Happy National Caddie Day! And a special call out to the new breed of canine caddies who can find balls in the rough and even cart bags (see above), but most of all just provide the most encouraging, positive, non-judgmental course partner that you could ever ask for.
While researching a place to play during our Easter excursion, I stumbled upon this course, Tirrenia, which is one of the most dog-friendly I have ever come across in the world:
We have made a tradition of visiting Italy from the UK during the Easter weekend (which in Europe provides 2 extra public holidays – Good Friday and Easter Monday). Just enough time for the 2-3 hour flight to warm climes of Italy at the end of the British winter. Another bonus is that Italy has a fair number of golf courses and nearly every one we have come across is dog-friendly. This year’s expedition was to a longstanding destination on the lista dei desideria – Cinque Terre. Since many places are closed on the Easter holiday itself, we often play a round of golf to celebrate day and burn off our chocolate.
We found Alisei about an hour’s drive down the road. The course is a modest a “6 hole” in a fairly unassuming neighborhood, but it nonetheless exceeded our expectations. A friendly welcome included a well-provisioned little clubhouse with the cheeriest hello coming from their canine mascot, Theo (see photo) who frequents the course regularly.
Walk – As mentioned, the course is only 6 holes, but even if you play them 3 times over for the full 18 hole round, it is all completely flat and the holes are short (mostly under 100m except for a par 4 hole number 1 at 220 yards).
Water – There are two easily accessible water hazards by Hole 1 and by Hole 2, but you are never very far from the clubhouse where a water dish is always waiting with fresh water.
Wildlife – The area is in a fairly built-up area of the seaside and so we didn’t encounter any wildlife or even any meandering seagulls.
Winddown – The course had a small café and outdoor eating area, but we felt like some seaside seafood so we drove the short distance to the shore and ate at Restaurante Europa. Not only was the fritto misto di mare possibly the best fried seafood platter we have had (especially the very tender calamari with very light battering), but it was also dog-friendly evidenced by a number of canine companions in the tables beside us.
Congratulations to 2024 Golfing Dog Hall of Fame – Bertie. Bertie has been a prolific golfing dog with generous contributions to DogGolf.info this past year (Bamburgh Castle, Dunstanburgh Castle, Seahouses, Whalsay).
Bertie is a male Tibetan Terrier and he is now 5 and been playing golf for about 4 years. In fact, he is the reason why we started playing golf. On holiday he ran off the beach onto a course and picked up a ball on the fairway and ran off with it. The 4 men playing fell apart laughing while me, a non-golfer with no knowledge of the game, was mortified. Offered to buy new balls etc but the balls owner just said his only disappointment was that Bertie had not dropped the ball nearer the hole
They explained dogs were allowed and we inherited some second-hand clubs after covid so started swinging away with Bertie. The DogGolf.info website was invaluable as we were told most courses would not accept dogs. Most course in Lancashire don’t, although i have caught a very high-ranking member of my club out on the course one late evening with his dog! We are working on it!
Bertie hits a hat-trick with a trio of course reviews for us this month…
Out of the courses we have played on the Northumbria coast Bamburgh Castle has the most impressive clubhouse by quite some distance, however dogs are not allowed.
It is also the expensive at £70 each. The Northumbria way goes through the course so it would be difficult to ban dogs from the course. It’s a very good course with excellent greens and has the real feel of a well established serious links course.
There are stunning views of Bamburgh castle as you would expect as well as lovely beaches on the other side of the course. On a clear day you can see Lindisfarne or Holy Island. This is an undulating course so there are a lot of shots from difficult lies on sloping fairways. One hole is a tricky blind shot onto a green you cannot see which for a first-time visitor was quite an experience. We lost one but found one (It was mine we couldn’t find!).
Bamburgh Castle a beautiful course that is really challenging and having Bertie with us was not a problem.
This is the top end of our golfing experience and we would not have a bad word said about it but its not a personal favourite just because there are other courses so similar for much less money. However, I do agree with the clubs policy of having a very reasonable annual memberships fee (half of what I pay in Lancashire) and charging the tourist as much as possible.
Bertie takes us “home” today for a look at her family course, Dunstanburgh…
This is not a fair review, this is unashamedly the Brown family’s favourite golf course.
Dunstanburgh is a links course that after the the first takes you up a stiff climb to the second. You then play another five holes including an incredibly tricky par 3 onto an elevated green to a drive off the cliff and back to the beach side course. This gives you a stunning view of the course, the beach and the ruined castle on top of a volcanic rock cliff. The castle is so remote those wishing to visit it have to walk over a mile along the Northumbria Way to get to it.
There is a signature par 3 over a ravine onto an isolated green only accessible via a path directly under the castle. Before we played golf i remember being on the castle walls watching golfers play this hole.
The value for money here is exceptional, for £130 we got 2 rounds of golf, 3 bacon sandwiches and a brew and a hot lunch afterwards of pizza or burgers and chips, plus a buggy. Dunstanburgh is often listed in golf magazine articles about undiscovered golf courses and recently a number of high-profile golf influencers have done videos about the course. In our opinion if you can only play one course on the Northumbria coast make this one, and a couple we met on the course were playing it for the second time that week.
We have played it at least three times and i was surprised when i realised i had not reviewed it previously.
Now we are lucky in that we have a non-golfer with us and Katie and Bertie disappeared off the course for run on the beach.
The clubhouse is reasonably-sized and Bertie is not allowed in but there are numerous tables and a large veranda outside. This is also a stopping point for ramblers so its a very busy clubhouse offering lots of choices from the catering department.
Dunstanburgh is so good they have a waiting list for members, not many golf courses and say that these days!
On our way out of the car park just teeing it up was a golfer and his sheepdog.
Keep swinging dog golfers and put this on your bucket list but just don’t tell anyone else about it!!!!
Dog Golf’s most active rover correspondent, Bertie, has been hitting the fairways again sharing her experiences for us all…
We spend a week in Northumbria every year now and Seahouses is the last 18 hole course we have played on this stretch of the coast from Alnmouth to Bamburgh (Reviews for Bamburg and Dunstanburgh Castle to follow).
The course is partly links and parkland and was founded in 1913 and they have a couple of signature par 3 holes which include shots over water.
Dogs are very welcome and the website has a lovely logo describing the club as dog friendly, dogs are aloowed in the clubhouse but not the restaurant. There several footpaths crossing the course to the beach so there is a lot of dog walkers crossing the course and we were not the only golfers with a dog.
Its a good course and they have a dynamic pricing system starting at £35 for peak tee times to £20 for late afternoon. They were advertising winter membership of £140, an absolute bargain!!
Everyone was really friendly and we met members out on the course who were not phased at Berties presence. Bertie has got his golf legs now, he wants to be out an about for the first 4 or 5 holes then he jumps in the buggy and occassionly jogs alongside the buggy, but mostly sits on your knee!!
There are great views overlooking the sandy beach and there were kestrals patrolling the rough.
If you play golf, have a dog and want to do both together Seahouses is the perfect starter course for you.
Another instalment from our northernmost “Rover” correspondent, Poppy…
Being visitors staying locally at the community-owned campsite, Poppy and her people (Fiona & David) got a generous discount to play this quirky scenic 18-hole Kirkcudbright course – £30 not £40. It began as 9 holes in 1893 and was extended seamlessly by the members themselves in the 1970s. There’s no PGA shop, but the chaps in the office were welcoming, and it cost nothing for David to borrow a trolley “because it’s old”. The entrance board reminded people that there is no ‘right to roam’ under Scottish legislation, so dog walkers can’t go onto the course, but doggolfers can.
Fiona, being too poor a golfer for this hilly course, was on dog lead duty, with the long lead around her waist. This was helpful going up the fairway – think “paw-a-kaddy” – but alarming going down banks at cocker spaniel speed. It’s a very varied course as it zig zags around undulating terrain planted with trees, up to the top plateau surrounded by rough grazing. Poppy’s people stopped regularly to get their breath back and enjoy the fabulous views down to the handsome town, the sailing boats on the Dee Estuary and the beautiful old graveyard. Meanwhile, Poppy was happy to roll in the long dew-damp grass beside the fairways, or lie in the shade of a tree; if there were ticks, the collar kept them at bay. She also went foraging into the thick rough between fairways – checking out the tunnels into the gorse and whins, and snorting down vole holes.
Surprisingly, there were no litter bins on the course (gulls will raid them), but thankfully no poo bags were needed. The water bottle and dish were essential though – there are several ponds cupped in the upper hollows, but signs warn of ‘sinking mud’ and rightly there is ‘absolutely no entry’, even for a hot dog on a sunny day. The few bunkers were very strategically placed, and were criss-crossed with interesting paw and claw prints – a fox tracking a bird, maybe? – and deer hoof prints; there are red squirrels in the local woods too. There’s a bench at the top of the course, a suitable stop to appreciate the panoramic views, with a biscuit snack for all. The course was a tough test for older human knees and ankles, Poppy being a youngster of not-yet 3 still had a spring in her step on the way back to the Motorhome – all three enjoyed this hidden gem of a course.
There’s a bar and evening catering at the course’s Thai Kitchen (does takeaways too), with a wide variety of places to eat in Kirkcudbright, from fish and chips to Cream O’Galloway ice cream by the harbour to the top-class Selkirk Arms – but check if dogs are allowed indoors. This is “the Artists Town” and all the art galleries allow dogs inside, except the main Town Hall Galleries; dogs are also allowed into the pretty gardens of Broughton House (National Trust for Scotland), former home of the artist EA Hornell.
Poppy has already been mentioned in a couple of course overviews for us, but this is her first post from her first golfing outing. And despite a few learnings from her maiden outing, she was a very good girl…
This was to be Poppy’s introduction to dog golf since she was rehomed on her 1st birthday, in late 2022. Her people, David & Fiona, asked an incoming dog’s golfer for any tips – “take water, there’s none on the course”. So a bottle and bowl went into the bag, and Poppy drank it all on a hot sunny day. Other players were friendly and welcoming to her. It’s a pleasant parkland course, payment of £20 for 9 holes by honesty box. But as the golfers stood at the tee, looking up to the flag (a common Scottish golf course theme is to start uphill if possible), they thought this might be her first and last foray onto the fairways, such was her abject howling from the bench that she was temporarily tied to. However, she’s a wee daftie but not daft, and quickly settled to a routine of sitting or lying quietly in the shade of David’s golf bag while he played his shot.
It was a surprisingly challenging course, with 9 holes draped around and over that steep hill and a variety of terrain. Poppy tugged above her weight, so she was a serious liability for David carrying his bag while also attached to a cocker spaniel who wanted to run. Trouble came at a small woodland where he lost his ball: tied to the bag, Poppy followed him in to look for it, pulling the bag over and dragging most of the clubs out behind her and into the undergrowth. There were few bunkers to keep out of, and no wildlife to see or sniff, but the town made an attractive backdrop for the golfers. All three slept very well in the motorhome that night.
The club has catering and does take-away food, and is active socially. Castle Douglas is known as “the Food Town”, so there are several dozen independent businesses offering locally produced food, drink and speciality confectionary. Threave Gardens are nearby (National Trust for Scotland), and dogs are allowed on a lead – as a gardening school, it’s particularly interesting. You can also see Ospreys, Peregrines, Red Kites and maybe otters at the Threave Castle nature reserve a short drive away, with a boat
Welcome – One of my objectives with the Dog Golf website is to evangelize dog-friendliness in the golf community. I always enjoy discovering new dog-friendly courses, but especially pleased when I find a new one on the scene that has recently welcomed them. Still, having friends who are members of Hennerton, some people there are still probably getting used to it so a bit of extra care and consideration by dog-owners would be good. When we were there, everyone was delighted to see Margo (the Vizsla we look after from time to time).
Walk – The course has lots of ups and downs (come quite steep), but it is quite a short course at only 4200 yards (yellow tees) so the walk is quite manageable.
Water – There is only a water hazard on the 2nd and 18th holes and no water supplies on the course, but the course does come right back to the clubhouse at the 11th close enough to run into to refill your water bottle.
Wildlife – Quite a few squirrels scurrying in and out of the trees surrounding many of the holes.
Wind Down – Hennerton also has a clubhouse restaurant with a full bar and extensive food menu. Dogs can’t come in the clubhouse, but are perfectly welcome at the outdoor patio where you can be entertained by people finishing their rounds on the 18th hole.
