Plymouth doesn't have a large golfing footprint, but what's here covers real ground, literally. Within a few miles of the city you can play a cliff-top course with sea views in three directions, then head to 400 acres of parkland for something altogether calmer. For a city of its size, that's a decent spread of golfing character packed into a small area.
Staddon Heights and its cliff-top holes
Staddon Heights Golf Club, founded in 1904, sits on the outskirts of Plymouth on ground that drops away to Plymouth Sound. The setting does a lot of the talking: from the higher points of the course you can pick out the Devon and Cornwall coastline, and turn inland to see Dartmoor and the Bodmin hills on a clear day. It's an 18-hole layout that uses its clifftop position well rather than simply overlooking it, and the golf has some teeth to go with the scenery. The 1st hole has an island bunker to negotiate, and the 6th brings water into play, both features that ask you to think before committing to a shot rather than just admiring the view. Founded well over a century ago, it's the kind of club where the course has clearly been shaped around the land rather than forced onto it.
Boringdon Park's parkland acres
Boringdon Park Golf Club is the parkland counterpart, set across 400 acres that combine coastal glimpses with countryside outlooks, a reminder that Devon's inland scenery can hold its own against the coast. The club runs two golf courses, including a 9-hole layout known as the Estuary course, built with a balanced spread of three par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s. That mix makes it a genuinely useful test over a short loop rather than a token add-on course, suited to a quick evening round or a warm-up before tackling the main layout. A modern clubhouse rounds things off, giving the club a different feel to the more traditional, exposed character of Staddon Heights.
A third option in the city
The Caddy Club is also based in Plymouth, giving golfers in the city a further option alongside the two full courses. Between the three, Plymouth golfers get a fair cross-section of what Devon golf can offer without needing to travel far: proper clifftop links-style golf at Staddon Heights, spacious parkland golf with two courses to choose from at Boringdon Park, and a further city-based club in the Caddy Club.
Planning a visit
Anyone visiting Plymouth for golf should treat the two main clubs as complementary rather than similar. Staddon Heights rewards a calm day when the wind isn't bullying shots off the cliffs, and it's worth allowing time afterwards just to take in the views over the Sound. Boringdon Park suits a more relaxed day out, particularly if you fancy two rounds in one visit by pairing the Estuary course with the main layout. Given the modest number of clubs in the county, it's easy to fit both into a short break, and the contrast between them says more about Devon's golfing variety than the numbers alone might suggest.