A coastline built for links golf
Cornwall's 31 clubs cover a lot of ground, but it's the links courses that give the county its reputation. Bude & North Cornwall, founded in 1891 and laid out by Tom Dunn, sits right in the town and drew Harry Vardon three times in the early 1900s — he set a course record of 65 there in 1907 and the club still likes to mention it. Further down the coast at Newquay, Harry Colt built his course into the dunes above Fistral Beach, and the greens are reckoned among the best in the county, well defended by pot bunkers and holding their condition through the year. St Enodoc, near Wadebridge on the Camel estuary, is the one that gets the wider recognition: the Church Course is a James Braid design ranked inside the world's top 100 by some panels, and it plays through proper duneland with Atlantic views the whole way round. Mullion, on the Lizard Peninsula, adds something different again — it's the most southerly course in England, clifftop and full of elevation change, with holes 6 to 12 running above Dollar Cove and Church Cove.
Parkland inland, and everything else besides
Parkland is actually the dominant course type here, with a dozen examples spread from Bodmin to Camborne. Bowood Park, near Camelford, is one of the more distinctive: 230 acres of former 13th-century deer park, laid out in 1992 by Brian Huggett, Bob Knott and Eddie Connaughton, with 26 lakes and USGA-spec greens that keep it playable through a Cornish winter. Lanhydrock, at Bodmin, sits in 150 acres of mature parkland close to the National Trust house of the same name and is owned by the Bond family, who also created the Nicklaus Course at St Mellion. Truro Golf Club, founded in 1937 and designed by Colt, Alison and Morrison, looks back over the city and its cathedral from the Treliske Estate — a proper championship layout with genuine views. St Austell Golf Club, another James Braid course, belongs to the Association of James Braid Courses, which brings reciprocal access to more than 250 other Braid layouts around the country. Beyond the parkland and links, the mix broadens further: Mawgan Porth is heathland on a North Cornish hilltop with sea views and a dog-friendly reputation, Looe is genuine moorland designed by Vardon with sightlines to Dartmoor and the Tamar estuary, and Carlyon Bay and Falmouth both play as coastal courses with cliff-top and bay-side settings respectively.
Where to build a trip
Newquay and Falmouth work well as bases if links and coastal golf is the priority — Newquay Golf Club for the dunes at Fistral, Falmouth Golf Club for its run along the coastline above Swanpool and Maenporth, and Budock Vean nearby, a James Braid nine-holer on the Helford River that's often rated among the best short courses in the county. Bodmin and Launceston sit more centrally, useful for reaching Bowood Park, Lanhydrock and Launceston Golf Club, the last of these a Hamilton Stutt design with elevated views over Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor and an active reciprocal arrangement with clubs across Devon and Cornwall. Trevose, at Padstow, is worth knowing about for its competitive pedigree — a Colt course from 1925 that has hosted the Brabazon Trophy, the McGregor Trophy and the English Men's County Finals. For value, green fees in the county start from around £18, and clubs like Radnor near Redruth or Treloy near Newquay — Cornwall's first executive course — offer shorter, gentler rounds without needing a full afternoon. Whatever the itinerary, the geography does a lot of the work: sea on three sides, moor in the middle, and courses laid out to make use of both.