Immediately, within two holes, despite the flat land, I found myself thinking and plotting as to how I need to strategise my way through the holes if I’m going to make a score. The round closes at 17 and 18, firstly with a five shot hole oddly playing over the live road - a little frustrating where we had to wait for several minutes to play our approach shots for the traffic to pass, whilst 18 makes a mockery of its stroke index 18 at 414-yards into the wind with a large ditch in front of the green. My heroic attempt to carry the ditch into the teeth of the storm was always destined to fail, but it couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm for this timeless classic! The 4th hole with it's famous bunkers is one of the iconic golf holes of the world, but the entire round will be an experience you will cherish. 2 people found this review helpful It’s an Old Tom Morris design over common land that has changed very little in the last 150 years. Hole 11 has a seemingly a blind drive over a sea of... sea rushes. Royal North Devon Golf Club, Devon - Book Golf Breaks & … Respond to above review  The other holes feel a bit more like the first two although seventeen has the added element of crossing the road and eighteen brings a burn into play at the front of the green. Royal North Devon Golf Club at Westward Ho! It's very old school which i like, and it has lots of really good holes. It was the rare course that despite being done by Old Tom Morris was substantially changed by Herbert Fowler. I also found that the holes in which the "sea rushes" come into play are great fun, and although some of the holes back to the clubhouse can be somewhat bland, they all add something to the challenge of the course. For me, there are too many boring holes on dead flat ground where you can hit the ball 200 yards offline and find it, for it to be a great course. The golf course leases it’s area from the local authority and is subject to the rules of the park. Bideford, Devon EX39 1HD. Epithets fail me, and I can only declare that the tea is worthy of the golf.” Not only is tea good but also the panoramic view from the clubhouse is magnificent. Was this review helpful? Menu. The clubhouse had a nice small golf museum inside. Golfers share the environment with sheep, ponies and walkers. I had a similar criticism to Perranporth in that I thought it could have had a better placement and use of bunkers. Royal North Devon Golf Club Saturday 20th February 2021. can rightly claim to be the cradle of English Golf. I think the “new” second would still play the same as the seventeenth while the current starting hole would also essentially be the same except the fairway burn would be left. Make a Booking Login. This is a course where you play the ball where it lies, commune with nature and go back to the game's roots. The drive over the huge bunker on 4 is awe-inspiring and the short par 3 5th is one of my favourite holes. I am embarrassed to say that I four putted the darn thing after being 10 feet off the green in two. Was it not here that Mr Horace Hutchinson and J.H. Show more Show less. Regarding the course itself, although the level of the holes is uneven, in my opinion, the stretch from hole 4 to 9 has nothing to envy the best of links. Yes, the first 2 and 18th holes are played on flat and uninspiring land. Bus • 1h 49m. Add some sheep, horses, a busy road, stones for markers and in my case a dog stealing a ball, it’s maybe the quirkiest place I’ve played. Peter Wood is the founder of The Travelling Golfer – click the link to read his full review. For a modest hitter like me it’s usually a 50/50 call. It worked out for them; for many years they were considered a top 100 golf course in the USA. As an example, the current twelfth starts with rushes to either side of the fairway, it the rushes cease about a third down the right. Having played a single round of golf at Westward Ho !, I can not understand how some of the previous reviewers may dislike the course. I played here on 10/04/2015 on a very calm and warm day and i loved every minute of it. Playing with a large group, Royal North Devon split opinion exactly as you’d expect. I want to go back (hopefully with a bit of sun) and learn more about the intricacies of this place. Onsite there is an 18-hole links course that is made all the more difficult by the consistently strong sea breeze. Covered in sea rushes and grazed upon by sheep and wild horses, it can take a couple of rounds to begin to understand the subtleties of this great links. It’s a shame as I loved the holes around the turn as they were, but time and tide literally wait for no man! Existing users can login here. I learned four things from these articles: 1. The land for the fairways is more interesting. A true links that plays out through some very flat land I the beginning which seems more tidal marsh rather than links land. Royal North Devon Golf Club. Golf course architects are invariably remembered for their most hallowed designs. The course has hardly been altered from its original routing which works its way out towards and along the sea before turning around and coming back to the club house. First, it is short for a par five. Select an option below to see step-by-step directions and to compare ticket prices and travel times in Rome2rio's travel planner. The Womens Amateur, Was this review helpful? Royal North Devon Golf Club Today's Golf. Every so often with wild weather this area of the course is reclaimed by the sea for a few days. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}51ﾂｰ02窶ｲ46窶ｳN 4ﾂｰ13窶ｲ34窶ｳW / 51.046ﾂｰN 4.226ﾂｰW / 51.046; -4.226, Royal North Devon Golf Club was founded in 1864,[1] and is the oldest golf course in England. 10 is a great hole with a terrifying drive over the reeds to a blind fairway that bends to the left (even more scary when the sea mist is in full force). In this run of holes the highlight are the greens complexes with mainly good placement of greenside bunkers, and good contouring of differing tilts and shapes. Perhaps it was routed the way it exists due to wanting to keep balls off the beach as more players move a ball left to right? AWAITING INFO. The club was the first to ban plastic tees over fears that they were being eaten by wildlife. Royal North Devon Golf Club at Westward Ho! Admittedly, the second half of 12 and all of 13 is indeed field-like and I was worried that the course was going to spiral downhill quickly at this point, but the 13th green, perched up in a plateau above this starkly flat gradient makes up for a disappointing patch of land. Royal North Devon Golf Club Friday 23rd April 2021 to Sunday 25th April 2021. We arrived early and I was able to spend 45 minutes looking around the pieces and reading various articles. The holes I liked the most were ten (and not because what it did to my companion’s score) and twelve. Those sea rushes are a real feature across the course, and whilst some may find them a little unsightly, make for some interesting and blind tee shots. The greens on the first two holes are primarily devoid of bunkers and I did not feel they were strong enough to serve as a proper defense or level of interest. I wondered where the course was at times because of the lack of definition. My first trip started in style, even after my flight over from Amsterdam was cancelled in the morning. Whilst the course, in its current layout since 1908, has the feeling of being untouched. 6 and 7 are great par 4s along the beach (the approach into 7 was great) and the 8th is a beautiful par 3. I’ve only played RND once recently but the new layout on 7, 8 and 9 seems to work well. How do you make a very short par five a difficult hole? It has some very good contours on many greens and is very playable. A rolling links course offering stunning views of the Taw & Torridge Estuary and the Atlantic Ocean and a venue of real historical importance. Holes 14, 15 & 16 are back to rolling linksland before those final low lying holes that connect us back to the clubhouse and dry ground…. There are, however, plenty of reeds and rushes waiting to catch the wayward shot. £100. There are no plans by Natural England to build coast defences here and point out that the golf club can build two new greens elsewhere and relinquish two existing greens.[5]. The location is Northam Burrows, an exposed and—from a distance—rather barren-looking stretch of windswept linksland. Holes three to eight is especially fun and offer a good blend of birdie opportunities and terror. Sixteen has a more interesting view from the tee over the taller rushes. Golf Course at Royal North Devon Golf Club Originally founded in 1864, Royal North Devon Golf Club is the oldest course in the country and has recently been included in the top 100 courses in the world by Golf World. I’ll need to pay another visit after to see what impact this work has had. is the oldest golf course in England. Respond to above review  It was on flat land and next to a popular beach, 2. More. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest golf course in the country and is regarded as the St Andrews of the South. Live Leaderboard, Sign In & Score Entry Opens. The Royal North Devon Golf Club (Westward Ho!) Well, to be honest, I can understand it, since the course and its presentation may not be the taste of all kinds of golfers. Check availability. The first and second holes feel like one is taking a walk towards the beach. I have yet to do the reviews on Saunton and Burnham & Berrow, but for the courses I played in the area, I would rate this the fourth best. Put in an inverted saucer green, make it circular and only 25 feet in diameter. In 1910, the name of the club was changed to The Royal North Devon Golf Club. Login. There are no trees or hedges, except if you count the brambles alongside some of the fairways. Respond to above review  Royal North Devon Golf Club - Main Course, located in Bideford, is a 18 hole Semi-Private course. A herd of horses also drifted on to the course while we were playing. View key info about Course Database including Course description, Tee yardages, par and handicaps, scorecard, contact info, Course Tours, directions and more. View the Order of Merits. I will always remember eleven for the amazing par I made; too hard to explain the stance I had to take in the front bunker but using my putter threading it by the next bunker to a back pin with the ball moving various directions as it made its way towards the cup. Respond to above review  2021-02-20 Saturday. It’s no pushover either with forced carries, streams, some upturned saucer greens and penal bunkering punishing the errant. Therefore, although we must accept that golf can be presented in many different ways and forms and that any taste is respectable, I can only recognize my respect for a club that, despite the passage of time, has decided to maintain the spirit of the game, becoming a flagstick of tradition and sustainability. The first few holes- 1 & 2, and the closing holes- 17 & 18 are routed through low marshland, effectively connecting the clubhouse, and access to the course to the wonderful linksland beyond. 4. Weather. Existing users can login here. Hole 13 has an excellent tiny raised green that is very difficult to hold with your second shot (and your third). In 1864, Westward Ho! There are 34 hotels and other … I'll start with the positives. At £35 there cannot be better value in the UK? and was the first English club to be formed (in 1864) by the English themselves rather than by ex-Scots. Men's Fixtures. All this makes for a lot of fun. What the club says: Founded in 1864, the Royal North Devon is the oldest course in England and Wales. Second, it is really a sheep pasture masquerading as a fairway, and third, the green is diabolical. Was this review helpful? A stout par 4 with a downhill tee shot and uphill approach, which runs along the beach. The thirteenth hole is a 442-yard par five named "Lundy." A heavy sea mist kept creeping in and fading away throughout my round and it added to the mystery of this place. More than 100 years ago, golfing great Harold Hilton stated that Royal North Devon was the top … There was a decent breeze the day we played, not as strong as I am certain it can be but it was noticeable and factored into the type of shots we had to play. There are relative peaks and troughs along the way, obviously the hillier, sandier parts of the course are the highlights but the land has been used to its best potential and the walk feels like an adventure. Some may like the look of golf this way…..put down a tee and hit with the land being the defense…..while others might ask for a bit more of a challenge. I could not convince my playing partners to go back out as we were staying in Rock that night and we wanted to take the ferry to explore Padstow. Taylor, learned his golf at the Royal North Devon Golf Club[6] and was invested Honorary President of the Club in 1957. As good as they were, how much better would Old Tom Morris and Herbert Fowler have been with topographical maps and gps? See other reviews from Mark White. [9] The Club provides facilities for one of the largest Junior Sections in the country. Playing golf at Royal Nth Devon is like stepping back in time- the clubhouse is full of history, but the course is the real treasure. Often referred to as Westward Ho!, the Royal North Devon Golf Club is England's oldest links course. Royal North Devon Golf Club Bideford, England, United Kingdom Westward Ho! … Men's OOMs. The wide fairways at RND may cause trepidation if you have a fear of wide open spaces, but there is usually a correct place to put your tee ball if you want to score well. Featured Course Tours. Home; Opens; Back to Website; Upcoming Competitions: Date: In: Booking Options: Monthly Stableford (Members) … It's worth playing, but don't expect the back nine to match the front. Royal North Devon Golf Club, Westward Ho: Hours, Address, Royal North Devon Golf Club Reviews: 4.5/5 It’s just less obvious than at some courses I’ve played. On most holes I did not find the rough to be very penal. The oldest course in the world outside Scotland is a delight, a real museum piece (as is the clubhouse). Founded in 1864, Royal North Devon (RND) is the oldest course in England. the front nine is more interesting than the back with holes 4 to 8 … The fairways are flatter, and on holes 10 & 11, good holes though they are, there is limited visibility of the fairway of the tee. Royal North Devon Golf Club, golf club in devon, finest links in devon, golf course in devon, societies in devon, lessons in devon. The common land allows for cheaper rates but the greens were still excellent and true.

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