Head for great Atlantic Links courses

As the trend for ‘Staycations’ maintains its momentum with the recent airline strikes and volcanic ash issues, England’s Atlantic Links offers golfers and their families an ideal destination for a summer holiday at home in 2010.

In addition to a tantalizing trail of premier links courses that comprises Burnham & Berrow in Somerset, Royal North Devon and Saunton in Devon and St Enodoc and Trevose in Cornwall, the South West of England has so much more to offer than Cornish cream, Devon cider and Somerset Cheddar cheese!

Two of the premier links – Royal North Devon and Trevose – are in fact members of 2-FORE!-1 so offer half-price golf provided you’ve got a 2-FORE!-1 voucher of course.

After some glorious golf, visitors can explore the charming coastal towns such as Ilfracombe and Clovelly, bustling market towns such as Wadebridge and Barnstaple in Devon, quaint fishing villages like Port Isaac, Rock and Padstow along the north Cornish coast and historic towns such as Weston-super-Mare, Bristol and Bath in Somerset.

For culture vultures, the region offers a variety of unique attractions such as the inspiring Barbara Hepworth Museum and Tate St Ives displaying the very best in modern and local art, the fascinating Lost Gardens of Heligan and the hugely-popular Eden Project, a global garden set in giant biomes hidden away in a former clay pit.

The South West also boasts a plethora of activities for lovers of the outdoors. With its miles of stunning coastline, there are watersports aplenty including swimming, surfing, water boarding and of course fishing and rock pooling.

Back on dry land, walking, trekking and horse riding in the National Parks of Exmoor and Dartmoor and cliff-top coastal walks are as good as anywhere in the British Isles

“Whilst England’s Atlantic Links boasts some of the finest links golf in the country, we are also lucky enough to be located within a region that offers an enormous variety of activities and attractions off the course,” comments Peter McMullen, general manager of Saunton Golf Club.

The gastronomic delights of the region are not to be missed either, from the exceptional Padstow seafood restaurants of famous local chef Rick Stein, ‘Naked Chef ‘Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant on Watergate Bay and Damien Hirst’s 11 The Quay in Ilfracombe, to real English ale and authentic pub grub in an abundance of traditional country pubs.

Moreover these premier golf courses are located within the temperate micro climate of the south west which is now easily accessible via motorways, trains and the regional airports of Bristol, Exeter and Newquay.

In recent years the overall standard of accommodation in the South West has risen dramatically and there are now a host of character hotels like the Woodlands Country House Hotel, beautifully restored stately homes such as the Bath Spa Hotel, modern seaside hotels such as Saunton Sands, comfortable country club villas at Trevose and friendly bed-and-breakfasts.

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