Fed up while your partner takes to the links and leaves you behind twiddling your thumbs or do you need a bit of relaxation after a good round of golf? We asked The Good Spa Guide to name five top UK destinations for perfect pampering that also happened to have a golf course on site

Pampering par

for the course

GOLF was sent to test us - in a good way. Spas were sent to nurture us.

A health spa and a golf course thus make the perfect partnership. After a long day on the fairways, you’ll be ready for a bit of muscle-soothing massage. Non-golfers in your party can’t complain of having nothing to do, either, when there are all those swimming pools and saunas to lounge around in.

Here are some of our favourite places where you can enjoy the course, the views, and the service. Plus, naturally, the spa treatments that help great golfers play even better, and the rest of us feel slightly better about not being great golfers after all.

BOVEY CASTLE

SITUATED on the edge of Dartmoor, Bovey Castle has taken the 1920s as its theme, inspired by the spirit of decadence and fun to which everyone aspired after the First World War.

The building is full of interesting artefacts, prints, statues and features from the time, so you feel like you’re staying in the country house of a (wealthy) friend or relative. The staff are warm, relaxed, professional and capable. You feel very welcome from the moment you arrive.

The spa is excellent: clean, bright, and spacious. As with everyone at Bovey Castle, you feel that the staff are happy to be there, and that helps you to feel the same way.

There is a pool, steam room, sauna and outdoor plunge pool to help you make the most of your me-time, so relax with a swim in the pool that has its own magnificent views of Dartmoor National Park.

Bovey Castle’s 18-hole course is one of the most naturally beautiful and tranquil settings for golfing in the UK. With mature trees lining the fairways, and the rivers Bovey and Bowden meandering through the grounds, you can’t help but be inspired by the glorious setting.

The 6,303-yard course is a challenging par 70, although it is enjoyable for players of all levels.

The spa treatments at Bovey are of a high standard, too, so take the strain off those weary golfing shoulders or release the stress from that swing with an Elemis deep tissue back massage.

North Bovey, Dartmoor, Devon TQ13 8RE. Call +44 (0)1647 445021 or visit www.boveycastle.com

THE GROVE

AS soon as you arrive, you can see why they call The Grove ‘London’s country estate’. It feels like you’re in the heart of the country when you’re just a stone’s throw from the M25. Standing on the drive, you see what looks like a classic country house. Inside, it’s just as they describe it - ‘groovy grand’. It’s hip but not stark - cool but not uncomfortable.

Sequoia Spa is very calming - a combination of the setting, the design, the professionalism of the staff, and the excellent treatments. The spa has 13 treatment rooms, a saline vitality pool, together with saunas and a steam room, not to mention an unusual black-tiled 22-metre pool.

Hotel guests also have access to a heated outdoor pool, weather permitting, which can be found within the landscaped walled garden. The relaxation room is particularly sumptuous: settle back in luxurious velvet surroundings and enjoy the heated loungers and personal music system.

The young 18-hole, par-72 course feels surprisingly well established for its tender age, which is probably why The Grove was awarded the World Golf Championship just a year after opening.

The relatively open course is manicured to perfection and well maintained, even during the winter months, so there is no need for temporary tees or greens.

Any budding Tiger Woods (or Annika Sörenstam) would be crazy to miss the Spa and Golf Combo package here; this includes one round of golf, a welcome foot ritual to begin the pampering, followed by an ESPA muscle relaxing massage.

Chandler’s Cross, Watford, Hertfordshire WD3 4TG. Call +44 (0)1923 807807 or visit www.thegrove.co.uk

EAST SUSSEX NATIONAL

AS you enter the grounds, you are immediately aware that golf is taken very seriously at the East Sussex National. The place boasts not one, but two 18-hole championship courses: the East and the West, both surrounded by the ancient rolling hills of the South Downs.

Both are parkland courses. The East course has staged two European Opens, and the West has a number of water hazards for you to contend with.

To take advantage of both the serene Sussex scenery, and the modern facilities, follow your round of golf with a trip to the Horsted Spa. Inside the modern brick buildings of the hotel, spa and golf complex, everything is sparkling and clean.

The health club is very spacious, with a well-lit 20- metre swimming pool, alongside a Jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room.  The Horsted Spa houses nine treatment rooms and a ‘heat experience’ area, consisting of another sauna, a Moroccan Mud Rasul, a salt vapour room and aroma room.

There is also a powerful rain shower and an ambient relaxation room with ergonomically designed wooden loungers. The décor is simple and neutral with a subtle floral theme: the treatment rooms are named after flowers and the named flower is placed outside each room to indicate when a treatment is in progress.

There are plenty of treatments on offer for both male and female golfers. The ESPA treatments for men include the Golfer’s Tonic - a body ritual of sea-salt exfoliation, anti-stress massage oils, and soothing marine mud. Ladies can indulge in an ESPA Holistic Aromatherapy Back, Face, and Scalp treatment so they can leave looking as well as feeling fantastic.

Little Horsted, Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 5ES. Call  +44 (0)1825 880185 or visit www.eastsussexnational.co.uk

IN the historic town of St Andrews, the birthplace and spiritual home of golf, you’ll find the Old Course Hotel. It’s perfectly situated for a round on the ancient and world-renowned Old Course, literally overlooking the infamous 17th Road Hole and the Royal Clubhouse, and surrounded by the spectacular countryside and coastline of Fife.

You can also play a round at the hotel’s own 18-hole heathland championship course, The Duke’s.

However, as St Andrews hosts six links courses, you won’t be short of places to play!

The hotel’s Road Hole Bar offers whiskies from a staggering 119 distilleries, but if you’re trying to rejuvenate your tired limbs ready for another day in golfing heaven, try the new Kohler Waters spa, too.

The core theme in the spa is ‘the therapeutic benefits of water’. The Kohler bathing treatments aim both to relax you and to remineralise your body. Naturally, there are specific treatments for golfers, including massages and foot treatments. Try a John Michael Kohler for Him Scrub – a salt glow body scrub followed by invigorating water jets – a perfect after-golf treatment to soothe aching muscles.

You can also have a massage – the North Sea Stone massage is a speciality – or choose from a range of facials, all of which reflect the marine theme. Wraps, manicures, pedicures and fitness training are also on offer.

St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SP. Call +44 (0)1334 474371 or visit www.oldcoursehotel.kohler.com

TURNBERRY

THE Ailsa course at Turnberry consistently comes out top in lists of the UK’s best golf courses.

The dramatic setting of the rugged Ayrshire coastline is instantly recognisable to all those golfers who have seen one of the many photographs of the famous back tee on the ninth hole. The grandeur of the scenery is set off perfectly with a world=famous, challenging course.

So it’s not a huge surprise that they have top-class facilities at the Westin Turnberry Resort, too. The majesty of the surrounding shoreline is celebrated in the Westin’s spa, with many treatments using the best natural marine ingredients to rejuvenate weary golfers.

The spa has a 20-metre swimming pool with views over the sea to Ailsa Craig, a relaxing biosauna and invigorating spa bath, along with candle-lit treatment rooms offering refl exology, hydrotherapy and soothing massage.

Their Golfer’s Retreat spa package aims to be perfect for pre-or postgolf pampering, to ease muscle tension before or after tee-ing off: it includes a relaxing massage followed by either a sea-salt hydro bath or oriental head massage.

Turnberry , Ayrshire, KA26 9LT. Call +44 (0)1655 33100 or visit www.turnberry.co.uk

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