A clifftop links, hole by hole
Eighteen holes along the North Cornwall headland, almost unchanged since 1923.
Free-running fairways thread between the dunes, the turf firm and the greens true.
The wind off the Atlantic is the course's truest defence — no two rounds play alike. Old Tom's routing carries you out along the cliffs and home beneath the terrace.
Five holes that linger long after the round — though on a given day the wind will happily nominate others of its own.
3rd · Smuggler's · Par 5
A blind drive over the shoulder of the dune, then a fairway that tumbles and twists down toward the sea. Smugglers once ran their cargo up the cove below; today the Smuggler's is simply the most thrilling three-shotter on the coast — reachable downwind, unreachable into it.
6th · Pulpit · Par 4
The Pulpit asks for a long, held iron to a green perched above a fall of gorse and marram. Miss right and the headland keeps your ball for good; find the putting surface and one of the friendliest birdies on the card is yours.
7th · The Beacon · Par 3
A short hole and a brute of one. Nothing but air between the tee and a green cut into the cliff, the Atlantic breathing forty feet beneath. Club selection here is a question of nerve as much as yardage — take one more than you think, and trust it.
13th · Long Acre · Par 5
The longest hole on the card runs the whole length of Long Acre, the wind — as often as not — hard in your face. Three honest blows and a level head; a par here feels like a birdie won anywhere else on the links.
17th · The Cove · Par 4
The Cove bends along the clifftop with the beach glinting far below. Bite off as much of the corner as your courage allows — the braver the line off the tee, the shorter and sweeter the way home to the eighteenth.
The full scorecard
| Hole | Par | SI | White | Yellow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Pennick | 4 | 5 | 412 | 384 |
| 2. The Quarry | 3 | 17 | 168 | 140 |
| 3. Smuggler's | 5 | 1 | 521 | 493 |
| 4. Marram | 4 | 11 | 389 | 361 |
| 5. Gorse Walk | 4 | 3 | 447 | 419 |
| 6. Pulpit | 4 | 7 | 402 | 374 |
| 7. The Beacon | 3 | 15 | 178 | 150 |
| 8. Three Tides | 5 | 9 | 533 | 505 |
| 9. The Turn | 4 | 13 | 401 | 373 |
| 10. Harbour Mouth | 4 | 6 | 421 | 393 |
| 11. Saltgrass | 4 | 10 | 398 | 370 |
| 12. Cliff Edge | 3 | 18 | 205 | 177 |
| 13. Long Acre | 5 | 2 | 540 | 512 |
| 14. Whistling Stone | 3 | 16 | 236 | 208 |
| 15. Dunhollow | 4 | 4 | 455 | 427 |
| 16. Gull Rock | 4 | 8 | 389 | 361 |
| 17. The Cove | 4 | 14 | 410 | 382 |
| 18. Home | 4 | 12 | 447 | 419 |
Around the links
Play the links
Visitors are welcome most days — arrange a round and see it for yourself.