Royal Porthcawl

Royal Porthcawl Golf Course

Royal Portchcawl is over 7,000 yards with it firstly following the sea and when played into a freshening wind the first three holes present a stern challenge. In such conditions the players who arrives on the fourth tee having taken no more than 12 strokes has played well indeed. The approach shots to the second and third in particular call for that rare combination of skill and courage as the greens lie perilously close to out of bounds.
Then the course turns inland and twists and winds over terrain that could be described as uplands. By the 18th, the hallmarks of a links course have reappeared and from the tee of that hole the fairway slides gently downhill towards a green that sometimes resembles an infinity pool as it merges into the water behind it.
Although the course is rarely becalmed, and indeed needs a decent wind to set the flags rippling and crackling, a climatic conundrum renders it more benign than might have been expected of one so close to the sea.