Gwynedd, Wales 

Designers: Morris/Braid 

Green fee: From £34

Tel: 01758 701 644

PWLLHELI is a friendly coastal town home to a fine course. A blend of inland and links holes, it has Snowdonia on one side and the sea on the other. Old Tom Morris first inspected the site in 1900 and designed the front nine with James Braid later adding the inland half.

Cumbria, England 

Designers: Campbell/Lowe 

Green fee: From £35 

Tel: 01946 728 202 

WILD, traditional and exhilarating sum up Seascale, which is a first-class back-up to nearby Silloth on Cumbria’s west coast. Expect undulating fairways, small greens and a feeling of golf in a bygone age. Sellafield power station is only an eyesore for a couple of holes.

Monmouthshire, Wales

Designer: Ken Cotton 

Green fee: From £50 

Tel: 01291 635 205 

CELEBRATING its 50th anniversary this year, St Pierre has matured into a stylish parkland layout where the greens are speedy and the fairways particularly verdant. With a Marriott hotel on site and a second course, this is a fine base for a break. A former Solheim Cup and European Tour venue, the 18th here is iconic – a (very) long par 3 over water.

Yorkshire, England 

Designers: MacKenzie /Colt 

Green fee: From £50 

Tel: 01943 600 214 

THERE are few more idyllic places to play than in the shadow of Ilkley Moor alongside the River Wharfe. Colin Montgomerie and Mark James are both honorary members here and you will need their kind of skill to avoid finding water at some point in the first seven holes. Thereafter, trees are the main obstacle.

Swansea, Wales 

Designer: Gary Nicklaus 

Green fee: From £28 

Tel: 01554 744 678 

ALTHOUGH by the sea, the water hazards in play here are principally of the man-made variety. A modern layout less than 10 years old, it features a massive choice of tees so you can play the course at the length you fancy. There are lots of exciting holes, with perhaps the highlight being the view (pictured here) as you approach the 16th green with the sea behind.

Yorkshire, England 

Designer: Robert Trent Jones 

Green fee: From £24 

Tel: 0113 266 5209 

THE American’s first design in this country is a rolling 27-hole parkland where all three loops of nine begin and end in front of the clubhouse. In addition, there is no loop that is weaker than the others so it is a great venue for a full day out. In the summer, the greens here are as fast as you will find anywhere.

East Lothian, Scotland

Designer: James Braid 

Green fee: From £35 

Tel: 01875 810 276 

AS the fifth-oldest club in the world, Royal Musselburgh oozes history. They moved to the current site in the 1920s and five-time Open champion James Braid created a parkland course that finishes in real style, beginning with the short 14th, whose name, The Gully Hole, speaks for itself. In the summer months, immaculate conditioning can be expected.

Sussex, England

Designer: Robert E Cupp 

Green fee: From £45 

Tel: 01825 880 256 

AT well over 7,000 yards, this relatively young course was chosen to host the European Open twice in the early 1990s, when Faldo, Els and Woosnam all played. The best holes come last, with the closing stretch of the 15th onwards featuring lots of water and no little length.

Durham, England 

Designer: Colt 

Green fee: From £36 

Tel: 0191 378 0075 

LAID out on what used to be a deer park, this is an easy-walking course generally in excellent nick and is very welcoming. The most striking feature is a ravine that bisects the course, creating back-to-back par 3s from one side to the other. One of the North East’s finest.

Northumberland, England

Designer: George Rochester 

Green fee: From £37.50 

Tel: 01668 214 378 

HOLIDAY golf does not get any better than at Bamburgh, on the Northumberland coast. At well under 6,000 yards there is the possibility of the occasional birdie, while the six par 3s provide welcome variety. Throughout, you can enjoy the uplifting sights of the eponymous castle and the ocean, while, as you would expect, the North Sea ‘breeze’ is always a factor.