Missing my golf, I spent a fair bit of our dismally wet winter and early spring planning golfing adventures for this year's playing season. As you read this, I may well be in a dormy house somewhere, soaking up the atmosphere and savouring the many joys of staying where I am playing. So let me take a trip down Fading Memory Lane and explain why I so enjoy staying at golf clubs.
For this feature, I'm going to avoid full-on golfing resorts with hotels and stick with dormy houses or similar, smaller on-site or adjacent accommodation. I am going to concentrate on the more intimate and sometimes unusual places to stay that I have enjoyed all over the UK&I, as well as taking a brief excursion across to France. I'm sure my experiences will ring bells with most of you, and even if not, will highlight some of the very real pleasures of an extended visit to play golf and more. So, in no particular or obvious order at all, let's get travelling.
Royal Lytham & St Annes
Starting at the top, I have been lucky enough to enjoy the dormy houses at several clubs in the Golf Monthly Top 100 and Next 100 rankings. And what could be better than playing and also staying at an Open venue such as Royal Lytham & St Annes, host of the event in two years' time? Recent changes have improved an already brilliant test of golf, and there are packages available that include dinner and breakfast. I am also part of a small group from my club, Tandridge, who travel up each summer to play an informal match with the extremely welcoming members at Formby Golf Club just down the coast.
Formby
We stay in the dormy house, eat in the main dining room on one evening, and also play a match against the ladies on their own excellent course, which we always, and I do mean absolutely always, lose! On the other night, we enjoy taking the commuter train from the nearby station, stopping for a beer in the adjacent micropub, and then visiting a restaurant just up the line. Great fun and so easy to do.
Royal St David's
To the northern end of Cardigan Bay in Wales is a beautiful stretch of coastline that, happily for golfers, runs between two of the very best courses in the country at Royal St David's and Aberdovey. Each has a dormy house, and there is no better way to enjoy the two links than to hop on the train between them, which takes just over an hour and crosses the Mawddach Estuary. The views are fabulous, the experience is novel, and I am pretty sure this was the first time I'd ever travelled to golf by train, something I would very happily repeat.
Alnmouth
One of my all-time favourite dormy houses is at Alnmouth on the sublime Northumberland coast. The relative remoteness of this area means that the rates are a little more forgiving and, with nine holes either side of the accommodation, you could not be more at the heart of a golf club. As at Formby, there is a snooker room, and I've spent many a happy hour at both being even more inept with a little white ball than I am out on the course. At least I haven't lost one... yet.
Cape Cornwall
On visiting Cape Cornwall for a game a few years ago, I was so taken with the whole set-up that I returned a few months later with my wife for a stay... and no golf! This wild location at the end of the world is a perfect place for the great outdoors, and we thoroughly enjoyed our coastal walks followed by delicious dining and panoramic sunsets. Sometimes a location leads you there for golf, and sometimes it's the golf that opens your eyes to other possibilities nearby.
Chateau d'Augerville
One of the more unusual dormy houses I've enjoyed, where dormy is the perfect word, was the romantic castle at Chateau d'Augerville, an hour south of Paris. It is home to a very attractive golf course, and I was lucky enough to stay at the top of the central tower, in a suite accessed by its own spiral staircase. I'd been told there was a benign ghost whose footsteps were often heard after dark, and on my first night, high up in the tower on my own, I was indeed awoken by footsteps. And that is it! I have no explanation and it didn't happen on the following two nights, but it's the oddest thing that's ever happened to me when staying at a golf club. Apart from the time I once won a competition.
Craigielaw
Up in Scotland five years ago, I embarked on an epic mission to play all 21 courses in East Lothian in 13 days. Amazingly for Scotland in October, I only had a small amount of rain in just one round. For some of the trip, I stayed in the excellent Lodge at Craigielaw whose fine, modern links borders the historic one at Kilspindie. It's just my kind of place and ideal for couples or groups, offering great value and generous portions with easy access to the rich feast that is Scotland's Golf Coast.
Old Head
One high-end course with accommodation that I thoroughly enjoy is Old Head on Ireland's southern coast. I've written about the course many times and it is one of my all-time favourites, but never about the accommodation in the clubhouse, which overlooks the spectacular 18th. It's the kind of place you just never want to leave.
Trefloyne
One of the travelling golfer's great thrills is to stumble across somewhere very pleasant that you'd previously never even heard of. While in Wales in March with my colleague Jeremy Ellwood, I played the parkland course at Trefloyne, which offers a great contrast to its near-neighbour, the links at Tenby. Here, there is a variety of accommodation to suit all tastes and a two AA-Rosette restaurant, ideal for couples looking for somewhere new and different.
Woodsome Hall
Let me finish with Woodsome Hall in Yorkshire, home to a fine Harry Colt parkland course and an amazing and historic clubhouse. Out on the course, behind the 7th green, is an eight-bedroom farmhouse known as the Cottage on the Course. It's a two-minute walk to the main clubhouse and offers an idyllically peaceful location for a stay with a treasure chest of Yorkshire's finest courses within easy reach. The view over the pond and nearby green beckons you out onto the course, and the stylish and comfortable rooms are very well priced.
To sum up the joys of staying where you play, the most obvious from a practical point of view is that so long as there is catering on site or a nearby town with a few dining options, there is no driving involved – perfect for those of us who very occasionally like to enjoy a glass or three in the evening when away. It also saves on time and fuel and, with green fees at a challenging and sometimes punitive all-time high, there are often very good deals to be had when staying on site.
Playing a course for the second time or more also allows you to appreciate it properly. First time round you might be blinded by the light and miss its more subtle pleasures. In theory – and obviously this has never happened to me – you should be able to score better as you get to know the course. And even if not, you can have the fun of an eclectic competition or card.
Perhaps the greatest pleasure of all, and one that is less definable, is the opportunity to really soak up the ambience and atmosphere of the club. Waking to the sound of a green being hand-mown really whets the appetite, and turning the light out at the end of the day knowing that the 1st tee is just a short walk away is a real joy.
Ghostly footsteps aside, I hope you will have had your interest suitably piqued by some of my dormy adventures. As with golf courses themselves, there are endless opportunities dotted around the UK and Ireland.
Sweet Dreams
While this feature focuses on one side of the fine line between dormy and grander establishment, here are five of my very favourite golf hotels...
● Gleneagles
With three fabulous golf courses, luxurious accommodation and dining, and endless sporting and recreational activities on site, this is hands-down the finest golf hotel that I have ever stayed in and surely the best such resort anywhere in the UK and Ireland.
● Close House
There's a variety of accommodation at this first-class resort near Newcastle, and I really like the combination of traditional, farmstead buildings and their modern, stylish interiors. The two courses are also great fun.
● Slieve Donard
I know this hotel is a separate entity rather than part of a golfing resort as such, but having stayed here twice, I rate it very highly for three reasons. One, it's right next door to Royal County Down, home to the leading course in the Golf Monthly Top 100. Two, it shares the same sensational setting. And three, it is just a lovely place to stay.
● Fairmont St Andrews
I know some people think it's sacrilege to actually enjoy the two very different courses here when you are at the Home of Golf, but I really liked both layouts at this large, all mod-cons hotel just outside St Andrews.
● Rosapenna
I've been lucky enough to stay here a couple of times and it really is a complete escape to a different, peaceful and very beautiful world. With three top-notch courses including St Patrick's Links, and easy access to the most breathtaking scenery, it's hard to beat.
