Golf in the West Country

The West Country holds some of the most beautiful — and most historic — links in England, strung along the surf coasts of Devon, Somerset and Cornwall. It is a longer haul from the cities, but the reward is a golf holiday in the truest sense: championship links in wild dune country, some of Britain's best beaches and food, and a pace that makes you want to stay a week.

On the North Devon coast, Royal North Devonat Westward Ho! is the oldest golf course in England (1864), "the St Andrews of the south," played over open common where sheep and horses still graze. Next door, Saunton is a big, muscular Herbert Fowler links through the great dunes of Braunton Burrows, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

Across the Bristol Channel in Somerset, Burnham & Berrow is a dramatic championship links in towering dunes. Down in Cornwall, St Enodoc— James Braid's wild, joyful links above the Camel estuary — is home to the giant "Himalaya" bunker and the little half-buried church where the poet Sir John Betjeman is buried. A few miles west, Trevose is a fine Harry Colt links and family resort above Constantine Bay near Padstow. Few golf regions anywhere are as scenic.

For the Devon links, Barnstaple, Saunton and Woolacombe make a fine base with big surfing beaches close by. In Cornwall, Rock and Padstow across the Camel estuary — Rick Stein country — are hard to beat. Newquay and Exeter airports keep it more accessible than the long drive down the M5 suggests.

North Devon

The Saunton Sands Hotel, perched above the beach beside the links, is the classic Devon golf hotel, with the smaller Watersmeet at Woolacombe a lovely alternative on the cliffs.

Cornwall

Around Rock, the St Enodoc Hotel and the St Moritz Hotel put you beside St Enodoc, while The Metropole in Padstow and The Pig at Harlyn Bay near Trevose are excellent bases for the Cornish links.

Padstow is one of Britain's food capitals: Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant made the town's name, and Paul Ainsworth at No.6 holds a Michelin star. Up the coast at Port Isaac, Restaurant Nathan Outlawis one of the country's finest seafood tables. In Devon, dinner at the Saunton Sands looking out over the surf is hard to beat.

This is a holiday coast: the surf beaches of Woolacombe, Croyde and Constantine Bay are world-class, and the Camel Trail cycle path from Padstow to Wadebridge is a gentle family classic. Further afield, the Eden Project's giant biomes, Tintagel Castle on its Arthurian headland, and the wild uplands of Exmoor and Bodmin Moor all make memorable non-golf days.

Pair it with the Surrey heaths on the way down, or read the best courses in England.