I just got home from my trip to South Wales. I played nine courses in five days, and I’ll give impressions of the first four now. For work-related reasons, there were a few that I was obligated to play. You’ll probably figure out which they were.
Sunday
St. Pierre (Old)
A shotmaker’s course…the holes at the higher elevations are very dramatic…the last hole is a superb, long par 3…I enjoyed the course, a very solid parkland layout, but was anxious to get to the sea…I also played the Mathern; not much to say about that one.
Monday
Pyle and Kenfig
My first links course, and a great introduction…the commanding view of the sea from holes 1-9 is exhilirating…the condition of the greens was consistently superb; easily the best conditioning of all the greens I played on in South Wales, even Wentwood Hills’ bent…what everybody says about 11-15 is correct: an absolutely superb stretch of holes played through the dunes…13 (a dogleg right, blind tee shot, with a green set in a dell) is a terrific, short, fun hole…the club would love to add more holes in the dunes, but it’s a very popular public park and beach area…the guy I played it with grew up at P&K, and he took me to a spot where you could see where nine holes could be added; my goodness, those dunes would be amazing to play through.
Porthcawl
I didn’t hear any debate: everybody’s choice as the best in South Wales…I’ve read that it’s better than several on the rota; it wouldn’t surprise me; a sublime setting, and a very stiff and creative test…I absolutely loved the old, breezy clubhouse. Some Welsh I talked to would like to see it razed, but I wouldn’t change a thing. An American club would pay millions to have a tradition-laden building like that…the beach is huge, and incredibly beautiful…holes 1-3 are just fabulous; that has to be one of the best starts in seaside golf…the bunkers are very scary, and so is the rough…the course played very firm and quick…is there a more nerve-wracking approach than the one at 2, with OB immediately behind the elevated green?…the greens at 4 and 5 have the potential to be downright evil, severely sloped…the routing of the course is absolute genius, moving in all directions through the wind…the halfway house is a delight…those bunkers at 16 are preposterously huge…the locals say Tiger flew those bunkers at 16 during the Walker Cup; I was playing with a Welsh pro who’s played 16 hundreds of times and never has done that...18 is a brilliant finish with phenomenal undulation in the green…have a Pimm’s on the veranda after the round; that’s as close to heaven as I've ever been.
Next…Tuesday...at Ashburnham and the outrageous Pennard