Saturnia (Italy)

Welcome – Lori and I have a tradition of visiting Italy every Easter weekend as the two public holidays in the UK (Good Friday and Easter Monday) give us a 4-day weekend. Just enough time for a 2-3 hour flight and several days of exploring a small area of this charming country. This year we centered our trip at Saturnina, famed for its aquamarine, tiered hot springs. And like many thermal springs, a resort is built around them which just happens to have an 18-hole golf course. So of course, we had to get in a round (unfortunately, the “magic algae” of the springs didn’t seem to do much for our game). Especially, as we saw dogs throughout the quite luxurious hotel, we had to ask if the course welcomed canine caddies, and they said indeed they did. When I got back, I did a bit of research on dog friendly courses in Italy and it turns out that quite a number of courses in Italy do welcome them. My theory is that golf resorts are more likely to welcome pets (eg. Cornwall), and the courses that don’t allow them tend to be striving to create an elitist vibe. I think the “country club” set thinks that the more restrictions you place on the members, the more exclusive the place seems.

Walk – Most of our walking was searching for the ball…ON THE FAIRWAY! The entire course was covered with daisy fleabane (see photo below). So scanning the area where your ball landed is a bit of a “Where’s Wally” hunting exercise finding your white dot among a sea of white dots. A great opportunity for a practicing your dog’s ball sniffing skills.

Wildlife – Only saw a flock of seagulls on one of the fairways (go figure, since we were considerably inland).

Water – Playing at the end of a very wet spring, many of the bunkers became pop-up water hazards (with that tasty muddy water dogs love). The clubhouse gave us free bottles of water, but they were so minerally they really tasted like they too had been drawn from the sand trap puddles.

Criss-crossed by streams, but given the proximity to the thermal springs, I wonder if these are a bit sulphury. The course is free of official water hazards until the end of the back nine where holes 15 through 17 are flanked by great lakes, but they are most inaccessible due to reeds.

Wind Down – The hotel hosting the course has an extensive range of tasty food and, as I mentioned, is very dog friendly. We stopped after the 9^th hole for a little snack and some (non-bottled water) liquid refreshment. And if you want, you can book yourself into the thermal springs for a natural soak to ease away the fatigue and stresses of your round.

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Santo Da Serra (Madeira, Portugal)

Welcome – Santa da Serra’s dog-friendly policy seems a bit low key. When we enquired, they said that they did have a few clients that had asked about bringing their dogs and they were happy for them to do assuming the dog was well-behaved and on a lead.

Walk – Like its fellow Madeiran course, Palheiro, Santo de Serra features towering undulations of landscape. In fact, you start the Machico course (the most picturesque) driving over two gaping chasms (bring extra balls!) that require mini-hikes to get around.

Water – With the 3-times 9-hole layout, stopping at the clubhouse is easy after any 9. We enjoyed our own “watering” with an extended break that included some nibbles as well as drinks.

Wildlife – Lots of grey sea gulls.

Wind Down – The clubhouse has one of the most spectacular views on the island, and one of the best club house views in the world I suspect. Tour buses come up to the club, just to see the view.

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Palheiro (Madeira, Portugal)

Welcome – We took an extended weekend and decided to try another set of warm climate islands in the middle of the Atlantic with few golf courses after our delightful visit to the Azores last year. So we decided to check out Madeira. In general, we preferred the Azores (more flowers and greenery and less built up), but we have to say that Madeira is at least more dog-friendly with their golf. We will always inquire about the dog policy at any course we play (even without canine companion in tow). We were delighted to find out that not only Palhiero dog-friendly but they even have their own dog mascot, Denis (see photo above). Denis was a poorly stray who wandered up to the course one day years ago and the course embraced him. He has had a rich and long life making the course his home. Also, we had the serendipity to meet one of the dog golfers who had just finished a round – Cosi (see photo below).

Walk – The spectacular views of the ocean below won’t be the only thing taking your breath away as it is a challenged roller-coaster of precipices like the island itself.

Water – The course had no water hazards or other water sources on the course, but it has “halfway houses” by both the 6^th and 12^th holes so you are never very far from liquid refreshment (for you or your dog).

Wildlife – A few random sea birds.

Wind Down – The obviously wind-down is the clubhouse itself. In fact, people make the windy trek uphill to the course who don’t play golf but just want to take in the spectacular vistas from the clubhouse restaurant terrace. We stopped for a “Madeira Tonic” (like a gin and tonic made with Madeira wine) and some of the local orange cake.

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Portpatrick

Another guest review of the 9 hole Dinvin course at Portpatrick Dunskey Golf Club, Dumfries & Galloway, by Fiona (walking) and David (golfing) with Chloe, on 3 May 2022. Fiona has helped with information on a number of Scottish courses, one of the most dog-friendly golfing areas in the world, so hopefully we will be graced with more reports from up north:

Chloe is a Working Cocker Spaniel, rescued at 4, then a fit age 12. She’s not allowed onto David’s own course (The Irvine Golf Club), so her golf walks are limited to our trips away in the motorhome. The Golf Pro said Chloe was very welcome on the Dinvin course on a lead, confirming the “walkers welcome” sign at the entrance. Players in the car park said a friendly hello to all of us. Chloe didn’t appreciate the cracking views to Ireland over the 18 hole Dunskey course on the way to the 1st tee. She doesn’t walk well on a lead and hates standing still, which isn’t ideal in a canine golfing companion. She found the Dinvin course very boring until a handsome male pheasant came out of the Dunskey estate woodlands that flank the first three holes. That cheered her up! The course was a bit like Chloe – small, quirky, and full of character. It was draped on a hillside looking inland over typical Galloway farmland, with rocky knolls, several steep ups and downs where Chloe almost pulled the walker over, very few bunkers, gorsey rough harbouring good smells for a spaniel, but no water hazards for drinking. Dinvin punched above its weight and was in very good condition: exceptional value at £12. There was no water dish back at the clubhouse, and we didn’t eat there as we’d lunched in the motorhome, but the dining room was busy. There is a good choice of places to eat down at pretty Portpatrick harbour, where there’s a small sandy beach at low tide that’s good for a dog runabout.

[Postscript – Chloe is no longer with us, after collapsing on a walk. New rescue Poppy is as yet untested as a golf companion.]

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Sedbergh

Our latest guest post from Bertie (and his persons Steve and Mrs. Brown) not only provides another pooch perspective on par play, but also highlights the imperative to “keep asking”. While Dog Golf UK tries to keep its database up-to-date, my experience has been that policies change from time to time. Usually this shift has been the unfortunate case of being informed that a course doesn’t welcome dogs after all despite someone telling me previously that they did (I document all my calls to clubs who tell me they allow dogs). In the case of today’s Sedbergh, the report is a fortunate addition to the database. When I had contacted Sedburgh previously, they said that dogs were not allowed,. But when Bertie did a round and I double checked, they were hesitant but in the end said that people did bring their dogs on the low periods of Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thanks to Bertie for not just another review, but also another course for people to check out:

Another weekend away with friends who have a place at Barnard Castle, and we needed a course we could play and have lunch. We settled on Sedbergh and what a gem of a course. Nine holes (18 tees) and it is immaculate.

Some very tricky holes, with drives over river gorges, water features and some tricky undulating ground. This is a course that no one will take apart.

Its £15 for 9 holes and having a dog is not a problem. The owner is on site and very welcoming, his son is the greenskeeper. There is a fabulous clubhouse, more of that later.

The first hole is tricky with hole protected by bunkers, unseen, the second a drive across the river onto a green. Then a short walk takes you to the third well over 500 yards and you can see a Victorian iron railway bridge behind the green. It is a very picturesque course.

You have great views of the Yorkshire dale. Another par 5 has the green protected by a ring of water. Eventually we arrive at the 9th. A green you feel you can reach. On our visit there were two societies starting off on our return.

Dogs are not allowed in the clubhouse but they serve one of the best steak and ale pies this northern lad has ever had on the verandah. Mrs. Browns’ fish pie was also excellent.

What of Bertie our Tibetan Terrier, after all this is about golfing with dogs. I think Bertie has decided that golf balls are not worth chasing. He allows us to play our shots, and whereas once he had to have his own ball he isn’t interested now. We do use a lead to tie him up when teeing off and putting wherever possible. We have a long lead and he now trots happily alongside us, we do stand on the lead if we need to do so. He still won’t sit and look at the camera for the killer photo!

The big problem I have is not controlling a dog while playing, but the fact Mrs. Brown is obviously already a better golfer than me and the gap is only getting wider!

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Four Marks

Welcome – We had a bit of a sad welcome to Four Marks, but it was nothing to do with the course itself. We had long planned a foray further south with the distance justified by seeing our fellow dog golfing friends, the Baileys. Initially intended as a reunion for Grace and Pepper, with at Grace’s departure it pivoted into an anticipated soothing dose of doggie-ness from Pepper to help our grief. But when we arrived, the Bailey’s told us that Pepper too had passed away just a few days ago from a sudden seizure. As a result, the session became a memorial round to our two beloved companions. I wore my Rhoback dog golf shirt (see above) as I had to step in as the face of Dog Golf UK for the day. The course is undergoing a bit of a refurb at the moment, but nonetheless, it is a bit of a casual aesthetic typical of such parkland courses. But always makes dog accompanying players a bit more relaxed about how fellow golfers feel about canine caddis.

Walk – The course is laid out in a tidy and fairly compact 9-hole course at only 1960 yards. Being flat it was a very easy step back onto the links after an extended time away after losing Grace (and my hip giving me a bit of gip). The exception to the flatness was the greens who seemed to all be perched on near vertical precipices. The course play, like our old girl Grace, was a bit rough, bumpy and motley.

Water – The course has small artificial ponds near holes 1, 4 and 7, but they (like many other parts of the course) were under repair so completed dried out (actually, without being spring or stream fed, most small artificial ponds of this type don’t make for good drinking as they get quite stagnant even if they do have water). Still, with such a small course, you are never very far from the clubhouse if you need to retreat there to get a drink.

Wildlife – Lots of sheep and cows in the surrounding fields, but not too many critters crossing the fairways.

Wind Down – The clubhouse itself had a lovely dining area which, as you can see from the sign below, certainly welcomed dogs. But we opted for the intriguingly named “Castle of Comfort” pub just down the road. Several very friendly dogs in the bar area greeted us. One of the simplest menus with an assortment of nicely grilled meats (with some excellent cheesy chips). So plenty of opportunities for scraps for your fellow dining dogs. In fact, the proprietor is also a butcher so you can ask him for some extra bones or scraps that he might have out back.

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Poulton-le-Fylde

With the loss of Grace, we blessed to have another report from Bertie to keep the dog golf reconnaissance coming in

Having added a couple of days leave onto the platinum jubilee we thought we would entertain Bertie with another 9 holes. This time we put the doggolf.info website to test. We looked up the database of dog friendly clubs, selected Lancashire (a very small offering from Lancashire!) and the nearest to us was Poulton-le-Fylde golf club.

A quick email to confirm dogs were welcome got an instant response confirming they were and that members regularly brought their dogs with them.

It’s a nine hole course with a large clubhouse and a very nice veranda with a view onto the course. On arrival we paid at the bar, £10 each, and on the veranda was a member with a dog!

It was busy and we had managed to get the last available tee time, there were lots of people around the first tee. Poulton-le-Fylde golf club has the tag line “the friendliest golf club on the Fylde coast” and this was certainly true. Everyone wanted to be introduced to Bertie so there was a crowd when we teed off. Thankfully they both went down the middle!

It’s also a parklands course with a very relaxed atmosphere.

We now have a better understanding of how we control Bertie, we have bought a lead we can tie to posts when putting and driving, we have also developed an understanding of who should hold the lead and when. Bertie seems to be getting used to golf as well, he used to manically chase a ball and i had set aside an old ball for him but he never once chased a ball today.

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Alnwick Castle

And other delightful account from the roving northern Dog Golf correspondent team of Bertie and Steve:

Having visited the highest and oldest nine hole golf courses on this holiday we then played Alnwick Castle. This would be easier for controlling Bertie as we were joined by the youngest daughter. On arrival went in to pay, told the lady the secretary had said we could bring a dog, she didn’t bat an eyelid “no problem”.

Now Alnwick Castle is a real 18 hole course, and it is a club that is on the up. I understand the Duke of Northumberland owns the land. While we were there work had started on a new club house and there will also be a number of expensive properties built on the outer edge of the course.

It is £15 a round and a small charge for trolleys and the current clubhouse is next to one and eighteen so nine if furthest from the clubhouse, this will change as the new clubhouse is right in the middle of the course.

The day we went there was a seniors competition on and none of these even noticed the dog. Mrs B parred a short par 3, well done her. Couple of seniors saw her drive the ball straight onto the green and then me shank it wide left onto their tee. They were still waiting to play as we arrived and the old fellas just gave me that pitying look as i was clearly being outclassed. One whispered “My wife does that when i play with her as well”!

The course opens up into an open parkland course with good views of the surrounding countryside. There are some steep climbs but overall it was in excellent condition. There were lots of ground staff knocking about and they all waved and said hello as wed passed with Bertie.

On returning to the clubhouse for a drink the bar staff insisted that Bertie be served first taking a bowl of water out to him before we could even order ours!

It is a good course and the addition of a new clubhouse will really enhance the experience, we speculated about buying one of the houses should our lottery numbers come in.

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Alnmouth Village

Bertie (and Steve) provides another first-hand report on a Northumberland course while Grace relaxes in the backyard for a well-deserved break and a bit of recuperation:

Alnmouth Village Golf Club is the reason why we took up golf. When Bertie was a puppy we stayed in Alnmouth and Bertie loved the beach so much we have been back a few times. There is a magnificent nine hole course between the village and the beach, it really is stunning. We always said it would be great to play the course hence we started golf lessons and this was the first time we would actually play the course instead of just walking the dog on it!

We played twice, once just us and then with another couple who came to stay for a couple of days, they have a Jack Russell. Alnmouth must be the most dog friendly place in Britain, dogs are welcome everywhere.

The clubhouse has lots of picnic tables and dogs are welcome inside as well. They do the whole range from bacon butties to Sunday lunch. It’s incredibly friendly and £15 for nine holes. Trolleys, just help yourself and put them back afterwards.

The course is flat apart from one hole, the sixth. You drive up onto the plateau onto another fairway with a short iron shot onto the most elevated green, it’s a short sharp incline and its a blind shot requiring you to ring the bell for the next group to play.

The next tee gives you amazing panoramic views of the course and Northumbrian shore. It’s a quite satisfying tee shot as you see your ball fall downwards onto the fairway below. It’s a typical links course and if your ball disappears into the rough don’t bother looking for it!!!

Members are so used to dogs, as we played and crossed other parties they would wave ask if we were on holiday and pass on tips for the next hole. On one occasion we were just walking Bertie on the path alongside the course watching others play. Bertie spotted a ball on the fairway and ran to retrieve it with two mortified owners running after him. The four ball just fell about laughing while the owner of the ball just complained that Bertie could have dropped it nearer the hole.

Alnmouth Village Golf Club is England’s oldest nine hole course and remains an enduring course to play you are ever anywhere near.

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Alston Moor

I am sad to report that Grace might just be entering dog golfing retirement as she is suffering from a lame right-rear leg making it very difficult to walk. The debilitation has slowed her down and is combined with some other indications that she is simply becoming a very old girl (14 years old in a few weeks). I am happy to report that one of Dog Golf UK’s supporters, Bertie (and his person, Steve Brown, unofficial “northern correspondent”) has stepped up to share a number of guest posts from their recent Northumbria golf tour. Thanks Bertie (and Steve)!

Alston Moor Golf Club – The highest golf course in England. Bertie, our Tibetan terrier is two and a half years old. Having a dog changes a lot of what you and where you go on holiday. We have now gone to the same Northumbria cottage three times since we got Bertie. During that time we have also started playing golf, so whereas the three hour drive from Lancashire to the cottage would have been broken up with a quick stroll along Hadrians Wall we now look for golf courses!

So Alston Moor Golf Club fitted that description perfectly. It is a remote course with wonderful views of the North Pennine moors. I had emailed the club secretary who made it clear Bertie would be welcome. It was £15, which is outstanding value.

On arrival we were welcomed by the secretary and as the weather was bad we had the golf course to ourselves. The course has ten greens, nine holes with eighteen tees. The course was in really good condition with some tricky holes. The course also had two defibrillators, it is a steep climb back towards the clubhouse! The clubhouse was closed while we were there so plan to not have access to standard facilities.

We saw deer just yards from the course and bertie had a great time.

What did we learn about dog golfing? If you hook him up to the trolley he pulls it over. And, we need a second lead to attach him to benches etc while we tee off. Eventually we gave in and gave him his own golf ball.

Alston Moor will definitely be visited again on our journeys north.

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