Sidmouth

Few golf settings on the English south coast rival the drama of Sidmouth's clifftop position above the town. The course occupies high ground on the East Devon AONB, where the famous red Triassic sandstone cliffs that have earned this coastline UNESCO World Heritage status as part of the Jurassic Coast form a backdrop that has very little equivalent in British golf. Playing here on a clear day, with the English Channel spread out below and the Sid valley rolling inland, is one of those experiences that reminds you why golf courses exist.

The club itself dates to the Victorian era, when Sidmouth was a fashionable seaside resort — the young Princess Victoria holidayed here, and the town retains much of that genteel Regency character. The course reflects its terrain honestly: the clifftop and hillside ground means short, testing holes that reward accuracy and course management over raw power.

A par of 66 tells you this is a course built around its landscape rather than length. Expect tight, undulating holes where the views are genuinely distracting, and where the wind off the Channel can transform any given card in minutes.