Monmouthshire

Part of the course at Abergavenny was first used for horse racing – Cheltenham’s National Hunt Chase was run here in 1872 – but the formation of the Monmouthshire Golf Club in 1892 put an end to equestrian activity three years later. Laid out on largely level land, the original 9-hole course flourished until, just before World War II, James Braid was engaged to replace it with a new 18-hole layout which opened in 1938.

Monmouthshire Golf Club was very proud to have the Welsh golfing legend Iestyn Tucker as its President. Iestyn’s amateur record was remarkable – Home Internationalist from 1949 to 1975, Welsh Match Play, Stroke Play and Seniors Champion. He held the course record at more than a dozen clubs in Wales but the golf club closest to his heart was, of course, his home club, where he racked up 50 years of membership in 2008.

The surrounding hills – Blorenge, Sugar Loaf and Skirrid among them – provide a beautiful backdrop to a mature parkland course that has been greatly improved in recent years with the additional planting of trees and installation of an automatic irrigation system.

There are a couple of unusual features to the configuration of the holes – three of the four par fives are played back-to-back between the 6th and 8th (on the site of the old race track) and fairways cross at the 10th and 11th holes. It is generally agreed that the back nine is more demanding than the outward half, despite being more than 400 yards shorter. The signature hole is encountered at the last of the six par threes on the card, the 231-yard 16th, where the elevated tee shot over the corner of a pond is played to a green surrounded by trees.