[Michael Wolf]

I was disappointed to read that the Curtis Cup has understandably needed to been postponed for a year. Conwy was a golf course I thought I'd never heard of before. After some quick googling last night I found the Conwy/Caernarvonshire naming, and realized that in the Confidential Guide the course is listed under Caernarvonshire. The pictures of the host club on the Curtis Cup website look promising. But I wanted to make sure I've got this straight:

- Conwy is the name of the nearby ancient fortress
- The village between the castle and golf course is also called Conwy
- The golf club is Conwy
-The course itself goes by Conwy or Caernarvonshire, somewhat like Hoylake/Liverpool
- Caernarvonshire is the name of the county which Conwy is located in. And Caernarvonshire is the name most often used by locals when referring to that general part of Wales
Have I got all that right? Is Conwy more in use in golf circles simply a matter that it's easier to pronounce?

And for the course itself, Tom and Masa both have it as a "3". Would others agree? And if so, is it hosting a Curtis Cup? Is there a lot of money or strong R&A connections at the club? Or maybe a strong connection to top ladies amateur golf?

Thanks,
Michael

[Thomas Dai]

It is indeed a great shame that this difficult time has caused so much disruption and heartache throughout the world including the deferment amongst other things of the Curtis Cup.
As to Conwy, the settlement of Conwy and it's historic castle takes it's name from the River Conwy that exits into the sea in that area. Historically, like for centuries, the town of Conwy was in the Welsh County of Caernarvonshire, which covered the top left-hand corner of mainland north west Wales.
In the 1970's however, there was local government reorganisation and county boundaries throughout Wales were changed and Conway transferred to a newly named county of Clwyd. At the same time the county of Caernarvonshire disappeared into a new county called Gwynedd. Since then things have been re-organised yet again and the town of Conwy is now in County Conwy Borough. Clear as mud!
I believe the Club refers to itself as ‘Conwy (Carnarvonshire) Golf Club’.
atb

[Michael Wolf]

Thomas,


How would you rate the course? Any background on why/how it came to host a Curtis Cup?


Michael

[Sean_A]

Thomas,

How would you rate the course? Any background on why/how it came to host a Curtis Cup?

Michael

Michael

While not an exciting links, Conwy is much better than a 3. Doak must have been depressed when he saw the course 😮

For the must part Conwy is a local club. I was a bit surprised when it was awarded the Curtis Cup.

Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

It’s held a number of events over the last few years - https://www.conwygolfclub.com/the-club/history/ - which means their on friendly terms with the movers and shakers within UK golf plus it’s pretty conveniently located being fairly easily reachable from Manchester, Liverpool etc and the general UK motorway system. Lots of accommodation available too as the North Wales coast has long been a holiday destination.
Atb

[Tommy Williamsen]

Mark Rowlinson is a member or former member and knows the course well. I played the course about fifteen years ago and found it to be difficult and tight. It is relatively flat but hard to score on.

[jeffwarne]

Pretty cool(very recent!) link to Conwy-I didn't play it when I was in the area, opting for North Wales instead-looks like it would be fun
a few too many images of them swinging for my liking but...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1lJMcMcQGE&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1N3jphlQPkojvjIBr0SUHYlkpiUZTJCn0_IthkqAooGp6VG5fROYsUP0g

[Tommy Williamsen]

Pretty cool(very recent!) link to Conwy-I didn't play it when I was in the area, opting for North Wales instead-looks like it would be fun
a few too many images of them swinging for my liking but...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1lJMcMcQGE&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1N3jphlQPkojvjIBr0SUHYlkpiUZTJCn0_IthkqAooGp6VG5fROYsUP0g

The two courses could not be more different. North Wales isn't the test that Conway is but it sure is fun, exspecially the back to bak par threes at the end.

[Richard Fisher]

Some of my best allies in golf have been actively involved in both the bidding for and organisation of the Curtis Cup at Conwy, so this comes with that friendly disclaimer. As Thomas Dai says, the whole locality and Welsh government got behind the initial bid, following a number of successful R&A and LGU and European events at Conwy over the years, and (very importantly) this venue decision was taken prior to the R&A/LGU merger: there is a general expectation that this will be the last time the Curtis Cup will ever go to a modest club like Conwy, and I doubt if there has ever been such a subscription discrepancy as between Conwy and its successor venue Merion! Current local subs at Conwy are well below a thousand bucks per annum...

The Llandudno area is very well placed for accommodation, and with easy access to the population centres that (e.g) flock to Hoylake championships: the contrast at present with Harlech (roughly forty miles south of Conwy) where there is currently no substantial hotel, and a local economy that was pretty bleak even before the current crisis, is massive, whatever the relative merits of the two golf courses (and RStD has been historically a regular LGU venue, stretching back to 1926).

Royal Porthcawl hosted the Curtis Cup in 1964, but the other Welsh course used by the LGU in the past for the Cup will, I suspect, amaze GCA readers: St Pierre (Chepstow) in 1980. Conwy will make a cracking venue, now in 2021, with a unique atmosphere of its own: I am also allowed to dream of the day when either the Curtis or Walker Cups makes it to Harlech, but as things stand that is just not going to happen.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I remain a life member although I don't play any more. It only costs me £15 a year to be a life member. They were looking for money to build a new clubhouse some years ago and I had a bit of spare money at the time.It's a very flat course, the old sand dunes were wiped away in two world wars. There are some quite famous paintings of the club by Douglas Adams (I have an original) and they show how rugged the land was before the wars. The course from the back plays just short of 7,000 yards and to a men's par of 72. I don't know what the ladies' rating is. The course used to be very quiet, but today it is very actively used by a busy membership. It got where it did by being actively used by the R and A. The views from the course are stunning.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I think the fact that this post has generated so little interest exemplifies why so little is known about Conwy beyond a 35-mile radius of Conwy. It's a good course, bit it didn't attract the attention of Tom Doak, and I can quite see why. It has few dramatic features. It's handsome and some of the views from the course are as good as you'll find in Wales. And yet, it's important than Conwy gets its moment in the limelight, it may rank somewhere 100 and 500 in the British rankings, but all those courses (and the next 500) are important. And just give a moment's thought to the captain's son. He is suffering from Corona Virus in a little house in London with no means of getting out of the house for fresh air, a young wife, and young child. We hope he survives, bit it will be a miserable time in the interim.

[Duncan Cheslett]

Mark,


I just read the email from Conwy telling us about the Captain's son. Fingers crossed that all turns out well.


I took out Second Club Membership at Conwy late last year. My idea was to have a bolt-hole for winter golf when conditions at Cavendish got too extreme or the turf too wet.


Bizarrely, I have been able to play in better conditions and on drier ground at Cavendish this winter than I have found on my few forays into Wales! The amount of rain they have had at Conwy has been extraordinary, leaving bunkers flooded and many holes waterlogged for months on end.


It is a course I like but not one which I have fallen in love with. The flatness and lack of natural features do not make for exhilarating golf, and there are insufficient micro-undulations on the approaches to the greens to put Conwy in the higher echelons of otherwise flat links courses.


It's better than okay, but not truly great. The last three holes are also a terrible let-down after what has gone before.


My renewal notice arriving just as the Covid crisis struck pushed me into a decision, and I have opted to let it go for now. Maybe I'll pick it up again or maybe I'll give Prestatyn a go next winter.


Or Silloth!






 

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