Royal St David's - North Wales - Wales

Having been washed out at Aberdovey in the morning it was exhilarating to arrive at the beautiful town of Harlech as blue sky appeared. We were then able to enjoy this magnificent course in our shirt-sleeves. And boy did we enjoy it! Royal St Davids is definitely one of my top ten courses and reminded me variously of Muirfield and Carnoustie. There are so many outstanding holes that I could not begin to pick a favourite. But with the exception of the 14th (where I lost a ball off a reasonable drive) this is a course with no weaknesses and so many strengths. I'll be back!!

We played here on a very windy day (October 2011) and we found the course in excellent condition. First 9 has some tougher rough and not as scenic or as much links feeling as the last 9. Last 9 has some great golf holes, among the best there is. Loved the course and we will be back.

I played Royal St David’s last month for the first time during a trip that included Aberdovey, Nefyn and Conwy. There’s nothing particularly negative to say about RSD except that the 220-yard par three 14th needs re-thinking as Jim McCann has already mentioned. It’s not often the case, but this par three is a far better hole from the ladies tee. Unfortunately I doubt the club will want to shorten the 14th because that would drop the total yardage from the back tees to less than 6,600 yards. St David’s is certainly not short however, and it is indeed a very tough par 69 but I actually think that is the heart of the issue which will prevent RSD from moving much higher in the Britain and Ireland rankings. The course is not well balanced, with the only two par fives on the card coming back-to-back at holes 7 and 8. RSD relies on the strength of its long par fours for teeth. With no fewer than seven 400+ yarders this is no easy course on which to score and it’s plain to see why many call this the toughest par 69 in Britain. But variation for me is more important than long par four after long par four. If the club could find another couple of hundred yards to create two more par fives on the homeward nine then RSD might give Royal Porthcawl a run for its money. Porthcawl offers a much sterner test on a more conventionally configured course and, of course, fantastic sea views from virtually every hole. I enjoyed RSD very much and recommend it thoroughly, however, on balance I think Aberdovey is my pick of the north Wales courses… but only just. Both are well worth the trip from wherever you live in the world.

Myself & a group of friends played Royal St Davids whilst on a golf tour of N. Wales, what we found was a very demanding golf course. The weather was great but the wind proved difficult. Past reviews suggested this was the hardest Par 69, they were not wrong there. The condition of the course was great although the greens were a touch on the slow side. Our group found the rough to be on the extreme side almost knee high & thick, miss the fairway here and you will spend a lot of your day looking for balls. A lot of great holes, to mention a few 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 12th & the last four.The only criticism I had was that the rough was too penal, the course seemed to be set up too tough and with a lot of the holes having cross winds & little extra room would have made the day more enjoyable. But on the whole a great course.

I absolutely Loved playing this course and Would highly reccomend you play here. A true links course with some beautiful holes and spectaluar views inland to Snowdonia. Too many good holes to mention! JCB LAY

You only have to consult your scorecard before you drive onto the 1st rumpled fairway at St David’s to know you’re in for a tough test – the SSS rating for the back tees (a relatively modest 6629 yards) is four over the par of 69!

I enjoyed the routing here with holes laid out in a far from obvious pattern. It’s fair to say a score has to be made on the outward half as the course just gets stronger and tougher on the back nine.

The first three short holes are all very good but the blind par three 14th is one of the silliest I’ve played in a long time. Played slightly uphill, through a gap that’s been cut in a dune to a distant green (at least 209 yards away from the gents yellow tees), it sticks out like a sore thumb from some other very impressive holes – why the club can’t site all the tees for this hole up to the right on the dune ridge beside the ladies tee, I (and the person I spoke to behind the counter in the pro shop) have no idea.

The run for home through the only real elevation changes on the course starts at the 15th and ends, unusually for a top track, with a rather nondescript par three at the 18th. All in all, a very solid links test but, if this is the second best course in Wales, it has some way to go to match the top dozen I’ve played in each of Scotland, England or Ireland.

A GB&I ranking around the 50 mark probably flatters St. David’s.

Jim McCann

We played this on our tour of 8 courses in Wales---first, I am a scratch player in the US, and have played close to a thousand courses in my life--and this is THE MOST DIFFICULT par 69 course I have ever played. Before our round, one of the members befriended us in the bar while we were having lunch, and once he learned we were low handicap players, called the grounds superintendent to get us permission to play the back tees...well, that was quite a treat, and very nice of the member to do such a thing. Unfortunately, I found the golf course to be a bit unfair---the places you needed to hit a shot to get close to a pin or on the proper side of the fairway were usually bunkered----so from that perspective, it will be hard to shoot a low score. I've read here that number nine is a favorite--and while hitting a 200 yard shot into a par three is not that difficult, having the pin perched on a ledge is completely unnecessary after a long shot in. Number 10 is a par 4 from 450 yards playing into the wind--I hit a good Drive and a 17 degree hybrid to the front of the green---VERY long and difficult. The course was in good condition (the firmest turf/greens we played in Wales), and the landscape with the castle is beautiful--just be ready for some difficult golf.

It is easy to see why the course at Harlech is ranked highly, this is a quality links course without doubt with many great holes. In saying that I did have an expectation that I would be giving this a top mark 6-ball rating, but I can only go to a 5-ball. Arrival into the car-park was a new experience...as you leave your car one side of a single-track railway and walk across the line to the course. My impression of the first eight holes was that they were all pretty good but nothing standing out as anything that I had not seen before on other courses. The 9th hole is a par-3 around 175 yards and is a beauty - bunkers protect the right side of the green and with a left to right prevailing wind this a testing tee shot. Another great par-3 is the 11th; huge dunes on either side of the hole define the narrow entrance to the green but a par-3 that I think is rather unfair is the 14th... is it much fun to play a 'short hole' at 221 yards, blind, into the wind and only with a stroke-index of 13? - not a good hole in my opinion. The 15th is the best hole on the course - it is a very tough par-4 and both the tee-shot and approach have to be perfect, anything less and a big score will soon be on your scorecard - it is a slight dog-leg with dunes everywhere and a fairway that gets thinner as the hole develops. Hole 16 has an elevated tee, which invites an attacking drive but you need to watch-out for the cross bunkers 30 yards short of the green on the approach shot. The 17th is a tough par-4 with the newly extended practice ground on the right at driving distance, this obviously is out-of-bounds so aim well left is the tip. I always feel a little cheated on courses that end with a par-3 and RSD has one that is a little straight forward and for such a well regarded course this is a disappointment - current ranking is No. 2 in Wales which I can understand but No. 48 in GB&I, I think is a little too good; around 65th sounds more realistic.

Played this in sunny, calm conditions last week. For the money (£30 for a "twilight" ticket after 3pm) RSD can't be beaten. This is a great and very fair test of golf, with exceptional views. As others have said, the holes from 12 in are as good as any links anywhere. Personally, I like undulating fairways so would always prefer somewhere like Deal to here - but Deal costs £140/day and is almost as remote. Greens very true but a bit slow midweek after heavy rain.

Having just returned from pretty lethal trip to North Wales - I have to say that Royal St David's was an excellent way to finish. There is no comparison in my view with Nefyn - where it is easy to get carried away with the unique layout. Royal St David's is all about the golf. The greens are true and pacy, the rough hungry - and fairways tight. Club choice is paramount as you cannot afford to step up and bosh it wildly off the tee. The welcome we got was fab - as despite our golf company booking not being registered the club were very accomodating and actually got us off 40mins early. I would say this was a must play and would rate the difficulty to somewhere like Royal Cinque Ports.