St Mellion Estate is marking its 50th anniversary in 2026 with golf tournaments, commemorative branding, special course flags and a limited-edition membership programme.
Play began at the Cornwall resort in September 1976, when farming brothers Martin and Hermon Bond turned their plans for a golf venue into an 18-hole course and modest hotel. St Mellion now has two courses, an 80-bedroom four-star hotel, and extensive leisure and conference facilities.
A new anniversary logo is displayed across the estate, while the pins on the Nicklaus Signature and Kernow courses carry special 50th anniversary flags. St Mellion is also hosting several county-level tournaments, including the first Cornwall Golf County Dinner, which features two-time senior major winner Roger Chapman as guest speaker.
From Cornish farmland to Tour venue
St Mellion’s development began when the Bond brothers asked J Hamilton-Stutt to create the design for what is now the Kernow Course. Within two years of opening, it had staged the Benson & Hedges International Open and the Tournament Players’ Championship.
European Tour golf later became closely associated with the resort. Its list of winners and competitors includes Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, José María Olazábal and Lee Trevino.
The estate’s major expansion began in May 1982, when the brothers travelled to Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament and asked him to create a second course on difficult, steep ground.
Nicklaus initially resisted because of the terrain, but eventually accepted. The resulting Signature Course opened in July 1988 with an exhibition match involving Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Sir Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle.
“St Mellion will always have a special place in my heart” said Nicklaus, now 86. “The Bond brothers were unwavering in their desire to bring a special golf experience to St Mellion. It was one of the most difficult pieces of property that I have ever worked with, but we were able to create a very, very good golf course there.”
Staff connections span four decades
The anniversary also recognises employees with long connections to the resort. Having worked at St Mellion for more than 40 years, Penny Baxter is the resort’s longest-serving active staff member; she began there as a school-age waitress. She now coordinates hundreds of conference and business events each year.
“It seemed unlikely that two Cornish farmers could turn St Mellion into an international-class golf resort, let alone persuade the Tiger Woods of his day to design one of the golf courses,” Baxter said. “Yet the Bond brothers pulled it off, and I was lucky to be here to witness almost all of its extraordinary history.”
Crown Golf has owned St Mellion since 2004. The current resort occupies 450 acres of Cornish countryside, with its two courses continuing the golfing project that the Bond brothers began half a century ago.
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Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.