The Missing Links: Bude and North Cornwall

Thursday 2 October 2014

Bude and North Cornwall

www.budegolf.co.uk

SSS White tees 70
Red tees 72

The 7th green with Bude in the background

Bude and North Cornwall golf club was founded as North Cornwall golf club in 1891 when membership was exclusive to the officer class and local gentry. Locals excluded from membership eventually formed the Bude Town golf club and were allowed to play on the course at restricted times in return for working on the course. They were denied entry to the clubhouse. After the Second World War the clubs merged to ease financial difficulties and I
n 1949 the Bude and North Cornwall golf club was formed.

The 13th is a testing par 3

The course today sits within the seaside town of Bude on the North Cornwall coast. The opening five holes are over a road from the clubhouse and are the only part of the course near the sea. This is a nondescript section which is poorly planned - approaching the par 3 4th tee from the 3rd green required a walk down most of the 4th. The rest of the holes are inland and include a number of blind shots. The 7th hole is unique - the presence of a fairway is a test of faith from the tee! The 15th and 17th holes are testing holes with water in front of the green. Two well played shots will reach the green on the 17th which is a par 5 for ladies. A weakness is the designation of the practice ground, which lies in the middle of the course, as out of bounds. This is a links course apart from the 9th and 10th which are more parkland in nature and surrounded by trees.

Worth playing? If you are in Bude with time to spare. This is a holiday course but not the best in the area.

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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.