Pwllheli

Located in the market town of Pwllheli, the course here at Pwllheli Golf Club has often been described as unique. A parkland front nine was established in 1900, designed by Jack Morris of Hoylake, and James Braid made up the eighteen holes in 1909. This second nine take on a very different feel as they run along the sand dunes and are typical links layout complete with fast running fairways, heather and revetted bunkers.

As we are in the modern era of golf the length here can be described as short, because it only just reaches 6,100 yards from the back tees but there are no par fives on the course, which as ever makes scoring tough. The SSS is one more than par at 70, which is normally an accurate guide to difficulty.

Pwllheli has a long history and the golf club celebrated its centenary in 2000. With the lush green fairways on the park-like front nine and the sea running behind the dunes on the way in, it’s a pleasant surprise that both nines have wonderful views of Snowdonia and over Cardigan Bay to the Cambrian range of mountains.

Unfortunately, there’s not much of Braid’s work left at Pwllheli, as authors John F. Moreton and Iain Cumming note in the book James Braid and his Four Hundred Golf Courses: “Braid’s course survived intact till 1926 when more land became available and five of his holes disappeared, but one of them was reinstated to create a longer dogleg 10th hole.”