Britain & Ireland

Wales

Mid Wales

Golf was first played on a 9-hole course constructed by owners of the Pump House Hotel near the lake at the splendid little spa town of Llandrindod Wells back in 1890. The town council was forced to close the course fifteen years later, however, as it became too dangerous for visitors using the common ground.

Once 140 acres of land at Little Hill had been acquired, overlooking the lake and the town, the then four-time Open Champion Harry Vardon (he would go on to win another two Opens) was enlisted to design a new 18-hole course. And what a grand opening there was in May 1907 when all three of the Great Triumvirate – Vardon, James Braid and John Henry Taylor – came to Llandrindod Wells Golf Club, along with local professional George Humble.

James Braid returned to the club in the mid-1930s to upgrade the course and he duly submitted plans for improvement and his invoice for eleven guineas. Braid designed three new holes, the 4th, 11th and 12th, and reduced two short par fours to par threes at the 6th and 17th. He also lengthened five other holes with a new tee or new green or both.

Nothing much has changed in more than 80 years since the fairways were first shaped by pick, shovel, wheel barrow and horse drawn cart. The grazing sheep have been removed, trees planted and a small irrigation reservoir installed to water the greens in the summer but the course as it was then is as it is now – without a single sand bunker on any of its 18 holes.

The course measures only 5,759 yards and features a number of old-fashioned design traits, including back-to-back par threes at the 10th and 11th holes, a number of blind holes and several short par fours – five of the nine two-shot holes on the card are under the 350-yard mark.

Many feel the best is kept until last at the driveable “Death or Glory” 18th hole. With a deep ravine between tee and green, do you play safe and lay up or try to reach the other side of a 250-yard carry with one mighty smite?

Llandrindod Wells

Llandrindod Wells measures only 5,759 yards and features a number of old-fashioned design traits, including back-to-back par threes at the 10th and 11th holes...

Welshpool Golf Club was formed in 1929 but golf had been played in the area since 1894, when a 9-hole course was established in Deer Park. The club relocated in 1908 to the windy common at Red Bank, above the town of Welshpool, but financial problems saw it fold twenty years later.

When another area of the common became available – aptly entitled The Golfa – funds were raised to purchase the land and James Braid was engaged to lay out a new 18-hole course. Several months later, the first ball was played over the moorland site on New Year’s Day 1930.

The construction company of John R Stutt built the course and Stutt compared Welshpool to Gleneagles, back in his native in Gleneagles does not provide anything like the spectacular shots with which the Golfa abounds. Golf writer Bernard Darwin was equally complimentary with his opinion of Welshpool, saying: “How incomplete has been my golfing education until I had seen it.”

The course is short by modern day standards, extending to just over 5,700 yards but if you like old-fashioned golf with pulpit greens, ditches, greenside swales, the occasional blind shot and gorse lining almost every fairway then Welshpool is just the place to play!

Welshpool

If you like old-fashioned golf with pulpit greens, ditches, greenside swales, the occasional blind shot and gorse lining almost every fairway then Welshpool Golf Club is for you!

It was in 1967 that Brecon Golf Club captain, Leslie Watkins and vice-captain John Morrell, organized the purchase of Penoyre Park (along with its magnificent Bath stone Georgian mansion) to accommodate a new 18-hole golf course and clubhouse.

Unfortunately, the Penoyre Golf and Country Club, as it was called, ran into serious financial difficulties in the mid 1970s, resulting in the loss of the mansion but, thanks to a massive fund raising effort, the course was saved, a new clubhouse constructed and the club renamed.

Situated on the northern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park and famed for its stunning scenery, the course at Cradoc Golf Club can best be described, in the words of one golf commentator, as “an arboretum set down in scenery that can only be described as drop-dead gorgeous”.

One of the best holes on the estate is “Rorke’s Drift,” the par four 6th, which extends to 451 yards from the back tees and is rated stroke index 1 on the scorecard. The hole is played towards Penoyre House – now sub-divided into modern apartments – and the fairway slopes left to right, with out of bounds all the way down the left and behind the hole.

Cradoc

Cradoc Golf Club can best be described, in the words of one golf commentator, as “an arboretum set down in scenery that can only be described as drop-dead gorgeous”.

Builth Wells Golf Club is located close to the small market town from which it takes its name. Historically, the site that the golf course now occupies is of great historical importance as it’s said to be where the three thousand-strong army of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, the last native Prince of Wales, was ambushed as it crossed the River Irfon to reach Builth Castle in 1286.

The club was formed in 1923, with a 9-hole course brought into play. The layout was doubled in size in 1986 when nine new holes were constructed, seven of which now lie on land to the west of the River Chwefri. These holes are somewhat different to those on the original course, bringing natural features such as the river and woodland areas into sharp focus.

With no par fives and six par threes on the scorecard, Builth Wells measures a mere 5,420 yards, playing to a par of 66. The 344-yard 10th is regarded as the signature hole here and twice the river crosses its fairway, the first time immediately in front of the tee box then again in front of the green. Big hitters may decide to go for it with their driver but smart golfers will usually profit from a more conservative approach.

Builth Wells

Inaugurated in 1923 as a 9-holer, Builth Wells Golf Club extended its parkland course to 18 holes in 1986. Here in 1282 during the Battle of Orewin Bridge, the last King of Wales was killed by an English lancer.

Machynlleth Golf Club dates back to 1904 and its course is currently the only 9-hole layout that we feature in Wales. Absolutely nothing has changed here in over a hundred years so you’ll find wide, open fairways and lie of the land greens set out across undulating moorland terrain when you visit here.

Don’t bother to bring your sand wedge either as there’s not a single bunker to be found anywhere on this old course. If you think the absence of sand hazards is rather unusual then consider also the fact that sheep are allowed to roam freely across the fairways, complementing the totally rustic feel at Machynlleth.

There’s only one par five on the card, at the 477-yard 2nd and three par threes, two of which are played back-to-back at the 3rd and 4th holes. With a stream on the left, a small hill on the right and a fairway that slopes markedly from right to left, the 348-yard 7th is the regarded as the toughest hole on the card. It’s followed by the signature hole, the 193-yard 8th, where the tee shot is played from an elevated position to a green sitting at the foot of a hill, behind a pretty little brook.

Machynlleth

Machynlleth Golf Club dates back to 1904 and its course is currently the only 9-hole layout that we feature in Wales where absolutely nothing has changed here in over a hundred years...

Mid Wales encompasses the landlocked county of Powys and this area of 2,000 square miles is the largest county in Wales. Much of the terrain is mountainous and largely uninhabited but there are several pockets of population that support local golf clubs.

 is a real hidden gem, a course where not much has changed since it opened over a century ago. Golf has also been played at the James Braid-designed 

course for over eighty years whilst the beautiful 

 course on the northern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park has only been in use since the late 1960s.

The Brecon & Radnor Golf Union looks after the interests of male golfers in the Powys region and the 

 takes care of golfing requirements for the ladies.
