The St Mellion resort in Cornwall, England, has reopened after a £20 million transformation, including rebuilding the hotel and a major renovation of the Nicklaus signature golf course.

New owner Crown Golf has spent a year refurbishing the course, the first Nicklaus track in the UK when it opened in 1988, ahead of the return of the English Open in 2011. A new 80-bedroom hotel has also opened at the resort.

“Visitors to St Mellion now have both accommodation and golf facilities which befit our stunning Cornish location,” said Stephen Lewis, Crown Golf’s chief executive. “And our members can be enormously proud that their golf club now bears comparison with any in Europe."

The resort’s other eighteen, now renamed the Kernow Resort Course has also been updated, with £2.5m spent on a major bunker rebuilding programme, plus remodelled greens, new tees, a new cart path network and new fairway irrigation.