Wizard Golf in Arthurian Britain

The Merlin Golf Course is rare gem. A beautiful Cornish heath course and, as the name suggests, set amidst the most evocative and ethereal coastline of Arthurian Britain.

We had the good fortune of staying for half price - apartment prices drop in September - in one of the club's four luxury apartments. It is the sense of a stay in resplendent isolation in the countryside between Newquay (and, literally, ten minutes from Newquay Airport) to the south and the picturesque Padstow Harbour to the north that gets a holiday off to a flyer. The Merlin Golf Centre and Course lies just outside of the lovely tiny harbour of Porth Mawgan.

Looking out of the front window of our beautifully appointed flat we found ourselves overlooking the first tee just twenty feet away. Stepping onto the large private bedroom balcony the eighteenth green was just another twenty feet away. With the western sun sinking into the Atlantic beyond the fairways each evening, we were very much of the view we had found an as yet largely undiscovered golfing and leisure travel gem.

Out of season the use of the course itself is free for people staying in the handful and extremely pleasant apartments. In the summer, the first round is free and all others are half price. If you want to play regularly weekly passes are available. A bar, eating facilities and golf shop are all on site. But what is particularly welcome on this holiday experience is the twin theme element. A leisurely morning round can easily translate into an afternoon jaunt into some of the most beautiful, rugged and historic scenery in King Arthur's Britain - with perhaps another nine or eighteen holes thrown in for good as the sun begins its weary descent into the Atlantic, just over the horizon.

The stunning cliff edge Tintagel Castle, alleged birthplace of the One and Future King is just twenty-five minutes by car. Slaughter Bridge, the distinctly eerie woodland and stream where Arthur, it is claimed, fought his last battle is close by. But the whole coastline here is overshadowed by timeworn richness and beauty.

There is tiny Port Isaac with, reputedly, the highest property prices in the country. Even closer, just a few miles from the Merlin Centre is the elegant Padstow Harbour, famed for the world-renowned fish restaurants of Rick Stein. We ate more than once at Rick Stein's café in the centre of town. Not as plush or as well-known as the restaurant along the harbourside but still with a stunning cuisine and at very affordable prices. Outside Padstow is the marvellous and professional Trevose Golf Course and Country Club, yet another and alternative draw for the golf fanatic. Just a few miles south again, and just up the road from Merlin brings us to the stunningly dramatic Bedruthan Steps, a series of offshore "giant's stepping stones" in the shadow of some of the sheerest and most beautiful cliff faces in England.

So 'thin' is England's Cornish 'foot' at this point that short drives introduced us to the delights of literature-soaked Bodmin Moor, the old harbour at Fowey and the world famous futuristic green theme park at the Eden Project. All are glorious diversions in themselves and just a stone's throw away. Even so, there is still time for a quick few holes after the locals have left late afternoon - before recovering from the days exertions in the 'nineteenth hole'. A glass or two is not a problem either when all you have to do is walk upstairs to your own luxury hideaway.

All in all, the Merlin Golf Course proved an unexpected find and perfect getaway for a couple of enthusiastic "swingers" who also love historic sites and dramatic scenery. So much so that we will be returning for another stay this year - something unusual for us - but this time friends want to come for the Merlin experience too.

If history and beautiful scenery, with a few leisurely rounds of golf in a stunning setting thrown in - or not, non-golfers are welcome too! - a trip to the Merlin Golf and Country Club could well be the wizard hole-in-one holiday find you've been looking for.

For more information and to check availability visit the Merlin Golf and Country Club website.

Back