While Lusso still refuses to knuckle down and actually learn to play the hallowed game of stick’n’ball’n’walk, we’re always happy to sample the delightful locations that host it.

 

A recent £26 million renovation and the use of some freshly delivered exotic four-wheeled machinery inspired us to go and have a nose – but not to play golf, you understand. That would be ill advised.

Situated in the West Midlands, the Belfry is perhaps most famous for hosting the Ryder Cup and staging numerous European Tour events. Surrounded by 500 acres of beautiful countryside and home to the Professional Golfers Association, it sports three courses, no less.

The on-site PGA National Golf Academy offers world-class golf tuition, something we would all greatly benefit from and caters to all abilities. Video analysis, launch monitor technology, two putting greens and a 34-bay driving range allow skills to be honed. The academy’s custom-fitting service sees you paired with the right equipment and, as we understand it, this greatly aids repeatable technique, surely key to any sport.

In the heart of the hotel lies the Brabazon Bar, lots of brushed steel and polished pewter, a fine place for post-match imbibing. Certainly rather more our kind of recreation. The hotel offers three main dining areas: the Leisure Cafe and Sam’s Club House being the least formal. If you prefer your beasts minced, Sam’s Club House serves an excellent burger, though if you enjoy your bovine medium rare minus the bap, the Rider Grill – the hotel’s main dining room – serves a choice cut.

Of course, when pursuing that hallowed R&R, freedom from children is essential and sprogs can be temporarily abandoned at the resort’s creche, while the olds indulge in select treatments at the Belfry’s elegant spa or, god forbid, work out in the well-equipped gym. The hotel also sports excellent meeting space and even has its own nightclub, the Belair, for when one takes the imbibing too far at the bar and wishes to sway with purpose. At this point your swing will come under a totally different kind of scrutiny.

The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B76 9PR. Contact +44(0)844 980 0600 for details or visit www.thebelfry.co.uk.