Today through Sunday the Golf Channel will be televising all the action from the Wales Open which is being played on the Celtic Manor Twenty Ten course, venue for Ryder Cup 2010. Unfortunately neither the competitors nor the viewers will experience what the best of Wales golf has to offer. While Twenty Ten is a rather ordinary parkland course, as Major Haversham writes here, Welsh golf clubs offer the links lover an experience well worth leaving home for. In a week, one can travel the coast line from north Wales to mid Wales and on to south Wales in a journey that looks like the letter “C”, play a different links course every day and never play a course that is anything like any course on the other side of the Atlantic.
Here are my five best reasons to play golf in Wales.
1. The Course Deserves an Open
There is considerable debate, among those prone to debate such matters, as to whether Royal Porthcawl is a true links course owing to the absence of dunes. There is no question that it is seaside and windswept with a plethora of gorse and tall grasses. And, there is no question that it is a fine test of golf—perhaps the finest among the hundred or so in Wales and deserving to be considered among the top twenty in Britain and Ireland. These merits are demonstrated by the fact that it has hosted every major championship save the Open. Included are a Curtis Cup, the Walker Cup in 1995, two Senior Opens, and and seven Amateur Championships. Many believe, as do I, that Porthcawl deserves an Open. We also believe at #85 on the Golf Magazine’s Top 100 list, the course is way under-rated.
Insider’s tip: the clubhouse serves the best Welsh Rarebit anywhere.
2. The Best Welsh Backside Since Zeta-Jones
There was a time when I wrote that Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club (“P&K” as it affectionately known to its members) had the best backside in all of Wales but then I saw Catherine Zeta-Jones (who hails from Mumbles near Swansea) in Chicago. Now I hasten to add that P&B has the best backside in Welsh golf. And a splendid one it is.
While I enjoy the flattish stroll through the first ten holes, for me the course truly begins at the 11th with a secession of five straight holes that weave their way through massive dunes. The 13th and 14th holes are particularly noteworthy. The 369 yard par four 13th is challenging to par despite its lack of length and the total absence of bunkering. It requires a well-placed drive of at least 225 yards between dunes covered in thick grasses in order to fully open the green through the right dogleg. The second shot must pass through a narrow entrance to a green set amid very large sandbanks. The elevated tee of the 416 yard 14th offers panoramic views of the Bristol Channel as well as helps with the long carry to the fairway. The Punch Bowl green is well guarded by dunes and bunkers with treacherous slopes that make it easy to three putt. The golfer who successfully negotiates this dunesland stretch is rewarded by as difficult a three hole finish as there is in links golf, particularly when the prevailing wind blows in from the Channel. All three holes are par fours and all three are well in excess of 400 yards (424, 439, 425). A great finish not to be missed by a golfer visiting Wales.
3. Walk with the Animals
There was a time when most links golfers had to share their ground with various species of grazing animals. In Wales, some still do. And we’re not talking about backwater, rinky dink layouts but rather some of the finest courses in Great Britain and Ireland. At Southerndown, you play over, around and through the sheep. At Zeta-Jones home club, Pennard, its wild ponies. And at Aberdovey, which was founded by the familiar of legendary golf writer Bernard Darwin, the local cattle have the right of way. My advice? Play every one of these rugged unspoiled beauties and clean your golf ball often but don’t ever, ever lick it!
4. Romantic Golf
If you have ever considered taking that special someone in your life on a golf trip, Wales is the place. Whether it’s the magnificent sea views from the courses, the majesty of Caernarfon Castle where the Prince of Wales is traditionally crowned or the vistas from the mountains of Snowdonia, the place is drop dead gorgeous. Even better, almost every Welsh course you’ll want to play is very near a member of the collection of romantic inns and country house hotels called the Welsh Rarebits.
5. It’s Always on Sale
Nefyn & District Golf Club has been called the poor man’s Old Head because its setting is every bit as dramatic as that of the Irish course but it costs about 80% less to play. That isn’t to suggest that a golfing expedition to Wales saves that much over other links destinations but the savings are quite significant nonetheless. In fact, a week of links golf in Wales with accommodations, golf and ground transportation comparable to the quality found in most other areas of the Great Britain & Ireland links land costs $1000 to $2000 per person less. Sort of reminds me of the way Toyota introduced their Lexus luxury brand to the US market, pricing it well below other comparably equipped luxury cars. Then Toyota raised the price as Lexus gained market share. So if you want to play great links golf at a very attractive price, best go to Wales before the word gets out and their prices rise with their market share.
Mike Wright and his sons JJ, Steve & Nick experienced a week on all the best links in Wales. JJ compiled this album of their adventure which we cleverly entitled “Golfing Wales the Wright Way.”
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