The journalist Bernard Darwin knew a bit about golf. He wrote about it for The Times from 1907 to 1953, played in the Walker Cup and twice reached the semi-final of the British Amateur Championship. So it is an enduring source of prestige of Saunton Golf Club near Barnstaple on the north Devon coast that Darwin, compiling his composite course of the finest 18 holes in the British Isles, included the wonderful par-4 16th from Saunton’s marvellous East Course. That said, he could have picked at least half a dozen others from both the East and West courses and the choice would have kindled no argument from me.

Friends had been telling me about the glories of Saunton for years before I finally went, a few months ago, to see the place for myself. What struck me first was the seemingly endless stretch of perfect golfing terrain: it is rare for seaside clubs in England to offer a choice of two courses, but here there is comfortably room for four, which is doubtless why it was requisitioned by the armed forces during the Second World War. In the clubhouse there hangs an evocative photograph of tanks rolling over the fairways.

Playing the West Course in the morning, we realised why, if you want to overcome it, it helps to be in a tank. Although the lesser of the two courses, it is still brutal in a stiff westerly, and accuracy off the tee is essential. “Never mind length, out there it’s all about direction,” said the pro, before we set off. It was wise advice. My friend Davey, not enjoying one of his straighter days, sacrificed no fewer than 11 balls to Saunton’s uncompromising rough.

The West is rated the 53rd best course in the country, 38 places below its more distinguished sister course, yet it is arguably more fun to play, and two terrific par 3s and a shortish par 5 in the last three holes is a splendid way to finish.

A cheese ploughman’s and a fortifying pint of local bitter later and it was time for the more formidable challenge of the East, which begins with a 430m par 4 that yields in toughness to no opening hole I can think of, even on the Open Championship rota.

Indeed, Saunton is easily good enough to host an Open itself, and might have done so already if it were easier to get to. It did host the 1997 British Boys’ Championship, won by a skinny Spanish kid named Sergio García.

Certainly, everything you want from a links is there in abundance, and some of the holes will linger long in the memory, notably the first, the lovely short par-4 10th with its second shot to an elevated green, the superb 16th that so impressed Darwin, the fiendish par-3 17th bang into the prevailing wind, and the marvellous finishing hole, a par-4 of 353m to a green in the lee of the clubhouse. Intriguingly, the hole is called Isaac’s Slopes. I don’t know who Isaac was, but it’s a hell of a way to be immortalised.

SAUNTON FACT BOX

Green fees: Nov–March, £42 (€46); April–Oct, £65 (€71). Golf World magazine voted Saunton its ‘Best Value Winter Break’ destination.
Playing information: Saunton is an informal club, and visitors are welcome even at weekends, after 9.30am. There is a non-refundable £10 (€11) deposit at the time of booking.
Contact: +44 (0)1271 812436; sauntongolf.co.uk
Getting there: By rail from London Paddington to Barnstaple, changing at Exeter, takes three and a half hours. By road, leave the M5 at J27, and follow the A361, to Braunton. Turn left onto the B3231. The golf club is on the left.
Further information: A two-night weekend break in November and December, inclusive of breakfast and dinner, at Saunton Sands Hotel overlooking the course starts from £164 (€180) per person. (+44 )(0)1271 890212; reservations@sauntonsands.com).