St Enodoc Golf Club – Church Course

Information

Course Name: Church Course

Location: Rock, Wadebridge, Cornwall, PL27 6LD, United Kingdom

Date Played: May 2023

Course Type: Links

Introduction

You certainly can’t argue with the views you get from the Church Course at St Enodoc Golf Club. Stunning views over the Camel Estuary. A well-respected James Braid design that sits at 74 in the Top 100 Golf Courses in the world!

Former poet Laureate, Sir John Betjemen is buried in the Churchyard at the far end of the golf course near the 10th green.

Golf had been played in the area around St Enodoc church as early as 1888 with the golf club being formed in 1890. In 1907, the services of James Braid were employed to design 18 holes which were modified in 1922 and again slightly in 1937 when a new access road and clubhouse were built. There are a few holes that feel a little more parkland than links but that doesn’t detract from the overall experience for the golfer.

The Layout

The course wanders over the quirky undulating links terrain even managing to encircle St Enodoc’s church and graveyard. Certainly not long by modern standards even off the back tees it’s only 6557 yards. As with any taste of links golf the wind will play a vital part in the difficulty of your round. On my visit the relatively short par 5 opening hole was straight into what the locals would probably consider a modest breeze but I thought it was worth at least a couple of clubs!

You get a taste of the seaside from many of the fairways and it’s easy to see why this course sits in many top 100 courses lists.

The 3rd is a downhill par 4 that seems simple enough until you realize there is an old stone wall and road that could catch you out.

One of the most individual and memorable features is the gigantic Himalaya bunker on the sixth hole. I managed to put my approach into it! I found it was quite a climb to reach the top of the bunker to extricate my ball!

Try to hug the left side of this fairway if you can unless you can hit the ball high and far!

The 10th hole is a tough long par 4 with trouble right and left from the elevated tee all the way to the green and a public footpath that you need to be aware of unless you like getting sued!

The par 5 16th was another favorite of mine hugging the coastline with Padstow across the River Camel estuary.

If you like playing from fine links turf through the dunes then this course does not disappoint.

Condition

On the whole, I thought the course was in very good condition particularly as it had been reasonably wet in the few weeks prior to my visit. That is the beauty of playing on sandy links soil.

Greens

I was surprised at the speed of the greens still relatively early in the season. They were too hot to handle for me on some occasions but putted true and required well-struck iron shots to hold the surface.

Bunkers

Aside from the Himalaya bunker, they were well maintained with a decent depth of sand. Fortunately as a member at a links course I’ve had plenty of practice getting out of pot bunkers!

Fairways

Like any quality links course the fairways are firm and tightly mown so will test your ball-striking to the limit.

Tees

The teeing areas were all nicely presented and in good condition.

Challenge

The course offers numerous challenges and that’s assuming the wind isn’t blowing! The course probably has more elevation changes than most links courses with a number of shots needing to be played uphill. For those of you not too keen on blind shots these are few and far between at St. Enodoc.

Off The Course

The clubhouse is a pleasant building with a couple of outside areas for you to refresh yourself after battling one of England’s most outstanding courses.

St Enodoc – Church Course: Summary

The Green Fees are a bit expensive at £135 for a weekday round but that is typically what you pay for links courses in this category. Open Championship venues are £200-£300+ nowadays.

Tee times can be booked through their website. Hopefully, this Church Course review has whetted your appetite sufficiently for you to put it on your itinerary.

The club also has a shorter course called the Holywell.

Check out my other Cornish golf courses reviews.

Related:

Check out the St Enodoc Golf Club Webcam.

To find out more about golf in Cornwall visit the Cornish County Golf Union website.