East at Saunton Golf Club

The East Course at Saunton Golf Club occupies a dramatic stretch of linksland along the North Devon coast near Braunton Burrows, one of the largest dune systems in England. Herbert Fowler designed the course in 1919, routing it through towering sandhills that create natural amphitheaters and corridors for play. Frank Pennink later refined the layout, but the course retains Fowler's essential character: bold, tumbling terrain with significant elevation changes and holes that weave through valleys between massive dunes. The setting provides views across the Taw and Torridge estuary toward Bideford Bay.

The routing makes full use of the property's natural movement, with several holes playing along ridge tops and others descending into sheltered hollows. The dunes shape strategy throughout, creating blind or semi-blind shots and approach angles that reward local knowledge. The greens are typically firm and contoured, and the coastal wind remains a constant factor in club selection and shot shaping. Saunton's linksland shares the wild, rumpled character common to Britain's great sandhills courses, though it remains less internationally known than some championship venues.

Saunton Golf Club also maintains a second course, the West, on adjacent land. The club has a traditional membership and serves as a year-round facility for Devon golfers. The East Course has hosted regional amateur competitions and qualifiers, benefiting from its natural challenge and the quality of Fowler's design work during his prolific period in British course architecture.