Wales Golf Choices with 6-7 days

[James Brown]

Am contemplating a summer 2018 golf trip to Wales, anchoring around Royal Porthcawl and Pennard.  Landing in London. 


What would you play on the way from Heathrow and around these two greats?  Tenby?  Kenfig?  Southerndown? 


Also interested in lodging recommendations.

[Tom_Doak]

James:


I strongly recommend making a day's stop before you get to Wales to play Minchinhampton Old Course, or Painswick, or Cleeve Cloud.  They are not far out of your way to Bristol before you go over the bridge to Wales.  None of them are anything like you'd find anywhere else.


After Porthcawl and Pennard, Southerndown would be the 3rd best course in south Wales to play.  Pyle & Kenfig is alright, but not special.  Tenby is a bit more special, but much further afield, and I do not think it's better than any of the three suggested in my first paragraph.

[jeffwarne]

Given you're flying into Heathrow....
plenty of great choices there on arrival and departure.


Tom's got some good suggestions as well.


Just kind've depends on how far you want to drive.


6-7 days -in Wales only-is a long time
I'm more of a fan of north Wales because South Wales is more urban, though the courses are quite unurban (the drives into Southerndown and  Pennard are beautiful-Pennard is especially beautiful-esp on the course)


In south Wales, in order of preference
Pennard
Tenby
Porthcawl
Southerndown
Clyne
Ashburnham
P&K


That said, if I had 6-7 days in Wales only, I would definitely go north(not nearby) and play Aberdovey, and Borth and Ynlas is fun and on the way. Royal St. David's, Bull Bay, Nefyn and District, Pwiheli, Porthmadog,North Wales. Holyhead(which I haven't played)

[James Brown]

Thanks Tom and Jeff:


These are some great suggestions.  Thanks very much.   I am a big believer in playing great courses 3-4 times.  36 hole days are easy and enjoyable in the British isles. And Pennard and Porthcawl are on that list. 


Minchinhampton looks like my kind of upland course.


Jeff:  Would love to get up North in Wales.  Will have a solid week in the U.K. after a trip to continent next July and am weighing Wales vs. a trip flying to Manchester and playing Silouth, Lytham, Birkdale, Hoyklake, and Nefyn.

[jeffwarne]

Thanks Tom and Jeff:


These are some great suggestions.  Thanks very much.   I am a big believer in playing great courses 3-4 times.  36 hole days are easy and enjoyable in the British isles. And Pennard and Porthcawl are on that list. 


Minchinhampton looks like my kind of upland course.


Jeff:  Would love to get up North in Wales.  Will have a solid week in the U.K. after a trip to continent next July and am weighing Wales vs. a trip flying to Manchester and playing Silouth, Lytham, Birkdale, Hoyklake, and Nefyn.

On that trip I'd play Formby or something else close to that area rather than traipsing across North Wales just for Nefyn

[Garland Bayley]

I really liked Tenby. However, when I was there in 2014, they had a problem growing grass, and suggested everyone play preferred lies. Since I learned in a cow pasture with preferred lies in play everyday, that was not a big deal to me. Anyone know if they got the grass back?

[Adrian_Stiff]

I really liked Tenby. However, when I was there in 2014, they had a problem growing grass, and suggested everyone play preferred lies. Since I learned in a cow pasture with preferred lies in play everyday, that was not a big deal to me. Anyone know if they got the grass back?

Tenby is back to normal now. Porthcawl - Pennard - Ashburnham - Pyle & Kenfig - Southerndown - Tenby are probably the best six. A Swansea base would make sense. Clyne, Langland Bay are also worth a game.

[Sean_A]

James

If Minch Old etc are too far off the M4 you can try Players Club Stranahan course or Cumberwell Park Orange 9.  Both are new courses with interesting designs that shouldn't be over-taxing for the 1st day of golf just off the plane.   

Southerndown is a must play near Porthcawl.  Tenby is the next best in the general area...its about 1.5 hours west of Pennard. Clyne is easy to play as its less than 10 minutes from Pennard.  P&K and Ashburnham are not special and should be reserved as back up courses. 

Should our diaries match, I am happy to give you a game at Burnham. The club is 30 minutes from the M4/M5 junction.

If you want to stay in a quiet spot, close to a beach, a few simple "restaurants" and a pub...try

http://www.culverhousehotel.co.uk/

Swansea isn't a great city, but if ya have to have it...dead centre there is Morgans and Premier Inn...both have parking. There are also big hotels in the Martime Quarter...not too far a walk from the centre. The Mumbles is just down the road from Swansea...though I am not a fan of the place and places to stay are sparse. 

I tend to think of heading off to Huntercombe, Painswick etc as a separate trip given only 6-7 days and as much as 3-4 days devoted to Pennard and Porthcawl.  It makes more sense to focus on the courses directly enroute or near the must sees.   

My suggestion would be something like

1: Burnham or Stranahan or Orange 9

2: Porthcawl

3. Pennard

4: Pennard

5: S'down

6:  Burnham (if couldn't do day 1) or one of many heathland courses near Heathrow...Woking would be my suggestion

7: If time allows another heathland course...if not...fly

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

Royal Porthcawl, Pyle & Kenfig, Ashburnham and Tenby all have onsite dormy accommodation. Royal Porthcawls is particularly fine.
Pennard doesn't have onsite dormy accommodation but, Clyne, only a few mins away does and Clyne is worth playing and if you stay at Clyne the Secretary can arrange games at Pennard.
If you don't want to stay onsite at a golf club then the Rose & Crown at Nottage, 5 mins from Royal Porthcawl/P&K/Southerndown would be a good base.
On the way from Heathrow to S Wales a game at Minchinhampton Old, Painswick or Cleeve would be good choices and a very different experience.
There's a nice Colt course called Radyr in Cardiff that's worth a game if you fancy experiencing traditional and inland. Similarly Rogerstone at Newport and then there's Braids heathland/upland at Neath.
Further away there's Cardigan, but that increases the drive.


Atb


PS - I note nobody has mentioned the 2010 at Celtic Manor! Actually it's okay, but why travel several thousand miles to play something you could play at home in warmer weather?

[Richard Fisher]

Agree warmly with Thomas and Sean, not least re the merits of the Porthcawl dormy and of the Rose and Crown in Nottage.

One alternative I have often recommended for those en route from Heathrow to South Wales is Huntercombe, which is 45 minutes' drive from the airport (on a good day) via Henley (a lovely riverside town). From Huntercombe there is a very pretty, although quite tricky, drive back to the M4 at Newbury and onwards to S Wales. The counter-advantage of (say) Minch Old or Painswick is that you can (if you want) go on through the Cotswolds and access South Wales from the northern side and avoid the Severn Bridge. The stretch of motorway from Newport through to Junction 37 for Porthcawl can get very busy (only a 4-lane highway). The other suggested stop-off en route to South Wales (of a very different kind) is an afternoon in Bath, where the golf-obsessed can try one of the most beautifully situated pitch-and-putt courses in the world on High Common, 100 yards behind the Royal Crescent.

Going to North Wales just to play at Nefyn is not a sane thing to do. Nefyn is a lovely spot to hit golf shots, but emphatically not a great golf course. Conwy (where the 2020 Curtis Cup played is to be played) and North Wales at Llandudno provide altogether more GCA-appeal enjoyment, but for the truly real deal in the upper half of Wales you need to head to what Bernard Darwin would have known as Merionethshire, to his beloved Aberdovey and my beloved Harlech, which are both in a different league. A day at Formby, rather than driving a long way across the top of Wales to Nefyn, wins hands down if yours is basically a north-west outing.

Hope this helps! Wales is a fabulous, cheap and under-acknowledged part of the UK for the golf tourist.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Played with a delightful chap from Wales on Sunday. He said that at Nefyn the picturesque holes had been closed by the council on H&S grounds. If so the website is yet to get up to speed.
Worth checking with the Club, if planning a visit.

[John Mayhugh]

Here's a trip that Jason Topp and I did when Buda was in Wales.  It gives you a sense of the courses but not much architecture detail.  As of now, photobucket hasn't blown up the photo links.
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,45997.0.html

I like the suggestion of trying to play Cleeve Hill.  It's about 2 hours from LHR, so go straight there after you arrive.  From there, you're less than 30 minutes from Painswick if you wanted to add it.  If you play both, Painswick first and then Cleeve Hill, and stay overnight in Cheltenham.

If you don't mind a bit more time in the car, Kington is well worth the detour.  It's about 1.5 hours from Cheltenham and you won't regret seeing it.  After Kington, drive down to Swansea or Porthcawl is maybe 2 hours. 

The detours I've recommended add about 3 hours of driving when compared with going straight to south Wales.  But the courses are well worth seeing, and this is a relatively easy way to work them into a trip. 

Agree that you don't want to miss Pennard, Porthcawl, and Southerndown.  I think Clyne is also worth adding, but if you could make Burnham & Berrow work...

[jeffwarne]

Played with a delightful chap from Wales on Sunday. He said that at Nefyn the picturesque holes had been closed by the council on H&S grounds. If so the website is yet to get up to speed.
Worth checking with the Club, if planning a visit.

Are they closing the ocean too?

[Adrian_Stiff]

Here's a trip that Jason Topp and I did when Buda was in Wales.  It gives you a sense of the courses but not much architecture detail.  As of now, photobucket hasn't blown up the photo links.
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,45997.0.html

I like the suggestion of trying to play Cleeve Hill.  It's about 2 hours from LHR, so go straight there after you arrive.  From there, you're less than 30 minutes from Painswick if you wanted to add it.  If you play both, Painswick first and then Cleeve Hill, and stay overnight in Cheltenham.

If you don't mind a bit more time in the car, Kington is well worth the detour.  It's about 1.5 hours from Cheltenham and you won't regret seeing it.  After Kington, drive down to Swansea or Porthcawl is maybe 2 hours. 

The detours I've recommended add about 3 hours of driving when compared with going straight to south Wales.  But the courses are well worth seeing, and this is a relatively easy way to work them into a trip. 

Agree that you don't want to miss Pennard, Porthcawl, and Southerndown.  I think Clyne is also worth adding, but if you could make Burnham & Berrow work...

We do stay and Play breaks in the Cotswolds, if you do think about Painswick, Minchinhampton Old or Cleeve Hill, I can do any number from 1-24 persons. If you head down the M4 you come off at junction 18 and head north on the A46. Minchinhampton is 25 minutes north, Painswick 35 minutes, Cleeve Cloud is an hour though. Our Cottages are 20 minutes north, but only 10 minutes from the M5 which is 20 minutes from the Welsh border, you could do Painswick and Minch as a 36 holes even starting at 11.00 in the summer! They are 15-20 minutes apart. Painswick IMO is a unique experience.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I'm not sure why no one has mentioned Royal St. David's but I wouldn't plan a trip without seeing it. The town is worth the trip and the course is very good. The front nine doesn't knock your socks off but it is solid. The back nine is just wonderful. I would skip P&K. The front nine is dreadful. The back nine is excellent. Play the back nine and skip the front.


I would also suggest Bull Bay. It is in northwest Wales on Anglesey. It is a Herbert Fowler deesing and not like anything ou have ever played. It is brilliantly routed and has some exceptional holes.

[Jason Topp]

Here's a trip that Jason Topp and I did when Buda was in Wales.  It gives you a sense of the courses but not much architecture detail.  As of now, photobucket hasn't blown up the photo links.
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,45997.0.html

I like the suggestion of trying to play Cleeve Hill.  It's about 2 hours from LHR, so go straight there after you arrive.  From there, you're less than 30 minutes from Painswick if you wanted to add it.  If you play both, Painswick first and then Cleeve Hill, and stay overnight in Cheltenham.

If you don't mind a bit more time in the car, Kington is well worth the detour.  It's about 1.5 hours from Cheltenham and you won't regret seeing it.  After Kington, drive down to Swansea or Porthcawl is maybe 2 hours. 

The detours I've recommended add about 3 hours of driving when compared with going straight to south Wales.  But the courses are well worth seeing, and this is a relatively easy way to work them into a trip. 

Agree that you don't want to miss Pennard, Porthcawl, and Southerndown.  I think Clyne is also worth adding, but if you could make Burnham & Berrow work...

Might have been my favorite golf trip.  The courses are worth seeing and I felt like I was travelling rather than following a well worn tourist path.

[Richard Fisher]

Tommy
Sorry = Harlech and Royal St David's are the same thing (like Hoylake and Royal Liverpool). Apologies for any confusion.

Getting from South Wales to North Wales remains logistically challenging (famously, to do so by train means that you have to leave Wales for England, and then come back again), and from Porthcawl to (say) Aberdovey in mid-Wales can be a good four hour run on almost entirely single-track country roads. What may seem to be relatively small distances on Google Maps are not, I promise you, the same as driving along 120 miles of freeway...

[James Brown]

Love all these suggestions! 


I also love all the feedback about Nefyn.  Still gonna drive there just to see it some day!

[Ed Tilley]

I would add as a suggestion Cardigan golf club. This is sort of south/mid Wales and about an hour and a half drive from Tenby - I did that drive this year. That part of the world is very beautiful. I did a course tour on it but all the photos seem to not be working - it looks like photobucket no longer support 3rd party hosting without a subscription. I really like the course which has some fantastic holes and amazing views.

My view is you're in Wales so do a Wales trip and leave England for another time.

[Duncan Cheslett]

As others have intimated, North Wales and South Wales are completely separate areas and it is not really feasible to combine them.


South Wales is a logistic fit with south west England, while North Wales is to all intents and purposes the back yard of Manchester and Liverpool

[Charles Lund]

I appreciate this thread being here.

I am thinking about a trip next late spring/early summer.  Have option of open jaw type flight itinerary from Seattle area on Icelandair, with connection in Reykjavik, on to Manchester.   

Thinking about car rental in Manchester with drop off in Bristol and flight to Ireland on Ryanair or train elsewhere, ultimately connecting with Icelandair return flight from one of cities they now serve, which includes Belfast.

Considering about two weeks in Wales, with multiple plays on Royal St. Davids and Royal Porthcawl, plus a few others.

My usual May/June trip to Ireland is complicated by Irish Open at my preferred golf destination and base in Donegal, so am thinking about options.  Like May and June due to longer daylight and less tourism in some areas.

Any suggestions about better travel times?

Charles Lund

[Thomas Dai]

Charles,
You should be able to cover all the better courses round the coast of Wales in two weeks and late spring/early summer is the time of year I would aim for. Try to avoid the Welsh/UK Easter school holiday period though.
In addition to the courses I mentioned in my post above, Aberdovey, Royal St Davids/Harlech and Newport Links (Pembs) all have onsite dormie accommodation.
As to inland courses Welshpool would be worth a visit and, although it's just in England, so would Kington.
By the way, if it helps, Icelandair also fly into Birmingham.
Atb

[Mark Chaplin]

Is it me or is it pushing it to describe Royal Porthcawl and Pennard as "greats".


Nefyn was pretty disappointing bar the pub on the beach. The club refused to serve champagne before we teed off as well, most odd. The back 9 is dangerous for golfers let alone the walkers all over the course.

[Tim Martin]

The club refused to serve champagne before we teed off as well, most odd.

How did you endure? You guys really rough it over there.

[Thomas Dai]

Is it me or is it pushing it to describe Royal Porthcawl and Pennard as "great".

If only circumstances were such that Pennard could have Royal Porthcawls conditioning. If only......
Atb