Why Cornwall?
Somewhere past the Tamar the roads narrow, the hedgerows rise and you begin to catch the Atlantic between the hills.
Cornwall feels like the end of England in the best possible sense. Fishing villages tucked into coves, surfers waiting for the evening swell, and old links laid across the dunes long before anyone thought of it as a golf destination. At St Enodoc you play around a church half-buried in the sand. At Perranporth the fairways roll along the clifftops, and the wind decides how long the course plays that day.
Then there is everything in between. Crab sandwiches on a harbour wall. A pint in a pub that has been pouring them since the smugglers were regulars. A table at Padstow looking over the estuary, a boat out to find the seals, and a coast path that makes a very good excuse to walk off lunch.
It is English links golf with salt in the air, and almost nobody from home has thought to try it.
Links golf nobody has ranked properly
St Enodoc, Trevose, Perranporth and West Cornwall are bold, idiosyncratic courses that would be famous anywhere else in Britain.
The food is the second reason to come
Padstow, Porthleven and the harbour villages between them produce food that stands up against anywhere in Europe.
Short drives, no crowds
Courses are twenty to forty minutes apart, green fees are a fraction of the famous names, and the tee sheets have room.
Recommended courses
The golf in Cornwall.
St Enodoc - Church Course
A James Braid masterpiece on the Camel estuary, with the Himalaya bunker and a tenth-century church in the dunes.
Trevose
Big Atlantic views, generous fairways and the most straightforwardly enjoyable round of the trip.
Perranporth
Blind, eccentric, enormous fun and laid out on a clifftop above three miles of beach.
West Cornwall
Cornwall's oldest links, above St Ives Bay, where Jim Barnes learned the game.
Royal North Devon
Just over the border: England's oldest links, still grazed by sheep and horses. A worthwhile first or last round.
Beyond the golf
The other forty hours.
Padstow and Porthleven
The two best eating harbours in Cornwall, with tables held for the group rather than hoped for.
A day on the water
Sea fishing out of Padstow or Newquay, or a boat along the north coast with a cook aboard.
The South West Coast Path
Cliff walking between rounds, usually ending somewhere with beer.
A private chef using Cornish produce
Day-boat fish, Cornish beef and local cheese cooked at the house you are staying in.
Where you stay
A converted farmhouse near Padstow
Exclusive-use, with a big kitchen, a garden and the north-coast courses on the doorstep.
A sea-view inn or small hotel in the far west
For the second half of the route, close to St Ives, Sennen and the Lizard.
The vibe
Relaxed coastal England. Sand in the car, sunburn in April, boots and waterproofs, long lunches and a golf club bar where somebody will insist you play Perranporth again tomorrow.
Let's build your Cornwall trip.
Tell us who's coming, roughly when, and what you'd hate to miss.