Ivyleaf Golf Course

The driving range at Ivyleaf sits just outside Bude, a proper working golf facility rather than a showpiece course. You'll find yourself hitting balls into a wide-open field with views that stretch towards the Cornish coast - nothing fancy, but the setting alone makes it worth a swing or two.

This is straightforward stuff: you pay for your bucket of balls and get whacking. It's the kind of place where golfers pop in for a quick practice session between other activities, not somewhere you'll spend the entire day. Figure on thirty minutes to an hour if you're serious, less if you just fancy having a laugh with the family. The greens are workmanlike and the grass is kept well enough. Kids can have a go here without anyone making a fuss about handicaps or etiquette.

The real appeal is proximity. If you're staying at Wooda Farm Holiday Park just up the road - barely half a mile away - then Ivyleaf becomes a handy option for an hour of fresh air and a bit of competitive family fun. It's the sort of place you discover by accident rather than plan for, which somehow makes it better. Not Instagram-worthy, but genuinely useful if you've got golf clubs in the car and a spare afternoon in Bude. Beats another rainy-day arcade trip, at any rate.