Welcome – Our New Forest get-away weekend took us to Bramshaw the following day. They have two 18 hole courses. The Manor Course is the fancier one by the clubhouse which does allow dogs, but only during quiet times. The Forest Course is just down the road a few hundred meters (you have to drive their after you pick-up your bag-tag at the clubhouse). Being in the thick of the New Forest common land, dogs (golfing or not golfing) run freely all over the place. The New Forest course set in the untethered wilds of the New Forest with wandering ponies and other assorted creatures where the dogs fit right in. Many dog walkers traverse the grounds and we came across a group of ramblers on the 5^th hole with a half dozen dogs in tow

Wildlife – We came across a handful of legendary ponies during our round, but much fewer than the New Forest course itself. And no cows or other livestick.

Walk – Bramshaw’s New Forest course is a bit more topologically eccentric than the simple grasslands of New Forest golf club. In fact, we ended up nicknaming it “Ferngully” after the classic children’s animated film because the course was littered with ferns and gullies. In fact, half the holes seemed to be hidden away in some Hobbiton-esque crevasse nestled in some hidden corner against the forest itself. And if your ball didn’t get magically made invisible in some secluded corner of a Bag End facsimile, then it might just have rolled into one of the myriad fern croppings littering the “fairways”.

Water – A the bottom of all of the gullies, were little rivulets with some water which often seemed fine enough for Grace to take a sip from, but they weren’t flowing that much this late into the dry season of the summer.

Wind Down – We proceeded to The White Hart at Cadnam for a lovely Sunday roast. With Grace quite puckish herself, we asked the server if the kitchen had any scraps from the roast prep (eg. gristle, fat) that we could treat her to. A few minutes later they generously brought out a little bowl of cut up roast beef pieces that looked good enough for a human to enjoy (though Grace gobbled them down before we got any ideas).

Welcome – I don’t know if there is a more dog-friendly course around, but I’m sure you’d struggle to find a more animal-friendly course anywhere than New Forest. Four-legged creatures freely grazing far outnumber the mere iron-toting bipeds. The myriad of dog-walkers crisscrossing the area were the least of the animal kingdom represented. The video above provides a bit of a flavour of the farmyard experience – horses on the green (though pretty much always on the fringes as the green itself simply doesn’t have long enough grass to nibble). All of the herd seems pretty non-plussed by the golfers passing by.

Wildlife – The whole eponymous New Forest area is defined by its distinctive pastoral “wildlife”:

• “The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featuring in the Domesday Book. Pre-existing rights of common pasture are still recognised today, being enforced by official verderers.Commoners’ cattle, ponies and donkeys roam throughout the open heath and much of the woodland, and it is largely their grazing that maintains the open character of the Forest. They are also frequently seen in the Forest villages, where home and shop owners must take care to keep them out of gardens and shops. The New Forest pony is one of the indigenous horse breeds of the British Isles, and is one of the New Forest’s most famous attractions – most of the Forest ponies are of this breed, but there are also some Shetlands and their crossbreeds.” – Wikipedia

Walk – On the courses, New “Forest” is a bit of a misnomer given how few trees there on the course itself. New “Prairie” is a bit more like apropos with its general flat topology and especially with the herds of wild horses, cattle and deer roaming all day. While the fairways are mostly wide open, there are plenty of trees on the fringes to provide shade at most of tees and greens.

Water – No really natural sources on the course and no return to clubhouse.  The course map shows a small stream in the middle of the course (touching holes 9, 1, 15, 16, and 17) as well as a water hazard between 11 and 12, but they were all pretty desiccated.  So fill your canteens before setting out.

Wind Down – One of our catalysts to coming down to the south coast was to visit some dear friends we have not seen for some time. As a result, our wind down was a BBQ in their sumptuously manicured garden. The course itself was open and serving beers and other refreshments which would have otherwise tempted us had we not been anxious to join our friends.

Welcome – Extending the serendipity of meeting Percy and Winnie at Shrivenham Park earlier this week, one of the courses they had played was Marlborough which just happened to be the next on our itinerary. And lo and behold, after many rounds of not meeting any fellow dog golfers, we came upon another regular on the fairways, Holly (see above). Meeting her was simply the icing on the cake of a very warm welcome to Grace by the various members we met (the course was quite crowded in ongoing the post-lockdown golf craze) and plenty of other dogs being walked on the periphery (the course sits on common land abutting the Marlborough Common itself).

Walk – One of the most picturesque courses we have seen (hence I was a bit more snap happy than usual). It starts with a lovely clubhouse garden (see photo directly below). Mind you the rather confusing COVID signs to the pro shop started out round with a rather extensive hike before we had even started out on the course. The course itself felt like a traversing the North Sea. The front 9 is quite stormy with towering rollers and being tossed side to side with fairways set at various angles. The metaphorical sea calms down in the back nine with more gentle undulations on a generally flat expanse. The entire course is set on top of an elevated plateau which provides dramatic views of the Wiltshire countryside in every direction.

Water – Not much water on the course itself (no water hazards), but not only does the 9^th come back around to the clubhouse, but the 13^th and 16^th come back fairly close to the clubhouse if you desperately needed a refill or drink.

Wildlife – Murder! For some reason, all green areas around the clubhouse were attracting a more murder than Jack the Ripper with crows everywhere.

Wind Down – Just down the road, we found The Bell at West Overton who we not only very doggie friendly with water bowls on offer, but also had a pretty good system for the managing the coronavirus safety. They had the obligatory PPE, screens and one-way system, but they also added a capability that you would send your order to them on WhatsApp. Not only did it reduce server circulation in the establishment, but it also facilitated a logging for them of your contact details for the purposes of tracing and tracking. The food was delicious gastro-fare (I especially enjoyed the Venison Wellington).

Welcome – Playing Shrivenham Park is like dating a skateboarder…a bit of rough with a relaxed demeanor and more dangerous than meets the eye. Grace was thrilled at the abundant rough (as well as at Dad not having his best day off the tee on the front 9) which meant plenty of treats for finding the ball in the tall grass. The easy-going vibe was great for Grace as we are often apprehensive as to how receptive fellow golfers will be to our canine caddy regardless of the club policy. But the course was exceptionally dog-friendly.

Dog walkers traversed the parkland course throughout the round with plenty of new butts to sniff passing by. In an extraordinary bit of serendipity, we happened upon Winnie and Percy (see photo above) as well as their golfing human, Adam Ruck. As it happens, Adam is the author of the seminal dog golfing article “Courses That Welcome Dogs” in the Telegraph. This piece was one of the first I came upon when I was researching the subject to create the website. Today if you Google “dog golf”, is article is the 6^th highest item to appear.

Walk – Shrivenham Park winds around like that drunken skater boy with paths crossing over fairways and holes even crossing over other holes. It’s a bit of a meandering pretzel layout, but at least it has very clear signs pointing you to the next tee. One lovely aspect of the grounds is the sheer diversity of types of tree. It was like a showcase of British arboreal diversity.

Water – Like the paths on the course, streams of water also weave their way through the grounds with several being quite fresh (and satisfying for Grace to rehydrate from).

Wildlife – Mostly a range of squirrels keeping a watchful eye on all the dogs walking by.

Wind Down – We were able to resume regular wind-down service at a nearby doggie pie, the Carpenters Arms, who not only had quite comprehensive COVID protocols for patrons, but also had a different entrance for dog-toting patrons (see photo below). The dog-friendliness of the pub hits you even before entering with prominent signs welcoming doggie drinking buddies. And the signs of welcome just continued inside with a special doggie treats menu (see below) which Grace appreciated hugely. The human menu had a fairly typical pub range of offerings, but also had several pizzas on offer which we extremely tasty (and Grace loves the “pizza bones”, aka crust).

Welcome – Mill Green not only provided a warm welcome to Grace, but also was simply one of the most overall welcoming courses that we have played. Despite the quite crowded course (post-lockdown desperation for open spaces is still in full swing), everyone was in good spirits and exchanging friendly greetings with lots of gushing over Grace and her green-side decorum. The course is built on parkland with nearby dog walking trails so dog walkers are a common sight.

Walk – Another course set in the level land of the Home Countries making for a very walkable round.

Water – There was so much water and sand everywhere that it felt like a day at the seaside. The COVD19 bunker rules made the profusion of traps more manageable, but 7 water hazards (some near lake-sized) put the pressure on fairway play. A couple shots went in the drink and we could see them just beyond club length reach. Grace could see them to and wanted to fetch them for us, but couldn’t figure out how to open her mouth underwater. Grace loved the water hazards as most had low banks making for an easy sip and even the occasion feet cooling.

Wildlife – There might not have been seven swans a swimming in their seven ponds, but there were every other species of water fowl enjoying the aquatic oases.

Wind Down – The doggie pubs are back! With the July 4ht openings we now could resume our regular wind-down service with a stop at a nearby dog-friendly pub. And the nearest to Mill Green (according to doggiepubs.org) was Attimore Hall. They were up and doing business which involved advance booking and a range of sterilization and social distancing protocols once there. Once advantage to the distancing was that the tables were spaced out more than we typically find which provide plenty of room to lay out Grace’s dog blanket on the floor to rest on while we dined. The food was nothing to rave about nor complain about. Pretty standard pub-chain fare produced competently. We certainly weren’t complaining as it was our first pulled pint in nearly four months (see photo at bottom)!

Welcome – Throughout our round at Surrey National we encountered dog-walkers on the bridleways and rambling paths which crisscross the course, and every member we came upon was quite enchanted by Gracie-girl.

Walk – While much of Surrey is low-lying downs, Surrey National is in the western Surrey Hills. Located in Caterham, the first clue was in the town sign welcoming us to “Caterham on the Hill”. At times, the fairways seemed like something out of the film “Inception”. On one hand the they were exceptionally forgiving being some of the widest fairways we have played (much to Grace’s disappointment as we didn’t hit a single drive into the rough all day). On the other hand, if you didn’t drive with some degree of precision, you would find yourself rolling to all sorts of inconvenient lies. The verticality does make the course exceptionally photogenic with dramatic vistas at every bend (we gave Grace treats for posing for the extra photos we were taking since she was missing out on ball-finding rewards).

Water – Two sizeable water hazards were reasonably accessible and fresh, and the course swings back around to the clubhouse for water if needed.

Wildlife – Despite the two ponds, we didn’t come across any water fowl, but curiously we encountered pheasants on the course several times. Our house is crawling with the game birds (and English partridge) so Grace was completely non-plussed.

Wind Down – Another week before pubs open properly, but the bar at the Surrey National clubhouse was selling bottled drinks and snacks. We joined quite a few golfers grabbing a drink and sitting on the large knoll overlooking the 18^th green for a bit of a wind-down at the end (see photos at top and bottom).

[UPDATE:  Unfortunately, a reader reports that Surrey National is no longer dog friendly – see comment below].

Welcome – With the sunny weather and coronavirus furloughs packing the courses, we chatted for a bit with a foursome of some very friendly members who were most enchanted by Grace. They were particular admiring of her ball sniffing abilities to find stray shots. So I maintain that my subsequent drive into the rough off the tee was simply to show off Grace’s party trick.

Walk – With our midday tee time on the hottest day of the year so far, the broad, open fairways were less appealing than they otherwise would have been. A few more trees (aka “slice magnets”) would have actually been more welcome for some much needed shade.

Water – The course features two sizeable water hazards – on the 7^th and 11^th – which are fairly accessible and seem fresh enough that Grace was able to wade in, cool her legs, and get a few sips. The 8^th hole returns to the club house so you can refill your water supply there.

Wildlife – The two lakes are obviously inviting homes to waterfowl and the first one was graced with a lovely family of ducks with seven ducklings trailing along behind mommy. And the other lake had a sizeable flock of Canadian geese. Both sets of birds made their way to the middle of the lake whenever ever a golfer strolled by so they never really were much of a distraction for Grace.

Wind Down – Coronavirus continues to limit the options for post-round wind-downs. I looked again on the Doggie Pubs site for pubs that be at least be offering take-away but after going down the list of the ten closest establishments – none of them open at all – I gave up.

Welcome – Greys Green public course’s welcome was a warm as the heat wave hitting the country especially with our late afternoon tee time. Many signs at the reception make clear that dogs are welcome. We passed a number of dog walkers using the paths which cross through the course, and we even happened upon a fellow dog-golfer with an ever so alert border collie in tow.

Walk – The course does undulate like It Zwibble’s Mount Lumpy Bumpy all way onto the greens which have more curves than a Ruben’s pinup. But other than the roly-poly terrain, it is all a relatively flat walk. Except for the 16^th hole which plummets from the tee and then climbs steeply to the green after the most severely angled dog-leg I have ever seen (putting the dog-leg into dog-golf). At 6000+ metres, the course provides a plenty long walk, but that measurement understates the true length of perambulation. Many of the holes have a 100+ yard walk from pin to tee. The walk from reception to the 1^st tee is longer than many par 4s. Fortunately, with the sunny day, all these traipsing transfers are nearly all shaded in a lovely canopy of trees. Another bonus to the walk was the exceedingly well marked signs to the next hole at every green. Being habitual visitors to new courses, our walks are often inadvertently extended by getting misdirected along the course so we were particularly appreciative of this feature.

Water – A number of artificial rain-water catcher ponds were pretty much dried up, but the 9^th hole does return to the reception where you can buy bottled water.

Wildlife – Given the rough-and-ready aesthetic of the course, it was no surprise to come upon all manner of wildlife including rabbits and even a herd of cattle in an adjacent field. But the biggest surprise (perhaps of all out outings) was the fly-by of a micro-light down the 18^th hole fairway (see photo at bottom).

Wind Down – Coronavirus is still keeping the pubs shut and a scan of dog-friendly pubs did not uncover any in the area offering even take-away in the lock-down. However, the day of our game the government did make the announcement about pubs opening on 4^th July so soon we will be able to resume our post-dog-golfing wind downs.

Welcome – The Abbey Hill golf course is part of an elaborate complex which Includes:

• 18 Hole course
• Par-3 course
• Foot golf course
• “Pirate Adventure” “crazy golf course (or “miniature golf” as the USA northerners call it, or “putt-putt golf as the USA southerners call it).

So, the place has a very relaxed vibe where a canine in tow did not seem out of place at all. In fact, we did happen upon a couple of dog walkers strolling on the paths flanking the course.

Walk – Again, in the upper reaches of Buckinghamshire levels out so the entire course is laid on largely flat terrain.

Wildlife – Only a few random birds and squirrels.

Water – With a deluge of rain the week before, a number of bunkers had become their own beachy water hazards on the day. The course features a few proper water hazards in back nine, but even with the recent rainfall, they were mostly stagnant and wouldn’t have been much refreshment for Grace. Fortunately, the 10^th hole returns to the main building where you can refill your water bottle.

Wind Down – We found a pub nearby offering take-away, but we couldn’t finish our round before they closed the kitchen for the day (at 5:30 pm…go figure). During non-COVID times, the main Abbey Hill Golf Centre features a Café Bar & Grill with a specious outdoor terrace that would seem to suit nicely.