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Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

Royal Porthcawl Golf Club is located in Rest Bay between Swansea and Cardiff, on a stretch of coastline that borders the Bristol Channel. Founded as a 9-hole course in 1891 by Royal North Devon's professional Charles Gibson the club relocated 4 years later to its current location with King Edward VII granting Royal patronage in 1909.

Throughout its history, Royal Porthcawl has hosted many prestigious tournaments including the Senior Open Championship, the Walker Cup in 1995, the Curtis Cup in 1964, the British Open in 1961 plus a total of 6 Amateur Championships.

Wales is somewhat overlooked in terms of links golf thanks to the celebrated Open Championship venues in Scotland and England, to the detriment of some truly awesome seaside courses. Royal Porthcawl heads this list, as it is, without doubt, the finest links layout to adorn the windswept Welsh coast.

Bed and Breakfast at Village Hotel Swansea
1 round at Langland Bay Golf Club (Langland Bay Golf Club)
1 round at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

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Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

Since the club's establishment in 1891, the land has changed little, and is a links course in the purest sense. The original nine holes were scrapped in 1895 and just a few years later, the present championship course was opened for play.

Harry Colt made some adjustments in 1912, Fred Hawtree joined forces with John H. Taylor in 1925 to move a few greens and re-route some holes before Tom Simpson worked on the course in 1933.

The majestic quality of Royal Porthcawl is underlined by the regular award of extremely prestigious amateur and professional events. Exposed to the elements, Royal Porthcawl is a no nonsense test that should be a certain priority for lovers of seaside golf, and is a Royal star on a golf tour along the south coast of Wales.

2014 Senior Open Championship

Bernhard Langer completed a remarkable wire-to-wire victory as Royal Porthcawl hosted the Senior Open Championship for the first time, carding a closing round of 67 (4-under) to win by a staggering 13 shots from Colin Montgomerie. The German finished at 18-under-par, eclipsing Bob Charles’s 1989 record for the biggest winning margin in The Senior Open by six strokes. A final day crowd of more than 10,000 watched Langer’s historic victory, taking the total attendance for the tournament to 43,500 – the second highest in the history of The Senior Open Championship.

Royal Porthcawl is ranked as one of the best courses in Wales

How to get to Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

Royal Porthcawl Golf Club is situated between Swansea and Cardiff off the M4, 5 miles south of Pyle train station

Address: Rest Bay, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan, Swansea, Wales, CF36 3UW

Course Information
Par	72
Designed by	Charles Gibson, Ramsay Hunter, Tom Simpson, Harry Colt
Opened for play	1891
Previously hosted	The Senior Open (2014), British Masters (1961)

Tees
Black	7,137 yards	SSS 76
Blue	6,948 yards	SSS 75
White	6,580 yards	SSS 73
Yellow	6,303 yards	SSS 72
Red	5,840 yards	SSS 76
Bronze	5,464 yards	SSS 74

Tips for visiting Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

Rob Houston
UK & Ireland Specialist

Handicap: 18
Visited: September

Having taken out some of the gorses around the course you may think the courses play easier than it used to, don't be fooled. With the wind swirling around there is never any rest. The course leads you into a sense of false security from the first few holes only to take that away with the brutal par 5 5th hole which usually plays into the wind and is uphill and OB on the right. With blind tee shots on the 12th & 17th make sure you go down the middle. Top tip: make sure you have time to relax in the clubhouse, the old world feel is cosy and homely, and a great place to watch the sunset after having played Wales highest-ranked course.

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Accommodation at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

The Dormy accommodation at Royal Porthcawl consists of six single and three twin rooms. The rooms are all furnished with en-suite facilities, TV, Wi-Fi as well as tea and coffee making facilities and offer guests stunning views of the golf course and the coast beyond.

After a round golfers can relax with a post match drink in the impressive clubhouse whilst looking out towards the Bristol Channel and Rest Bay. Guests can choose a light snack from the bar menu while the dining rooms offers breakfasts, fine or informal dining for up to 70 people.

Features

Pro Shop
Putting Greens
Club House
Championship Standard Course

Royal Porthcawl Golf Club
CF36 3UW
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8.0

Very Good

Although basic, it was perfect and the staff were really nice and helpful.

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Conor – Reviewed 8 Oct 2018

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9.6

Excellent

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8.0

Very Good

Weather had been quite wet, it was very windy (which we expected) and we had a heavy rain shower towards the end of our round and got very wet. Some of the bunkers were full of water - we lost balls in the bunkers - impossible to find in the water. Exposed sand in the bunkers was completely hard packed - not good. For a course at this price with this reputation, not acceptable, irrespective of the weather. Nice personalised welcome card in entrance to the clubhouse but were quite slow and casual.

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Sandy – Reviewed 30 Sep 2024

10

Excellent

Excellent experience. Pro was very helpful. The course is difficult which was expected with lots of bunkers which are a challenge to get out of!

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Rachel – Reviewed 5 Sep 2024

10

Excellent

This is a fantastic and must play course,tight fairways and fantastic greens,we had windy conditions which was expected,the staff and clubhouse were brilliant

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Darren – Reviewed 30 Aug 2024

10

Excellent

Excellent, made welcome by staff, weather and course conditions perfect

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Steve – Reviewed 10 Jul 2024

10

Excellent

Lovely course staff great really enjoyed it

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Trevor – Reviewed 3 Mar 2024

10

Excellent

Tough course made tougher with the 30mph wind! From the welcome in the Pro Shop and Clubhouse to the farewell we were made to feel at home. The course is tough but fair we all had a great experience.

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Colin – Reviewed 7 Oct 2023

10

Excellent

tough course but to be expected. you need to know where you're going and where the major trouble is and good bail out areas

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Ian – Reviewed 9 Sep 2023

10

Excellent

Breath-taking example of links golf, the best in Wales.

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Carl – Reviewed 15 Jul 2023

10

Excellent

Amazing

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Tom – Reviewed 13 Jul 2023

10

Excellent

Brilliant This is a must play venue

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David – Reviewed 13 Jun 2023

10

Excellent

Fantastic experience, we were so lucky with the weather, as can imagine it would be extremely difficult in a wind Rough was very challenging, as were the deep bunkers Great course, in great condition

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Rob – Reviewed 26 May 2023

8.0

Very Good

A very deceptive club house greated us. From the outside it looked like a Nissan hut! How different the inside was! Full of comfortable bars and steeped in history.Our round started with a full breakfast so we felt ready to tackle the course! Again the wind blew, making it tougher. The course is fantastically maintained, the walkways from the tees looking more like carpet! A good day out

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Pam – Reviewed 21 Oct 2022

10

Excellent

Well worth the visit. Pro shop staff were exceptionally friendly and welcoming. Right from the 1st tee you get the feeling your going to be tested and need to be accurate. Greens were true and a good pace. Bunkers were immaculate, pathways from tee to fairway were like a carpet, fairways again immaculate. Luckily we played it in just a freshening breeze, even this made you think and affected club choice and direction.

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Mark – Reviewed 30 May 2022

10

Excellent

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Kenneth – Reviewed 13 May 2022

10

Excellent

Just brilliant. Beautifully laid out couse, very fast and tricky greens, lovely views from a lot of the holes. Would definitely play again.

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Adrian – Reviewed 23 Apr 2022

10

Excellent

What a spectacle! Just so good in every aspect, design, appearance, quality - a course on another level. I even managed to drive the first green!

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Paul – Reviewed 30 Mar 2022

10

Excellent

One of the best courses we have ever played. Fantastic day with some wind and clear blue skies. Would love to go back and no wonder it is one of the UK's best courses. Special.

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Nick – Reviewed 21 Sep 2021

10

Excellent

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Paul – Reviewed 21 Sep 2021

10

Excellent

Apply strict rules & regulations but all the staff & members were friendly & welcoming

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Colston – Reviewed 9 Jul 2021

10

Excellent

40 - 50 mph hour wind during the whole of our round - made the course extremely hard work . Would love to play here again with more moderate weather conditions ! . Course in great condition , great location / views . A superb challenge .

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Stephen – Reviewed 3 Oct 2019

10

Excellent

Our teeoff time was not confirmed. It was a club match going on. We was let our on the 13th

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Lars – Reviewed 13 Apr 2019

10

Excellent

Absolutely stunning. Goes to the top of our must do courses again. It may also help my scoring ability!! We all thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and rate the course above our links in Cornwall. In amazing condition considering the weather last year. Staff very helpful and friendly again and a clubhouse that reminds us of Royal North Devon a little.

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Jackie – Reviewed 11 Apr 2019

6.0

Good

I had heard great things about Royal Porthcawl but the experience did not match my expectations. The greens were in poor shape and the course was damaged and very bare in places. Also one green keeper continuously encroached on us. He was using a blower to blow away dirt from the rough. He kept following us around. At one stage when we were on the 8th tee preparing to play, he walked in front of us on to an adjoining tee box. If this happened on my home course, he would be sacked.

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Conor – Reviewed 8 Oct 2018

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