The most rugged of Dartmoor’s countryside intertwined with rivers and streams, and a breathtaking manor house as a home, there are few places to rival Bovey Castle in Devon as a stay and play golf destination. Words: Alex Mead

Of all the obstacles you least want when you play golf, a meandering brook that seems to weave in and around where you want to hit the ball is perhaps the worst. It was undoubtedly the intention of the famed course architect JF Abercomby to completely unsettle every golfer attempting to beat his design when he created Bovey Castle’s 18 holes back in the 1920s. Although with two rivers, Bovey and Bowden, having a good crack at tripping up golfers on the par four, 280-yard 7th – the undisputed signature hole of this beautiful woodland course – it’s not as if you get an easy ride elsewhere. The front nine, played beneath Bovey Castle itself, all provide ample opportunities for erstwhile shots to find some water.

You do admittedly have the benefit of being surrounded by some of Dartmoor National Park’s finest rugged landscape however. Every hole – even those with a moat for protection – provides the peaceful release delivered by a picture-perfect view. It’s only when you realise that through those deeply wooded, blind corners, tight green alleys and rock-topped hills and valleys you have to somehow play a round of golf, that your mood can take a turn. It’s quickly forgotten though, as this course, which was re-engineered by Donald Steel and Tom Mackenzie in recent times, is rightly considered one of the UK’s most beautiful.

And with the back nine opening up and drying out considerably compared to your opening half, you do at least finally feel there’s some hope for your scorecard.
Right from the first tee you’re given a sense of what to expect. Firstly, before you tee-off there’s the compulsory photoshoot; the landscape sloping down to the bottom of the river valley, some of Dartmoor’s finest woodland and a gurgling stream are perfect fodder for making your golfing buddies envious. It’s stunning. Save time looking for a ball that’s probably in the water by taking a few extra snaps instead.

The narrow tree- and river-lined runway that eventually takes you to the water-surrounded 3rd green might seem like a pathway to bogey, but like so many holes, when you do get the ball upon the green, it’s then that the course delivers. Step back and you find Bovey Castle itself looking down on you. If not a signature hole for the golf, it certainly is for the picture: a pristine green with the finest example of Elizabethan-style architecture as a backdrop.

Even without the pesky bunkers that the architects deemed fit to slot in to infuriate you, Dartmoor National Park has other tricks its sleeve. When it’s winding, watery-tentacles can’t reach a hole, it’s trees defiantly plant themselves right in the way, as obstructive as can be, relying on you to be forgiving because well, the place is just too darn pretty to stay angry at for long.

As you follow the slanting, rising, falling, route of the par 4, 432-yard, 18th, at least you know that while you may not be too eager to share your scores for the day, you will want to share every one of the hundreds of photographs you took. And you’ll want to start all over again, if just to cast your eyes down at the enticing yet dangerous first hole.

Bovey Castle

Bovey Castle
Bovey Castle is hugely popular with Americans, not least because anything with the word ‘castle’ in always entices those who live Stateside. But it’s also because the hotel – part of the Eden Collection – offers a true green-wellied English countryside experience, and one that includes the family too.

While it has the first-class spa offering and swimming pool you’d expect of hotels of a certain class, perhaps the real differentiator comes during the summer months. It’s then that there’s a whole programme of child-friendly activities, from falconry, ferret and chicken displays (this is Devon), to archery, survival skills and even an introduction to shooting. So if you have plans to become landed gentry, this is the place to do the basic foundation course, you can even try one of the fleet of Land Rover 4x4s to sure you can tackle the local terrain Other activities on offer include courses in making sloe gin or cider, although it’s probably best not to give this a go before testing out the Land Rovers.

Naturally, Bovey Castle itself is a major attraction of the 275-acre estate. It’s not so much a castle, more a manor house and was built at the turn of the century. It’s as breathtakingly neo-Elizabethan on the inside as it is on the outside: all oak panels, giant fireplaces, curling staircases and plush sofas, ideal for a quintessentially English afternoon tea. Whether taken inside or on the terrace overlooking the course and parkland, be sure to have it the proper Devon way, with the cream spread before the jam, otherwise you may find yourself banished. The other way round is distinctly Cornish and frowned upon in these parts.

In the evening, or indeed the afternoon (we won’t judge), sitting around one of the roaring fires is the best place to try one of the fine single malts or Armagnacs from the bar. Then make sure to dine at either the more relaxed Smith’s Brasserie or the fine Great Western, named after the railway that opened back in the 1930s. In the brasserie you’ll find well-made comfort food such as the Dartmoor beef burger with triple-cooked chips, fish caught from the nearby port of Brixham, slow-cooked rump of Devon lamb or braised pork belly and crackling with mustard mash. As you can tell, provenance is key, but with the best of Devon’s turf and surf pretty much on your doorstep, you’d expect nothing less.

In the Great Western it’s just as local, but dishes are more delicately executed. Seared hand-dived scallops with oyster emulsion and roast squab pigeon with gooseberry and radish for starters or for mains, roast fillet of john dory or a teriyaki-glazed ox cheek with smoked bone marrow and barbecue rump of beef. It’s still hearty and indulgent but is, in fact, much lighter than it sounds. Go for the peanut butter parfait and opt for cheese too — it might be seem excessive, but after the trials and tribulations of trying to tame that Dartmoor golf course, you’ll have more than earned it. Green fees from £49.

Three to try in Devon

Thurlestone Golf Club, Kingsbridge
Designed by world famous designer Harry Colt, Thurlestone takes you along the coastal, cliff-top terrain on a rocky outcrop designed as a warning to golfers to keep things on the straight and narrow. This par 71, 6,200-yard course is not the longest but it’s challenging nonetheless. Greens from £50.

Teignmouth Golf Club, Teignmouth
It’s not every day you can play a course designed by the man behind Augusta, Cypress Point Club and Royal Melbourne, yet Teignmouth Golf Club can offer just that. Designed by Dr Alister Mackenzie, this spectactular moorland link courses features his trademark undulating greens and has plenty of challenges over its 6,000 yards, par 69. Green fees from £30.

Woodbury Park Hotel & Golf Club, Woodbury
Set amid 500 acres of parkland, Woodbury near Exeter is home to two golf courses, a championship Oaks par 73 course over 7,314 yards, and a nine-hold Acorns course. Plenty of challenges for every level of golfer with rolling fairways and water aplenty. Green fees from £45.