Saunton West course 6th hole © James Mason
It’s Day Three of my Atlantic Links Tour and it’s 36 holes today at another of Golf Monthly’s Top 100 courses, Saunton East. First I have a warm up on the West course with three members, Mark, Alan and David. Now if you are ever offered a game with Alan and David you should do two things – run or split them up. Don’t let them play as a pair or you may as well part with your money on the first tee!
But the pound I lost was more than paid back with the knowledge they imparted during a fun game of golf on yet another day when the clouds decided to take a day off. Blue skies and a nice breeze meant for perfect playing conditions. The same architect Herbert Fowler designed the West course sixteen years after the East in 1935. There was a redesign undertaken by Frank Pennink in 1974 and the greens have since been re-laid in 1987. The club do not own the course, but it seems the landowners and the club work well together to not only maintain and improve both courses but the surrounding natural habitat, which also gets some TLC.
Like the other courses on this tour the fairways are hard, fast and golden in colour and as my second shot to the green spins back off and just avoids the pot bunker that guards the right side, I realise that I’m in for another tough test.
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Looking back down the 13th hole at Saunton GC West Course © James Mason
