I should have added that I posted a lot of pictures of Bull Bay on Frank Pont's excellent website:
http://www.golfarchitecturepictures.com/Here's a commentary to go with the pictures:
Bull Bay, Amlwch, Isle of Anglesey, North Wales
Card of Course:
1. 370 yards par 4
2. 392 4
3. 220 3
4. 383 4
5. 175 3
6. 310 4
7. 426 4
8. 475 5
9. 347 4
Out 3098 35
10. 195 3
11. 505 5
12. 197 3
13. 317 4
14. 425 4
15. 486 5
16. 174 3
17. 433 4
18. 446 4
In 3178 35
Total 6276 70
Bull Bay is the most northerly club in Wales and, although it overlooks the Irish Sea, it is not a links course as such, standing as it does on a series of rocky outcrops with thin, poor soil giving good crisp lies. There is a great deal of movement in the land and WH Fowler had little or no need to move earth when laying out the course in 1913. The rocky outcrops provided Fowler with any number of marvellous sites for greens and tees, resulting in a course on which a great many approach shots are played uphill. Fowler’s routing ingeniously uses these high points and the course turns and twists through all points of the compass, but there are several dangerous moments when holes cross each other. Although there are a few bunkers (which have the appearance of modern additions) there is little need of them with plentiful gorse, further expanses of rock and some awful patches of rough awaiting the less than perfect shot. With so many greens laid on top of rock they are very firm and notably tricky to hit and hold.
The opening drive is made uphill, [1st a] across a line of diagonal ridges to leave the first uphill approach of the round to an elevated green guarded in front and to either hand by gorse and rocks [1st b]. Continuing the climb, the tee shot at the 2nd is played blind over a sky-line ridge [2nd a] to a fairway split by a dinosaur-like ridge [2nd b] running lengthwise through it. The green lies on the far side of a little track, just raised sufficiently to affect the pitch [2nd c]. At this point the routing turns back on itself for a stout par 3 played across low ground and a sea of gorse to a hilltop green, the highest point on the course. [3rd a/b]
Also on high ground, the 4th tee looks out onto a fairway, some distance below, curving insistently to the left. The green is angled to the left and raised up, calling for an approach to be played from the right side of the fairway [4th b]. There is very little chance of holding the green from the left rough [4th a]. Then comes another tricky short hole, played to a slightly elevated green protected by a big mound on the right. [5th a]. From the 6th tee the drive is made, encouragingly, across a valley onto a distant ridge into which are set two bunkers (which I doubt are Fowler’s) [6th a/b]. A further ridge obscures the view to the green [6th c], so a marker post gives the line for the second shot, the green guarded by two further bunkers (probably not Fowler’s, either) [6th d].
One of the more extraordinary holes is the 7th, a substantial two-shot hole played from an elevated tee [7th a/b] to a low fairway which moves from right to left. It is the second shot which is quite unlike any other, requiring a substantial shot to climb past a couple of stone sheds [7th c], climbing further to a green which is itself raised up [7th d/e] and partly obscured by a hillock on the right. As with many greens at Bull Bay, this one is slightly domed, rejecting all but the truest of approach shots, and needing a good short game to get a rescue pitch close to the hole. Another inspiring drive follows, the 8th tee being secreted away amidst profuse gorse on a hilltop giving excellent views of the surrounding scenery, but little clue about where the fairway might be! [8th a/b, gorse 1/2] Fortunately, there is plenty of width to the fairway [8th c/d]. Once again Fowler contrived to place the green on high ground, at the end of a steep rise into which two bunkers are set [8th e], and chipping around and putting on this sloping green is particularly testing.
The fun is only just beginning! From another elevated tee the drive at the 9th is made downhill over a rocky outcrop [9th a/b] to a punchbowl fairway with a sizeable hillock rising in the middle of it [9th c]. It is not easy for the first-time visitor to asses quite what line to take, or, indeed, how far to hit the ball, as it is clearly apparent that it is quite possible to run out of fairway or be blocked out by gorse on the right and a rock face on the left! [9th d]. The next problem is assessing how much extra club to take for the approach shot, which is made steeply uphill to a mischievously-sited green [9th e/f]. Chipping and putting here is no easy matter, either. [9th g/h/i/j]. Yet again, Fowler was blessed with a lovely spot for a tee on the 10th, a charming short hole played to a green (unusually) backed by trees, with a big left-to-right slope on the putting surface. [10th a/b/c].
What is so inspiring about Bull Bay is Fowler’s vision in finding so many memorable and unique holes on such a relatively compact piece of ground. A glance over the surrounding fields reveals the sort of ground with which he was working and there is a good view to be had from the 11th tee. Tumbling ground and a liberal helping of gorse confront the golfer [11th a/b/c], and a decent carry is demanded to reach the fairway, which rolls considerably as it unfolds towards the green [11th d/e]. Low ground immediately before the green complicates the approach shot [11th f/g] with the highest part of the sloping green being at the front on the left, with a treacherous run-off at the rear right [11th h].
Unfortunately, the next two holes appear to have been inserted into the round after Fowler’s time, for they are pedestrian in comparison with all that has come before, a bland par 3 [12th a/b] and a rather unsatisfactory short par 4 with a rising fairway narrowed by an unwelcome bunker [13th a/b]. It seems unlikely that the 14th drive is Fowler’s work, either, for it is a perplexing drive over elevated ground to an unseen lower fairway, the line indicated by a distant marker post. [14th a]. However, from that sunken fairway a vintage shot follows, the fairway curving round gorse bushes to the left and significantly uphill to a hilltop green close to the similarly situated 8th green. [14th b/c]. A short walk round the back of this green leads to the 15th tee, again high above the fairway, with fine views all round [15th a/b/c/d]. The fairway curves first right and then left as it descends and climbs [15th e/f] to an exposed green [15th g]. It is followed by an inoffensive-looking short hole [16th a/b], but there is a steep bank on the right front of the green which can deflect the ball which is nearly the perfect length but not quite [16th c/d].
The 17th is a tough hole at this stage of the round, uphill and curving to the right, so the drive must be struck perfectly for length and direction, with gorse awaiting the pushed shot [17th b]. Although the green is relatively unprotected [17th a/c/d], its exposure to the wind makes the second shot harder than it appears to be. Finally, there is another uplifting drive, downhill over banks of gorse towards the clubhouse with a sprinkling of bunkers to liven things up on the approach shot. [18th a/b/c/d/e].
Architecturally, Bull Bay is quite unlike any other Fowler course. Yet, comparing it with, say, Walton Heath, Delamere Forest, Saunton East or Beau Desert what is readily apparent is that in each case Fowler clearly responded to the nature of the ground on which he was working, never resorting to formulaic solutions to problems, managing to route the course in such a way that the architectural potential of the site was exploited to the maximum while retaining that sense that this was the obvious and logical way to route the holes. Nothing is ever forced, yet there are surprises at every turn. Bull Bay is very exposed to the wind, and on this coast it really can blow fiercely, and it is a long way from any major centre of population, but whatever the length of the journey, the fun to be had from this unique, even quirky, course is immense, provided the score does not matter, and green fees here are very moderate.