Isle of Wight Holidays are traditionally associated with buckets & spades, ice creams, the needles and coloured sand. But with over half a dozen golf courses within a 20-mile radius the Isle of Wight is the ideal destination for a cheap golf holiday too. With excellent transport links to the mainland getting to the Isle of Wight has never been easier and makes an ideal base for a golf weekend.
Perhaps the finest course on the Island is Freshwater Bay Golf Club. This 18 hole links style course has the best views on the Island, which can provide a welcome distraction from the stiff challenge of the course, particularly on a windy day. The course itself has several ancient momuments within it’s boundary, providing a unique hazard for stray balls. Of particular note is the 7th Hole whose fairway threads itself between two bronze age burial mounds.
A close second to this is Shanklin & Sandown Golf Club. This 18 hole Heathland County Championship course is a firm test of a golfer’s abilities. The challenging par 3 5th hole & par 4 13th are the courses two outstanding holes. Although with gorse, heather and bracken throughout the course errant shots are often heavily punished. Here careful course placement is often more important than outright distance off the tee. Nearby Sandown & Shanklin offer the best of the Islands accommodation making this course the ideal starting point for short breaks to the Isle of Wight.
Finally the Osbourne Golf Club is worth a visit not only for it’s excellent course design but also for two other interesting reasons. First this 9 Hole course is situated within the grounds of Osbourne House, Queen Victoria’s residence. It is a development of the original golf club established in 1904. Secondly the woodland that the course meanders around is home to a strong population of red squirrels and offers an exclusive chance to see these elusive creatures. The course itself is park land in style but the woodland not only contributes character but also requires golfers to play within themselves to avoid costly excursions into the undergrowth.
One great place for the animal lover is of course the Isle of Wight Zoo. Those who like the felines will be delighted to find that the zoo offers an array of big cats on show. Tigers, lions and jaguars play a large part in the cat collection. The zoo is now catering for one of the largest tiger collections in Europe. You can also find a wide range of primates living in the zoo. These include Black Spider Monkeys, Brown Capuchin Monkeys and Lemurs coming from all over the world even as far as South Africa. For those of you looking for something a little more unusual, then when not have a closer look at the ‘Natures Nightmares’ section and see if something takes your fancy. This includes a section of Amphibians which features frogs, toads, newts and salamanders along with a selection of reptiles that plays home to a range of turtles, tortoises, terrapins, crocodiles, alligators, snakes and lizards.
The other great place to go for all of you animal lovers is the popular Flamingo Park Wildlife Encounter. A great day out that offers a whole host of animals on show and feeding times are posted so you are able to see the animals being fed. The Wildlife Park offers penguins, otters, pelicans, bugs and reptiles, wallabies, meerkats and a range of birds. Some of the animals are available for children to interact with making the experience that little more enjoyable for them. Of course a visit to the park wouldn’t be the same without a trip to see the flamingos as this seems to be the main draw of the park. With all this on offer and more you will find that this is another day to remember on the Isle of Wight.