Bovey Castle Golf

Bel endroit, magnifié par le château hôtel austère mais impressionnant. Le parcours est de très bonne qualité, varié, jamais monotone.

L'accueil est sommaire, pas de proshop. Le bar de l’hôtel est superbe à l'anglaise. Et la terrasse domine le parcours.

Un conseil, utiliser le parking de l'hôtel, pas celui du golf qui n'est pas digne de ce nom!

Located north of Dartmoor and to the south-west of Exeter. Bovey Castle fantastic venue for short break, involving superb golf, great Spa facilities, stunning accommodation and exquisite food and drink. 

Course - plenty of pedigree with this course. Front nine holes weave their way through a wooded valley, sharing the space with the River Bovey. Crossing the river no less than five times, you have to choose between chasing the birdies/eagles and the risk that accompanies that decision, or laying up as closely as one dares to the river.

The back nine raises one up from the valley and on to the undulating manor grounds. These holes have a more heathland feel to them, with firmer fairways and patches of gorse/bracken adorning the fairways.

Clubhouse - No clubhouse as such, it's a 5-star hotel so that serves as the clubhouse. Fantastic food and a good selection of drinks. The smoking room (non-smoking) has fantastic views of Dartmoor, the surrounding countryside and the course.

Facilities - Pro-shop, Driving Range, Putting Green, changing rooms and Spa

Staff - First class, knowledgeable and welcoming.

Highlights - My first highlight would be the first hole, teeing off from next to the Manor House down a steep fairway, then across the River Bovey to the bunker protected green. My second has to be the par 3 third hole. Surrounded by trees, it feels like you need to thread your tee shot through a narrow passage to a green surrounded on three sides by water. To add to the pressure when putting, you are in full view of the hotel perched high on the hill to the north.

Lowlights - Pro-shop, very small, limited choice of clothing and equipment. Lack of space is probably the cause of this shortcoming.

Beautiful setting, wonderful hotel, nice mix of holes.

The par 70 (SSS 71) layout has a very intimate feel for the majority of the front nine before gradually climbing on to higher ground with just a hint of moorland flavour to it. The first eight holes are truly lovely and whilst from this point on the course undoubtedly fizzles out there are still plenty of good holes during the remainder of the round. In fact only the short ninth is an uncharacteristic blip during the first two-thirds of the course and bar a few awkward shots towards the end of the round there is very little to dislike.

Heb er een paar keer gespeeld en het eerste hole zal ik nooit vergeten. Je staat op een hoogte en beneden zie je de hole, net over het meanderende riviertje heen. Geweldig.