Thorney Park might just be our favourite dog-friendly golf course since Temple. And Thorney Park bests it by (a) allowing dogs under control (lead not mandatory), and (b) having a very service-oriented clubhouse (especially serving food to hungry golfers).

Welcome – One of the warmest welcomes we have received at golf course ever not just for the dogs. The gentleman in the pro shop asked if we had played there before and because we hadn’t, he gave us a comprehensive course guide (most shops charge for those). Throughout the day, everyone we encountered were enchanted by the dog and Rusty and Grace lapped up the attention. When we stopped at the clubhouse for a drink after the 9^th hole, the manager Jerry came out and had a delightful chat with us.

Wildlife – One of the ponds had a gaggle of Canadian geese swimming in it (including a family of newborn goslings), but well beyond the curious noses of Rusty and Grace at the water’s edge.

Water – Water, water everywhere. There are 7 water hazards on the front 9 touching every one of its holes. Aesthetically picturesque. Providing a drink for the dogs, quite handy. The back 9 is a bit drier with just one long stream paralleling the 11^th, but then also a quite dramatic water feature on the 17^th. There you have drive over the stream (that continues to the 11^th) and avoid going off the back to a big pool with a fountain. Well, it’s not just the ball you want to avoid going in the water. We learned a big lesson about dogs and vinyl lined ponds. Many ponds are lined with vinyl to keep water from leaching away. Grace and Rusty ambled over to the inviting pond for a sip of water and both slid right in on the vinyl surface. Not only that, they couldn’t get out! WARNING: Dogs going into vinyl coated ponds could get trapped. We saw their difficulty immediately and yanked them out from the bank, but they were a little startled by the situation. A bit more water than they bargained for.

Walk – The many water features, punctuated by several footbridges, add to a very attractive scenery for the course. The vistas beyond the course do have a few more urban sights like a crane here and a metal structure there. And a major power line dissects the course crossing a couple holes (which just gave me a new/added excuse for my slice…magnetic field interference). But the most welcome aspect of the landscape were the shade trees. Some courses can be very wooded with lots of shade, but then you are threading a needle on your approach shots. Other courses offer wide open and very wayward shot forgiving fairways, but then you are exposed to the hot sun (or drizzle even). Thorney Park was a perfect balance of open lies with always (and I do mean always) a shade tree next to the hole where the dogs can sit down while you do your chipping and putting.

Wind Down – Our first ever clubhouse wind down for dinner. Many clubhouses serve food, but many, like the pubs on Sunday, close the kitchen relatively early. In the summer months, we like to hit the courses late in the day when there are few golfers (which is easier for golfing with the dogs) and it is a bit cooler. As it happens, when we decided to golf Thorney Park, we turned to our trusty DoggiePubs website and could not find a dog friendly pub with a seating after 8:00 pm. We went through a dozen pubs in the area and all were stopping earlier in the day. May pubs lay it on for a big rush for Sunday carveries and lunches and so finish up relatively early. But Jerry keeps the clubhouse open to dark which can be past 10:00 at night in the summer. He was happy to serve us up a late meal which was as tasty as it was appreciated. He had the butterflied Cajun chicken with chunky chips and a very satisfying side salad. All while enjoying the cooling summer’s evening on the terrace looking over the course.

Welcome – We were greeted by a fellow player’s pooch in the pro shop which set the dog-friendly tone right away.

Walk – The Players Club has full courses – Codrington and Stranahan – and a par 3 course. The former is the longer championship course, while the latter full course is the shorter course and more relaxed so we opted for that one (at 5457 yards).

Wildlife – A few spaniel-sized hares were darting about (we encountered three during our round). The club’s policy is lead preferred or well under control. We normally have ours on leads at the outset of new courses any way until we (and they) get the lay of the land. We eventually let Grace off to walk beside us (our dog golfing star), but unfortunately we had to put Rusty right back on as the hares proved just to intriguing for her to maintain her control.

Water – On the first six holes, 3 have scenic water hazards next to them. If you are a dog, then enjoy the water while you can, because once you finish with the sixth hole, you enter a parched savannah without many trees or much shade. The course is also set quite far away from the clubhouse so you can’t easily pop off the course for a refreshment at the bar or clubhouse spigot.

Wind Down – Our wind down started at the clubhouse after record temperatures during the day in the very open fairways parched all of us. The clubhouse is a spacious affair where dogs were also welcomed (at many dog friendly courses, dogs are not however allowed in the clubhouse). Grace and Rusty enjoyed a bowl of water while Lori and I downed a bitter shandy and a pear cider. It was extremely cosy as we settled into some very comfy armchairs to watch Iran’s “upset” tie with Portugal while the girlies collapsed on the carpet beside us.

For a more nourishing wind down, we turned to the old stand-by, DoggiePubs.org.uk, and found the nearest 5-star option – The Bull in Cippenham, 1.8 miles away. A great recommendation as the girls were welcomed by patrons and hosts alike. The pub is nestled in some wooded area with both a large outdoor patio and an extensive garden off to the side (the dogs are allowed inside as well). The food was delicious. We both had the gourmet burger that the server had recommended and were very impressed. Everyone thinks they can make a gourmet burger these days by simply piling a bunch of esoteric ingredients on top, but this one had a really good flavor. The girls appreciated the dog biscuits kept in a big jar at the bar, but enjoyed a few nibbles of my Pork Belly Bites even more, methinks.

Welcome – The “welcome” at St. Enodoc is a bit mixed. First of all, the dogs are welcome, but only if hosted by a member. St. Enodoc does have a long tradition of dogs and as such has a generally dog-friendly environment (the older and more genteel a club is the more likely it is that they are dog-friendly hailing back to the days when gentlemen tried to shoot birds in the winter and tried to shoot birdies in the summer). Now they have a “lead required” policy which was instilled after they encountered just too much dog fouling. Admittedly, a number of public access paths crisscross the courses and many ramblers do have dogs (which was more the cause of the fouling). When we played, we came across dogs at the outdoor café (dogs are not allowed indoors) where dog bowls of water had been placed. We also came upon another couple on our course playing as well as another couple waiting patiently for their master to finish his session at the driving range. So the course is dog-friendly, but with a number of important caveats.

Wildlife – Plenty of bold seagulls who didn’t seem too phased by the dogs even when we wandered a bit close to them.

Walk – We played the shorter Holywell course which is only 4082 yards. Still, the longest “short” course we have seen. Sort of St. Andrews By The (Irish) Sea with lots of links-like roly-poly moguls . Sort of pinball hazards (“There has got to be a twist”…to the ball’s direction that is.)

Water – There is no water on the course and limited shade so bring plenty along. As mentioned above, the terrace does feature a dog bowl with fresh water.

Wind Down – Our wind down was at the club café itself. We had a bacon butties before setting off and some lovely crab sandwiches for a break halfway through the round.

Welcome – Dogs are “most welcome” at The Point at Polzeath, as the pro shop attendant declared. As it turns out, the owner has two spaniels who “chase him around the course”. We came upon a number of dog walkers on the course during our round. Even the affiliated hotel is dog friendly. And in fact, this is the first golf club website I’ve come across that features a picture of a dog in its main gallery.

Walk – The walk is a gorgeous seaside ramble. The course has wide, forgiving fairways and unforgiving greens set up on table tops (so the slightest inaccuracy leads the ball rolling precipitously off the side). You do have a bit of meandering to avoid the tsunami like bunkers of sand popping up everywhere.

Water – A number of streams run through the course with fresh water….

Wildlife – …However, one of the streams were home to a family of ducks that did not seem pleased by Rusty’s attention (so onto the lead the she went).

Wind Down – Our Polzeath outing provided the opportunity for a different sort of dog-friendly wind-down. We were just a few miles away from the foodie Mecca of Padstow. We had been to Rick Stein’s famous fish restaurant there years ago (and now Padstow is covered in Stein eateries and emporiums), but what we really coveted was a meal at Paul Ainsworth’s #6. Paul Ainsworth is my favourite celebrity chef. I was captivated by with warm and insightful coaching style on Master Chef a while back. Then, he graced Kerridge’s “Pub in the Park” in our home town last year. I thought he would send a few sous chefs to pump out a few token delicacies for the event, but instead he was right there on the front line working on every one of the hundreds of dishes they served that day.

So hitting #6 had been on my culinary bucket list for some time. The problem was what to do with the dogs? Ainsworth at #6 is a lot of things, but it isn’t dog friendly. It turns out that the cottage we were staying at did not allow pets to be left alone. So we went on the hunt for dog sitter at very short notice with a quite unconventional brief (“could you look after our two dogs for a couple of hours?”). Fortunately, we discovered just the most professional, warm, and accommodating dog carer – Susan Sharp (and also poised and understanding in coping with an unprecedented bolt by Miss Rusty).  She is in Wadebridge, right on the way to Padstow . So if you want the ultimate post-round refreshment (or any other dog caring while vacationing in the area), I highly recommend you look up Susan’s service.

Westward ho! First the east coast of England, and now road trip to the west. With the help of the handy Dog Golf Course Map, we plotted a golfing holiday in Cornwall (which with the Home Counties and Scotland is one of the areas with the most dog-friendly courses). But the west country is a bit further from us so we decided to break up the journey with a stop en route at Oak Meadow golf course (formerly “Starcross” under which name the website still exists). It was a perfect pit stop about 2.5 hours into a 4 hour drive. A little break from driving and good warm-up for weekend of dog golfing.

Travel Tip – If you are renting a car for your dog golf holiday, most rental agencies prohibit you carrying pets in them (Rusty and Grace had to travel in an accompanying friend’s car) so you might need to search for a special pet friendly car rental.

Welcome – First the course was a little tricky to locate. The postcode (EX6 8QG) and street address (“9 New Road”) don’t get you there using the sat nav. Go to New Road and then carry on about a half mile and it is on your right. Google Maps calls it an “Unnamed Road”, but for all intents and purposes it is the extension of “New Road”.

When we did arrive, we were enthusiastically welcomed by a dog named “Bobby” who is the unofficial mascot underscoring its dog friendly (or “friendly dog”) credentials.

Walk – One of the shortest courses with holes crossing over each other to squeeze 9 holes into a quite contained plot of land right next to the estuary.

Wildlife – Mostly seagulls squawking around.

Water – Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Being by the estuary, it’s all mostly brackish. So off we go to the “water hole”…

Wind Down – According to Doggie Pubs, there was no real “local”, so we ventured into nearby Exeter center to the 5 star reviewed The Fat Pig. It was 7 miles away but it is close to the motorways you will be re-joining whether you are going further south on the M5 or west on the A30. We had a superb meal (Lori had the pulled pork, I had the chunkiest tomato soup ever, and Rusty and Grace had their Nature’s Menu evening meal). Plenty of fussing over them by the patron and hosts (who brought out a biscuit for each).

Welcome – You arrive at a little non-descript shack on the outskirts (the western outskirts I suspect) of town for the West Park Golf Centre. The attendant was very happy to have Rusty and Grace along with us. West Park is not your typical golf course or club (they do call it a “centre”). It is a classic “pitch and putt”. Almost a bit like crazy golf (“mini-golf” for you northern Americans or “putt-putt” for you southern Americans) with a pitching iron added. Many might dismiss such a small scale operation, but there are many reasons to include West Park on your dog golfing circuit:

1. Relaxed – While the course is a bit untidy in places and is coupled with “foot golf” (which a few folks were playing while we were there), it does mean that there is an extremely relaxed vibe about the facility. This atmosphere can be very welcome especially to newer dog golfers or dog golfers who are particularly sensitive to the possibility of other golfers being put off by have the dogs on the course.

2. Shaded – On particularly bright days, you (and your canine caddy) might prefer a bit of shade in which case West Park has more of it than any course I have played. It is virtually blanketed with a dense canopy of foliage.

3. Challenging – All of the “fairways” are claustrophobically hemmed in on either side by thick rows of full foliage trees. A bonus “dividend” (glass half full) is that it makes these simple, little holes extremely challenging in their own right especially when it comes to any slice or draw (check out Hole 14 in the photo below which is a real needle-threading exercise).

4. Pitch/Chip Practice – When you watch a top pro golf tournament, you quickly realise that there are two ways to get a birdie – a heroic put over 5 feet from the hole, or a pitch/chip that lands within 5 feet of the hole. When the pros drive, they pretty much all drive the same distance and mostly land in the center of the fairway. In recent years, the big swinging tee shots have gone out of favour for many as the risk of inaccuracy (setting up the critical approach shot) isn’t worth the extra few yards closer to the hole. There are plenty of places to (a) practice your driving at ranges, and (b) practice your putting on putting greens. But it is harder to find places to focus on your pitch and chip game.

5. Short – Sometimes a short walk is all you or your dog have the time or energy for. That was the case with us as we had played Southwold earlier in the afternoon and had to think about heading home.

6. Value – At £7.50, it is the cheapest “18” hole dog golfing course in the database.

Wildlife – Maybe because the course is pretty close to the centre of a good sized town (Chelmsford), we didn’t see that much distracting wildlife scurrying about.

Walk – At a mere snip of 1403 yards in total for 18 holes (average of 78 yards with a longest hole of 102 yards and a shortest of 55 yards), it is a fraction of the length of conventional courses. If your dog (or you) has only the stamina or time for a short outing, this course is a great option.

Water – No water on the course, but given its small size and its windy layout, you are never more than a few minutes walk from the clubhouse if you needed a drink.

Wind Down – We concluded our dog golf weekend tour with a dinner at the White Hart just a mile down the road. The food was great (especially the Sunday roast with tons of gravy and huge Yorkshire puddings). Curiously, they had a rather strange live music act singing “get this party started” style pop songs more suited to a Friday night with your mates than a Sunday roast with your nan (especially as they had the volume cranked up pretty high). Grace and Rusty didn’t seem to mind and settled in comfortably on their blanket beside our table.

Our road trip to the east coast of England took us to unsung seaside gem of Soutwold. We’d heard all about iconic spots like Brighton and Blackpool, but have never heard of Southwold. It is sort of a caricature of every quaint aspect of British beachfront charm – lighthouse, pier (complete with hyperbolic barker taglines like “the best collection of homemade picture shows in the known universe“), top brewery (Adnams), and a gorgeous necklace of colourful beach huts. A just behind the main seafront is a bonus waterfront of the inlet to the River Blyth where the Southwold Golf Club is nestled.

Walk – The Southwold GC is so picturesque that I found myself taking a snap shot around every other hole (so several to share in this post). It’s a scrub marshland so very few trees providing any shade. So on the sunny days bring…

Water – There are no water hazards and if there were any, they would be brackish being in the middle of coastal marshland.

Wildlife – The wildlife naturally includes a few squawky sea gulls, but that’s about it.

Welcome – The course is very dog friendly including, our favourite, an off-lead (under control) policy.  The course sits on common land so the public do walk the course with their dogs and we came across several during our round.  There is even a bin for poo-bags by Hole 2.

Wind Down – We ventured to a Doggie Café – Habour Inn – instead of a “Doggie Pub” this outing on the recommendation of our Doggie AirBNB (If you are staying anywhere in the area, I can highly recommend Alice’s Reydon room just a couple miles down the road. She not only welcomed the dogs, but offered to look after them when we went out for the evening!). Don’t be put off by the countless signs on the approach road and the drive in the harbor itself which say “No parking beyond this point”. The Harbour Inn has customer parking right in front of it. As you drive down the gravel lane along the docks you do wonder if you are heading into oblivion, but the Harbour Inn is right the way down almost to the end. You will be rewarded with a delightful meal with even more picturesque views looking out over the boat yard and inlet.

Road trip time! Some friends invited us to a dance event on the Suffolk coast so we thought that we would load up the car with club and pups, and try a few dog golf courses on the east side of the country. First stop, Diss Golf Club.

Walk – Unfortunately the road trip didn’t quite stop when we started golfing. The course is surrounded by a number of roads. And they are quite busy so you hear the buzz and rumble of traffic through most of your round. While the course has an off-lead under-control policy, we found ourselves keeping the dogs on a lead for most of the course for fear of them wandering into one of the roads flanking the course. In the front 9, only holes 3 and 6 were significantly far from roads that we felt they could stretch their legs a bit off lead.

Water – No real water on the course. No water hazards or spigots. The 8^th hole is relatively close to the clubhouse so you could duck in there for some water in a pinch. The entire course is very open with little shade cover. So be sure to pack plenty of water for the dogs on sunny days (and some sun cream for yourself wouldn’t go amiss)

Wildlife – Lots of rabbits all safely sequestered in the thickets. Most of Rusty and Grace’s off lead time was spent intently sniffing these thorny hedges.

Welcome – A number of other dog walkers did pass by on the course and every golf we encountered seemed delighted to meet Rusty and Grace.

Wind Down – Having to rush off to our dance event, we didn’t get a chance to stop by a local watering hole or “doggie pub” so you will just have to check out DoggiePubs.org.uk to find a post play pit-stop.

The Hole 9 green is like a giant, earthen, carnival ping-pong toss. The green is in the distance with the flag just poking out from its crater. Even Rust ad Grace seem bemused by this topological curiosity.

“Fenton! Fenton! Fenton!! Fenton! Fenton! Fenton! Jesus Christ. Fenton!”

Some friends in London invited us to join them for a meal on a lovely summer’s evening and so we thought we would combine the trek into town with a stop at one of the city’s own dog-friendly courses, Richmond Park.

Wildlife: The first concern was the wildlife given Richmond Park’s YouTube infamy for an uncontrolled dog – Fenton – chasing a herd of deer that live there. We tend to favour off-lead courses as our dogs are very biddable and prefer and bit of wandering freedom, but given the Fenton fame, we thought that the on-lead protocol was probably a good thing. That said, we didn’t see any deer on our round. We did see plenty of geese. From the ornamental pond by the clubhouse to the little water hazard on the 10^th hole. You also pass through an extended (100+ metres) wooded section to get to the 2^nd hole of the Princes Course which has plenty of distracting squirrels, but most of the course is wide open and not much other wildlife to contend with.

Welcome: We asked about the popularity of golfing with dogs there and the attendant said that “quite a few” golfers did bring their pooches, but we didn’t encounter any on our round. We did encounter lots of fellow golfers who we very enchanted by Rusty and Grace. Being a sunny Saturday, the course was quite packed with lots of bunching up and a bit of waiting at the tees. Eventually, we paired up with another two-some, a couple of very fine young gentlemen, to move more smoothly. They hit the rough a few times and we set Grace off to find his ball. They were quite impressed when Grace successfully found it buried in some deep grass.

Walk: The course is one of the flattest that we have played and a little on the short side just over 5k. There are enough trees on the course to enhance the vista aesthetically, but not really that many. As much as we appreciated the open fairways with fewer arboreal obstacles, it did mean that only about every other hole had a shaded place for the dogs to sit while we putted.

Water: Richmond Park is a bit of a parched desert when it comes to water so bring a healthy stock of water especially on the hot days. Hole 9 finishes at about the furthest point from the club house, there are no water spigots and pretty limited water features. There is the one, small stagnant pond mentioned above and a few streamlets, but they are all quite brackish and even panting Grace wasn’t interested in a sip from them.

Wind Down: We finished a bit too late to go to one of our favourite dog-friendly eatieries in town, the Petersham Nurseries in Richmond Park. And, our friends who had precipitated our urban venture were staying a bit more centrally. So we reverted to our old stand-by resource of DoggiePubs.Org.uk looking for a 5-star rated dog-friendly pub near them by Regents Park. The best option was a place called The Albany. Unfortunately, a bit of a hazard with dog-friendly city pubs is busy buzz. The most dog-friendly establishments are the most relaxed ones who seem to attract and inspire a more boisterous crowd. Also, most inner city places don’t have the real estate for a beer garden and all the al fresco tables are on the sidewalk next to the (often busy) street). It was a bit too much for us to hear ourselves talk much less let the pups settle. The proprietors were helpful to provide some alternative suggestions just around the corner on Warren Street. After checking out a few that didn’t offer food, we stumbled upon Little Nan’s Bar. The menu looked fine enough and the outdoor seating had some space between the tables and the front of the building so the puppies could be away from the street. But actually, the best part about it was that hardly any cars passed by Warren Street that time of day so we could eat al fresco quite comfortably without the rush and road of vehicles. Little Nan’s offers pretty basic fare, but itself is a particularly quirky and colourful place.

Dog Golf season is back! After a warm-up round at our home course Harleyford, Lori, the girls and I decided to venture up country a bit to try a new course. Well, so new that it isn’t even open yet – Banbury, aka Adderbury Course. The whole operation is in transition until is formally re-opens on 1^st June with new furniture and other enhancements. It’s not confirmed what the new dog policy will be when it re-opens, but let’s hope they keep it dog friendly as it is a lovely expanse of open parkland.

Welcome: We had been unable to reach anybody on the listed phone number all week (no voice mail, it just rang and rang), and it had a website up though that was spartan. The Google listing said it was “open” so we set off. Unfortunately, when we arrived there, no one was around. There were no signs on the site indicating whether it was closed, or open. We set off to try a few holes and get a feel for the course and finally stumbled upon the greenskeeper who gave us the update about the change in management and refurbishment. On the clubhouse was a sign with an email for enquiries which we contacted when we returned, but that email just bounced. Oh well, Banbury could be a good dog golf option, but make sure you make contact before you head that direction even after 1st June.

Walk: We did get a look around the place (there are public footpaths across the facility) and so got a bit of a feel for it. Great practice for “In the Ruff” training. Plenty of wide fairways, but stray just a bit and your ball will be devoured in long grass. In fact, on hole 6, the fairway is over 100 yards from the tee so any duff tee shots will be penalized severely.

Wildlife: Rife with deer and monkjack. We saw 3, but the groundskeeper said that he had seen 18 that day. So unless you want a “Fenton…Fenton…FENTON!!” moment, best bring a lead for safety.

Water: No shortage of watering holes on this course. It is flanked on two sides by the River Swere and the Oxford Canal and the River Cherwell runs right through the middle. In addition, there are a number of small streams and ponds dotted around especially holes 2 and 3.

Wind Down: We popped just around the corner to the The Red Lion which was rated in Doggiepubs with a solid 4 stars. Several other dogs were already there and the barmaid said they were welcome anywhere in the pub, but another waitress steered them out of one of the dining areas. They have a dog bowl by the fireplace and dog treats at the bar. They also have outdoor seating in the front and the rear The front is a bit smaller and close to the road (though a side road with little traffic), so we opted for the back which was a less scenic (basically a section of the car park), but had a nice enclosed area which kept the dogs easily contained. Very tasty pub grub just short of gastro standards. I had the Wagyu beef burger and Lori had the slow roast chicken and we topped if off with the banoffee pie.