Home to over two million people, the South Wales region includes the major cities of Cardiff and Swansea. The old coal pits and iron foundries that defined South Wales during the 19th century have now largely been replaced by service sector jobs and regeneration projects have removed almost all traces of a heavy industrial past as people in this part of Wales look forward to a bright future in a new millennium.

We’ve defined South Wales to include the preserved counties of Gwent and South, Mid and West Glamorgan, which in broad terms incorporates the two historic counties of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire.

The Gwent Golf Union and the Glamorgan County Golf Union handle male golf in the area, with the Monmouthshire Ladies’ Counties Golf Association and Glamorgan Ladies’ County Golf Association administering golf for the ladies of South Wales.

Royal Porthcawl is acknowledged as the premier golf course in Wales, featuring prominently in Top 100 rankings for Great Britain and Ireland. Porthcawl is a classic old links layout that has hosted numerous professional golf tournaments but the course is better known for its contribution to amateur golf, having been used as the venue for sixteen Welsh Amateur Championships since 1900 and six Amateur Championships between 1951 and 2002. The Walker Cup was also held here in 1995 when Great Britain & Ireland defeated USA 14-10.

The title “brash new kid on the Welsh golfing scene” could easily be attributed to the Celtic Manor Resort where Welsh entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews has developed three championship 18-hole courses in recent years. His Roman Road layout was first to open in 1995 then a decade passed before the 54-hole complex was completed with the reformation of the Montgomerie and the Ryder Cup Twenty Ten courses in 2007.