The Missing Links: Newquay

Monday 29 September 2014

Newquay

www.newquaygolfclub.co.uk

SSS Blue tees 70
Red tees 73

All the holes overlook Fistral Beach

Newquay is set above the magnificent Fistral Beach which is renowned for its surfing and there are sea views from every hole. It was designed by Harry Colt in 1890. The clubhouse has a unique castellated tower and was built in 1835 as a home for the Molesworth family, Cornish landowners and baronets.

The unusual castellated tower of the clubhouse

The course is a proper links course with interesting and challenging holes and difficult greenside bunkers. A public path crosses the course protected by fencing which comes into play at several holes. The greens were in a disappointing condition and the course in general looks a little neglected. It is surrounded on three sides by the town of Newquay which has seen better days.

Worth playing? There are better courses nearby in Cornwall.

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The Links Project

There are 246 true links golf courses in the world and this blog is a record of our attempt to play all of them. My husband Ron and I are keen golfers and I came up with the idea of this project after he gave me the book by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell 'True Links' which lists them all.

The commonest question we are asked about our project is 'How do you define a true links course?' This will be debated by aficionados for long after we have (hopefully) completed our quest and there will never be a correct answer. The strict definition is from the British Golf Museum:

1. The course must be beside a river estuary

2. It must offer partial or occasional views of the sea

3. It must have few trees

4. It must have numerous bunkers

5. It must have nines that run out and back, the front heading to a far point and the back returning to the clubhouse

Peper and Campbell defined their list as follows:

Terrain - how close is the course to the sea? Do the fairways run fast and hard? Do the greens favour a run-on approach? How open is the site? How natural? Is there a freedom from trees? Is the invasion of gorse and brush controlled? How light is the environmental footprint on the land?

Turf - is there a sand base? What grasses are dominant on the fairways and greens? Is the rough managed ( creating biodiversity for flora and fauna)? How well does the course drain?

Weather - how exposed is the site to the elements? What are the typical wind conditions? Does the course play hard and fast all year round? Must temporary greens and tees be used in winter? Is the course susceptible to winter closure?

Peper and Campbell included courses which supplied the correct answers to most of these questions. But however defined, to me the poem by Sir John Betjeman encapsulates the feeling of links golf.