GWD_MAY_16

COURSES
TOP 100
RANK 39
GREAT BRITAIN &
IRELAND
TOP 100 SPOTLIGHT
St Enodoc
This Cornish links has enchanted Watson, Donald and
Betjeman. Chris Bertram finds it easy to understand why.
Ah! Seaweed smells from sandy caves
And thyme and mist in whiffs,
In-coming tide, Atlantic waves
Slapping the sunny cliffs,
Lark song and sea sounds in the air
And splendour, splendour everywhere.
Adegree in English Literature is not
required in order to appreciate the
closing stanza of Sir John
Betjeman’s ‘Seaside Golf’. All that is
necessary to enjoy the late Poet Laureate’s
tribute to the 13th hole at St Enodoc is an
affection for links golf.
That he captures so eloquently the joy
of playing on the linksland of St Enodoc
is hardly surprising given his literary
status and the fact he adored this seaside
course of heroic holes. Betjeman was a
Londoner, but later in life retreated to the
Cornish village of Trebetherick that sits
next to St Enodoc’s Church course. He is
buried in the churchyard that sits between
the 10th green and 13th fairway.
It is not difficult to understand why
Betjeman – who holidayed in the county
LEFT: An aerial view from behind the new 16th green,
with Brea Hill beyond. BELOW: The short 11th plays
towards the estuary with the church spire to the left.
as a child – set down roots in this corner
of the Duchy, with the rugged, winding,
north-east bank of the Camel estuary so
appealing that it has become one of
England’s ‘fashionable’ destinations.
Indeed, the village of Rock that St
Enodoc’s two courses (the Holywell was
originally nine holes and after closing in
WW2 became full size in 1982) sit next
to has been hailed as ‘Britain’s St Tropez’
owing to its popularity with affluent
holidaymakers including celebrities such
as Hugh Grant and Jemima Khan.
But don’t let that stop you visiting.
Outside mid-summer you won’t be overrun
with paparrazi or Jack Wills-clad
schoolboys from Harrow.
And once on the links you are more
likely to encounter a world-class golfer;
Tom Watson is an admirer, describing it
as “a wonderful course with a lot of
variety” while Luke Donald played there
last year and called it “a gem of a links”.
European Tour player Chris Wood,
who hails from the south-west, regularly
uses St Enodoc to hone his putting by
virtue of its fast, undulating greens.
These contemporary stars have followed
Betjeman – as well as King George VI,
two Prince of Wales, Edward VIII (a
May 2016 Golf World 107