Golf trail is linked in to success

A golf trail of links courses on England’s South Coast is celebrating after three of its courses were named in the best 100 courses in Great Britain and Ireland by an influential golf magazine.

The Atlantic Links courses of Saunton East, St Enodoc and Burnham & Berrow have all been named in the latest Golf World UK Magazine’s GB&I Top 100 course ranking whilst the remaining courses in the trail, Saunton West, Royal North Devon and Trevose, are included in the second 100.

Where they ranked

• Saunton East (Devon) #27
• St Enodoc (Cornwall) #35
• Burnham & Berrow (Somerset) #79

Peter McMullen, general manager of Saunton Golf Club, said: “To have three out of the six Atlantic Links courses featured in Golf World’s prestigious new ranking and the other three courses making it into the second 100 is a huge endorsement for us as a golfing destination.

This is especially so as the second 100 has been recognised as of a far higher calibre than in years gone by given the rise of a number of magnificent new courses and the improvement of some of the established ones.”

The Atlantic Links was set up in 2007 when the five clubs joined forces to market themselves as the premier links trail in the south west of England.

Since then they have been competing for golf tourists with traditional links golf destinations Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Located against the backdrop of north Atlantic coastline, all six courses enjoy a temperate micro climate and are some of the most decorated clubs in the UK, in terms of having hosted major amateur championships.

Saunton East is often regarded as the finest links course never to have held The Open Championship.

For UK golfers, the nearby M5 motorway and A39 “Atlantic Highway” makes the area reasonably accessible and there are international airports at Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter and Newquay in Cornwall.

For further information on England’s Atlantic Links, visit www.atlantic-links.co.uk.