There are several factors which make the present course what it is. The course was used as a big military camp in both World Wars, and most of the dunes were flattened. There are some quite famous old prints of Conwy which show RCD-like dunes - sadly nle. There is still a trace of the railway track on which the defence guns were mounted on the left of the 7th hole and a pill box, too. During the Second World War a large part of Mulberry Harbour was constructed in a large dug out area where now the marina and associated housing are. They then opened a gap into the estuary, flooded the dug out and floated the bits of Mulberry Harbour all the way to France. I think it was thought that the German spies wouldn't associate this location with a possible invasion of France.
That area then reverted to salt marsh and the road to the club used to wind down through the reeds directly from the town. It was almost as evocative as the lane to RW Norfolk. But Conwy was one of the worst spots for traffic hold ups on the old A55 coast road, particularly so in summer and also with an ever increasing number of heavy lorries going to and from the ferry port at Holyhead. So it was decided to build a tunnel under the Conwy estuary and they did it in exactly the same way that the Mulberry Harbour was built, floating the pieces out into the estuary from the same construction point. Unfortunately, the route for the new road came through part of the old course. What is now the 16th used to be a fine dog-leg to the right, quite a long par 4 played from about the same position as today's medal tee with a ditch on the right where the fairway turned. The green was about in the middle of today's dual carriageway. I think that must have been the 15th, because the present 13th is a new hole put in when the road was built. I can't any longer visualise the old 16th, but it played back through the gorse to a green somewhere about today's fiendish landing zone on the 17th. As I said earlier, the old 17th was a par 3 played from where you found sanctuary to the right of the 18th fairway down to today's 17th green. The new 13th, 16th and rearranged 17th were designed (if that is the right word) by Brian Huggett and Neil Coles. The 2nd is quite a new green put in by David Williams about 5 years ago. The previous green was in the same spot but lower down and prone to flooding in wet periods.
The order of play has also changed and other alterations I can think of include the present 4th green dog-legged to the left, which was introduced about 25 years ago, I should think. The old hole actually curved right to a green over the track that leeds to the present 5th tee. You can still see vestiges of it. In those days it was not the 4th - the order being different. The 6th (par 3) used to play to a green low down beside the winter 7th tee - about 200 yards and it is occasionally used as a winter green even today. The present 7th, a long par 4, is a considerable reworking of a par 5 which played from a tee much further back. I think it was abandoned when the new 13th was put in, perhaps earlier. You will see in many places (alongside the 8th and 9th fairways, 4th and 5th, too) what appear to be grass bunkers but once were sand bunkers defending greens which have long been abandoned. The rather dull green on the short 15th was introduced when watering for the greens was installed. Previously it had been a punchbowl and was much missed when it disappeared.
Conwy has had championship status for many years but golf in Wales was underfunded compared with, say, the Lancashire coast, so almost all the alterations have been done by the club itself using its own green staff. It shows in the blandness of greens such as the 4th and 16th which are in no way tied into the surroundings. They contrast starkly with the 2nd which, although the newest green, has been properly designed by a professional architect. Quite a lot of new or reworked bunkering has been put in in recent years, mostly to fit it to championship play. I just wonder if the drive area bunkers are far enough out from the tee. We shall see.