It is the harsh and unpredictable seaside conditions that has traditionally made links golf such an enticing endeavour.

But for England’s oldest course, at least, they are proving too much of a challenge.

The Royal North Devon Golf Club has accused the Government of “abandoning us to the ocean” after Storm Eleanor prompted the collapse of part of its eighth tee and high tides expected next week threaten the demise of the seventh.

Designed by the famous Victorian golfer “Old” Tom Morris, the course at the mouth of the Taw-Torridge Estuary is renowned as the “St Andrews of the South” and one of the UK’s toughest.

The historic lay-out now faces permanent disfigurement, however, due to the brutal coastal erosion.

More than 50 yards of the championship course has been lost as a result of the “preventable” collapse, with boulders strewn across one of the fairways.

The disruption places in jeopardy two major upcoming amateur competitions.