From Historic Links To Unusual Parkland Terrain And A Hilltop Beauty: The English County That's Got It All

This western county doesn’t rank among the most prolifically featured on my 'courses played' spreadsheet with a mere six, despite my venturing down there annually while my wife’s work takes her to Butlin’s in Minehead.

This year I resolved to remedy things by taking my clubs and finally revisiting the links at Minehead and West Somerset, next door to Butlin’s, after a 40-year gap, while also adding a couple of newbies to my tally.

Some of them rate among the best golf courses in Somerset, a county where the splendid Championship links at Burnham & Berrow is the only entry in the Golf Monthly UK&I Top 100 course rankings.

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

On a breezy but bright spring day I stopped off at Cricket St Thomas on my journey down to play a hilltop course that boasts nine holes designed by JH Taylor in 1932 and nine more added in the early 1990s.

There have been a few other changes along the way, not least the name, having formerly been called Windwhistle until 2014 when new owners took over.

More recent changes have included the former 90˚ dogleg-right par-5 1st morphing into two holes, with the old 1st green now found on the tempting short par-4 2nd. More changes are afoot with three former holes currently being remodelled ready for their return.

Some holes left me stumped, others offered decent bail-out options and one or two of the views bowled me over, especially from the 1st and 4th greens and the 10th tee. After a couple of early wides (okay... enough is enough with the cricket punathon), I settled down and played quite nicely.

Heading out I really liked the 4th, which eases gently right, although the wind off the left pushing everything towards OOB made it quite testing for a fader.

Coming home, the duo at 10 and 11 stood out, first a short, gettable downhill par 4 with wonderful distant views, then an uphiller past a pine forest, where the tricky approach becomes all the harder if your drive ends up in the large fairway crater, as it is blind from there

Down on the coast

Next day, I made my first non-vehicular arrival at a golf club since I played King James VI in Perth in 2019, where the island course is accessed on foot via the railway bridge from a public car park.

Here, I strolled along the promenade to the pro shop where former tour pro, John Bickerton, now works. Some 18 years ago I played with John and two readers at Hanbury Manor and watched him shoot a casual 63 without batting an eyelid.

I remembered one or two things from 40 years ago , especially the par-3 10th at the very far end and the tough closing 209-yarder by the clubhouse.

I was joined by golf director, Paddy Maclennan, who proved an excellent host on a course that, perhaps helpfully midway through a golf trip, offers virtually nothing in the way of hills.

What it did offer was a testing two- to three-club wind that made most of the outward half difficult, especially the 9th and 10th holes at the far end. You had to take advantage of the two short downwind par 4s on the front nine at the 3rd, with its gently valleyed green, and the 6th, and fortunately I was able to coax a birdie out of the former.

Coming home, the wind was mostly helping and one of the best things about this homeward run is that several tees are set right by the beach, so there are always therapeutic views to savour if the golf game has gone a little south.

The highlight for me coming home was another birdie on 15 – best green complex on the course for me - after a woeful tee shot and spectacular second to 3ft, although Paddy then cheekily hit his approach to 9ins.

It would be only fair to also mention that he made two textbook eagles in six holes (11th and 16th) to give him something to dine out on for weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed my return visit to Minehead and the links was in great condition for early April

A unique golfing landscape

Finally, I enjoyed a game in glorious shirtsleeve weather at Taunton & Pickeridge, an hour from Minehead, which dates back to 1892 and boasts a layout originally created by Herbert Fowler, who was also a founding member.

The middle part of the course here plays through and over land formerly used for lime mining a couple of centuries ago, leaving behind a landscape of unusual hollows and mounds that, on certain holes, may sometimes influence where your ball goes on landing (good and bad) and leave you rapidly try to master or remember how to play from a variety of sloping lies.

The course has a lovely, away-from-it-all feel and despite only being just over 6,100 from the tips presents you with a number of long, testing par 4s such as 4, 7 and 11 and a shock-to-the-system 233-yard par 3 at 14.

That lunar or links-like landscape first comes to the fore on the 4th and 5th, while the 9th fairway could be lifted and placed on Royal St George’s 225 miles away and wouldn’t look remotely out of place there.

On the 11th hole, more of that sunken terrain awaits on the approach if you don’t quite catch it, and two dogleg-left holes stand out on the run for home – first the short par-4 15th, where reasonable hitters who can turn it over may be able to knock it on, and then the memorable 17th, a much longer hole that turns 90˚ around two ponds on the apex.

Long hitters can knock it over these, while the very longest may just drive the green over the trees. My watch told me the direct route was 320 yards against 442 on the card, and there’s even a bell by the green so the big boys know when it’s safe to launch one at 45˚ to the route mere mortals have to take.

Play
Cricket St Thomas
Par 68, 5,246 yards
Green fees: £42wd, £46we (twilight £26-£30)

Minehead and West Somerset
Par 72, 6,215 yards
Green fees: £48wd, £58we (twilight £25-£39)

Taunton and Pickeridge
Par 69, 6,119 yards
Green fees: £50-£70 (twilight £35)

Stay
The Old Ship Aground
Quay St, Minehead, TA24 5UL
W: theoldship aground.com

(Prices correct at time of publication in June 2026)