Ally
To be clear, I don't believe Porthcawl to be humdrum - this conversation wouldn't take place if it weren't a very good golf course.
I too like the 2nd, but to play devil's advocate, three holes running in the same direction (and to some degree feel very similar) throttles the excellence of the hole - still not a bad start considering the 3 hole march. In any case, I wouldn't say 3 and 4 are all-world. #4 is very fine though. On the general point of the par 3s, yes, as a set I agree they are very good with the 7th dragging the group down a bit. On the other hand, the par 5s are very wanting. They have a field-like quality to them which is off-putting - and are probably over-used as transitions holes concerning elevation change. I am surprised a par 3 wasn't used for this purpose to balance out the changes between the 3s, 4s and 5s. Though again, I agree concerning the new 12th green - very good improvement.
While I think the use of elevation change and wind is very good, the property reminds me of Dornoch, yet I don't believe Porthcawl pulls it off as well. Two totally different approaches to the split level property with Porthcawl going up and down much more often. Even so, chuck in a drivable par 4 (maybe re-jig the 10th or 6th or both?), muck with the 5s a bit (biggest problem) and find a way to break up the similarly aimed tee shots for 1-3 and Porthcawl would be every bit the course Dornoch is. As it is now, Porthcawl is just shy of great, but again I don't know what this really means in terms of world top 100. I do think Deal tops Porthcawl and it is often ranked not far from Porthcawl in GB&I - but for some reason (I don't think Welsh representation plays a part in this) this similar ranking is carried forward in terms of world ranking. Interestingly, in the wonderful unofficial GCA.com rankings both (and Pennard) are every close - hovering not far over 100. I think this is a reasonable outcome no matter which order one chooses. Also interesting is that I currently place Porthcawl between 30-40 in GB&I, but I haven't seen some significant courses. So it could be as low as 40-50 GB&I. We aren't that far off our rankings. Perhaps its a matter of me having higher standards for greatness - tee hee.
Ciao