Saunton Golf Club - East Course

Saunton has two courses,the East and the West. I would suggest playing both but I only had time for 1 course so I chose the East. The East is the older of the two, has a name designer and is used for Open Qualifying and other tournaments. This is a great test of links golf. The ocean is nowhere in sight, but the course plays firm and fast, there is some wind, the fairways have some slope and the shot options which make links golf a joy are available in abundance. The routing is a large loop so you get all parts of the wind. Not an abundance of bunkers but some well placed ones to keep things interesting. The green sites are good and not a lot of contour.
What makes Saunton unique is the fact that 11 of the first 12 holes are par 4s and 1 par 3. Be ready with your driver immediately or be ready for a long day. The last 6 holes are a lot of 5s and 3s to make the round interesting. My guess is that this makes a match play round quite interesting. Saunton is a good test and the onslaught of par 4s certainly add to the challenge.
The club has a putting green, range, restaurant and all of the amenities that you will need for a proper day. The membership is quite nice and welcoming as are the staff. Greens fees are quite good for a course with a pedigree; you'd pay about double in the states, They have twilight rates, day tickets to play both courses as well as day tickets for 36 on one course.
No blind shots or quirk here. A perfect course for an introduction to English countryside golf. MY only regret is not playing both courses. If in SW England this should be on the itinerary.