David Suruki and Kathy Tatar at Isle of Purbeck Golf Club

PUBLISHED: 11:14 30 May 2017 | UPDATED: 11:14 30 May 2017

Adam Lee-Potter | Photo by Hattie Miles

Hattie Miles 07907 645897

If there is a better vista in Dorset, I have yet to find it. From the glass-walled clubhouse, the panoramic takes in a breathtaking sweep of heathland, Poole Harbour and Sandbanks.

Oh, and did I say the golf is magnificent to boot?

I last visited this 125-year-old club – once owned by Enid Blyton – 20 years ago while out walking in a heatwave. Barely feigning sunstroke, we were refused so much as a glass of tap water - we weren’t in jackets and ties.

Today – though Blyton is still very much in evidence, with her treasured old putter proudly displayed – the feel is very different. The new Californian owners – David Suruki and Kathy Tatar – could not be more welcoming or forward-thinking.

Neither has owned a golf club before but David, 54, is a businessman while Kathy, 55, is an interior designer.

In two years, the Studland course has been honed, the menu transformed and the decor updated: the old elitist ways are gone.

“We’ve relaxed the dress code,” says Kathy. “We’re open for everybody, not just members, and that includes children.”

A couple back in college, the two are now just good friends. David adds: “Kathy has an artistic flair, she’s friendly and she’s organised.

“I’m a number cruncher and I handle the golf. We make a really good combination.”

I can’t resist asking whether romance could ever again be on the cards.

“Who knows what will happen?” says David sweetly. “Never say never.”

Find out more at purbeckgolf.co.uk