England/Wales trip set--- your thoughts

[mike_malone]

A friend of mine put this together.
St. George's Hill 6/16
Staunton East 6/17
St. Enodoc 6/18
Burnham/Berrow 6/20
Southerndown 6/21
Pennard 6/22
Royal Porthcawl 6/23

[Benjamin Litman]

Looks great, but I'd (strongly) suggest trying to fit in Westward Ho! (Royal North Devon) on your way to Wales. Enjoy.

[Richard Fisher]

So would I (personally I would choose a day at RND over one at Saunton maybe seven times out of ten). One slight caution about the pre-Welsh part of the trip: that is an awful lot of driving after 36 (?) holes (at least three hours in one or two cases), and not a lot of motorway or dual carriageway either, e.g. from Saunton to St Enedoc. A fabulous, but tiring week in prospect!

[Thomas Dai]

That's a fair few miles on British motorways and other assorted roads. A rest day planned for the 19th June? If so, not a bad idea.
Atb

[Bill_McBride]

That's a bunch of great courses.  Porthcawl and Pennard are high in my pantheon. 

[Mark Chaplin]

Interesting trip, if you are based in the Dormy at Royal Porthcawl the Welsh leg can be done from one base.

SGH is an odd bed fellow personally I'd get down west to St Enodoc straight away and work upto Wales but getting tee times often dictates a routing.

[mike_malone]

We sent an email to the Secretary at Swinley but got no reply.

[mike_malone]

We booked a B+B in Porthcawl for three nights.

[Bill_McBride]

We booked a B+B in Porthcawl for three nights.

I would look at an inn in Swansea on the Mumbles, the road on the water west of Swansea, close to Pennard, and offering a lot more dining and drinking opportunities than Porthcawl, which is a dead zone.  It's handy to Pennard, Porthcawl and Southerndown and the M4.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Looks fun and I think your friend has done a decent job.  Presumably you are flying via Heathrow so SGH and RP make sense.
 
At the risk of upsetting your friend I'm not sure what Suanton East offers in adding variety to your trip and there will be lots of 'b' road time.  It all depends on your tastes, but for a wild ride it's hard to beat Perranporth and it's a lot closer to St Enedoc (even if its' further away!).

[JJShanley]

Mike:


Remember that Irn Bru and Gregg's Steak Bake is the Breakfast of Champions while over the U.K.


JJS

[Brad Treadwell]

We booked a B+B in Porthcawl for three nights.
 

I would look at an inn in Swansea on the Mumbles, the road on the water west of Swansea, close to Pennard, and offering a lot more dining and drinking opportunities than Porthcawl, which is a dead zone.  It's handy to Pennard, Porthcawl and Southerndown and the M4.

+1We did Southerndown, Pennard, and Porthcawl in that order, which worked well.  Stayed at the Dragon Inn in Swansea.  Plenty of places to eat and drink within walking distance.  Have a great trip.

[Adam Lawrence]

Mike:


Remember that Irn Bru and Gregg's Steak Bake is the Breakfast of Champions while over the U.K.


JJS

Irn Bru is a Scottish perversion, you'll struggle to find it in most stores in England.

[Ryan Coles]

Southerndown is vastly over rated by most on this site. Play an extra game at Porthcawl or play Pyle & Kenfig instead, if must play in Wales.

[John Mayhugh]

Southerndown is vastly over rated by most on this site. Play an extra game at Porthcawl or play Pyle & Kenfig instead, if must play in Wales.

Ryan,
What do you see as the major drawbacks to Southerndown?  Just stating that a course is vastly overrated by the masses but offering no explanation why does not seem very helpful.  I thought Porthcawl was a little better, but the margin was not so large as to skip a trip to Southerndown. 

Mike,
If you want to see Swinley, I suggest sending a nicely worded letter (with stamp, not email).  I suspect you will have a better result.

[Sean_A]

As Spangles suggests, if you want to see wild n' wooly, consider passing up Saunton for Perranporth.  This will give you an opportunity to spend three nights in the same bed.  Or, consider playing St Enodoc twice....its one of the best courses in England and worth a second look. 


Ciao
 

[Mark Chaplin]

Write a nice letter to Mrs Fleming the assistant secretary at Swinley Forest, preferably with a fountain pen. Appear too modern and they'll think you'll have a baseball cap on and demand a buggy.

[Ryan Coles]

Southerndown is vastly over rated by most on this site. Play an extra game at Porthcawl or play Pyle & Kenfig instead, if must play in Wales.

Ryan,
What do you see as the major drawbacks to Southerndown?  Just stating that a course is vastly overrated by the masses but offering no explanation why does not seem very helpful.  I thought Porthcawl was a little better, but the margin was not so large as to skip a trip to Southerndown. 

Mike,
If you want to see Swinley, I suggest sending a nicely worded letter (with stamp, not email).  I suspect you will have a better result.

The drawbacks for me was goat shit everywhere. The course is sort of a hybrid that just didn't really work for me. I found it bleak and in poor condition and I'm struggling to remember any holes other than 1 & 18. I think as with most renowned courses in Wales they'd be a much smaller deal in England or Scotland. There are better courses for less money and I can't fathom that someone from overseas would include it in an itenary and drive past loads of better courses. It has nothing like the interest, sense of occasion or quality that Porthcawl has.


But what do I know? I can't fathom why anyone would skip Saunton to play Perranporth.

[John Mayhugh]

The drawbacks for me was goat shit everywhere. The course is sort of a hybrid that just didn't really work for me. I found it bleak and in poor condition and I'm struggling to remember any holes other than 1 & 18. I think as with most renowned courses in Wales they'd be a much smaller deal in England or Scotland. There are better courses for less money and I can't fathom that someone from overseas would include it in an itenary and drive past loads of better courses. It has nothing like the interest, sense of occasion or quality that Porthcawl has.


But what do I know? I can't fathom why anyone would skip Saunton to play Perranporth.

Thanks for the reply.  It seems like your opinion of Southerndown was influenced significantly by conditioning.  Have you played Pennard?  I have only visited each a single time, but thought that Southerndown's conditioning was quite a bit better.  Pennard was still the better course, though.

If you don't remember the 2nd, 5th, & 7th from Southerndown, you really need to give it another try. 

Do you live in the UK?   I've played lots of course in England that are decidedly not first tier, but the second and third tier courses are generally really interesting - and high quality. Variety (like in the Perranporth example) has a lot of appeal for me.

[Ed Tilley]

But what do I know? I can't fathom why anyone would skip Saunton to play Perranporth.

It depends what you want. Perranporth is a wild rollercoaster that will be quite unlike, I imagine, anything they've ever seen before. Some, like you, may dislike it. Others, like me, may absolutely love it. Logistically, it probably works better on this trip than Saunton which is a bit of an outlier when you are going to St. Enodoc anyway.

Saunton East is a very solid course - a championship test, whatever that means. I like it, and I like the West as well - I've got a trip planned to Saunton this August. I'm also in Croyde in October with family and will no doubt play it again then. I'm not sure I'd want to play it in June though - the rough will be brutal.

[Ryan Coles]

But what do I know? I can't fathom why anyone would skip Saunton to play Perranporth.

It depends what you want. Perranporth is a wild rollercoaster that will be quite unlike, I imagine, anything they've ever seen before. Some, like you, may dislike it. Others, like me, may absolutely love it. Logistically, it probably works better on this trip than Saunton which is a bit of an outlier when you are going to St. Enodoc anyway.

Saunton East is a very solid course - a championship test, whatever that means. I like it, and I like the West as well - I've got a trip planned to Saunton this August. I'm also in Croyde in October with family and will no doubt play it again then. I'm not sure I'd want to play it in June though - the rough will be brutal.

I'm not ashamed to admit that scenery and views play a big part for me. I think that's mullion in your picture?

[Ryan Coles]

The drawbacks for me was goat shit everywhere. The course is sort of a hybrid that just didn't really work for me. I found it bleak and in poor condition and I'm struggling to remember any holes other than 1 & 18. I think as with most renowned courses in Wales they'd be a much smaller deal in England or Scotland. There are better courses for less money and I can't fathom that someone from overseas would include it in an itenary and drive past loads of better courses. It has nothing like the interest, sense of occasion or quality that Porthcawl has.


But what do I know? I can't fathom why anyone would skip Saunton to play Perranporth.

Thanks for the reply.  It seems like your opinion of Southerndown was influenced significantly by conditioning.  Have you played Pennard?  I have only visited each a single time, but thought that Southerndown's conditioning was quite a bit better.  Pennard was still the better course, though.

If you don't remember the 2nd, 5th, & 7th from Southerndown, you really need to give it another try. 

Do you live in the UK?   I've played lots of course in England that are decidedly not first tier, but the second and third tier courses are generally really interesting - and high quality. Variety (like in the Perranporth example) has a lot of appeal for me.

John


You're probably right, I should give it another go perhaps at a different time of year. I didn't really fully appreciate Porthcawl until about the third visit.


It could well be that it was a miserable day and I was miserable and I'm being harsh. I've not played Pennard, but I think I'd like it, from what I've seen and read. I genuinely don't think Southerndown would get quite as many plaudits if it were in the West Country, Kent or Lancashire.

[Ed Tilley]

But what do I know? I can't fathom why anyone would skip Saunton to play Perranporth.

It depends what you want. Perranporth is a wild rollercoaster that will be quite unlike, I imagine, anything they've ever seen before. Some, like you, may dislike it. Others, like me, may absolutely love it. Logistically, it probably works better on this trip than Saunton which is a bit of an outlier when you are going to St. Enodoc anyway.

Saunton East is a very solid course - a championship test, whatever that means. I like it, and I like the West as well - I've got a trip planned to Saunton this August. I'm also in Croyde in October with family and will no doubt play it again then. I'm not sure I'd want to play it in June though - the rough will be brutal.

I'm not ashamed to admit that scenery and views play a big part for me. I think that's mullion in your picture?

I'm not ashamed either. A big part of the attraction of golf for me is being out in beautiful locations - e.g. Perranporth, St. Enodoc, Mullion (one of my absolute favourites), Pennard, Southerndown - and Nefyn & District (picture is of the 13th green). Somewhere like Saunton stands and falls on its architectural merit to an extent that other more scenic courses don't.

Saunton is clearly a better course than Perranporth but I look forward to playing Perranporth as much or more than any course. I'm not trying to convince you as you have an opinion of the course that, while I disagree, I can completely understand - I'm not blind to the faults I just think the positive far outweigh these. I just thought it might be a better course for visiting US golfers to experience - particularly as they are playing B&B and Porthcawl.

[Thomas Dai]

If you were on a tight budget you could have quite a nice trip along the same coastline without playing any of the more famous named courses mentioned - West Cornwall, Newquay, Trevose, Bude, Minehead, Weston s-m, Clevedon, Swansea Bay, Langland Bay, Clyne(?), Machynys, Ashburnham, Tenby. Not saying all of these are in the class of any of those mentioned earlier but there's pretty decent golf to be found if you look for it, and as mentioned on another current thread, even lessor courses are likely to have some merit.
Atb

[mike_malone]

You guys are the best!