BIRDIES AND BETS
Glyn Abbey Golf Course
Awarded ‘Welsh Golf Club of the Year 2009’ Glyn Abbey Golf Course is situated just a short walk away from Ffos Las race course.
Amazing views over the Gwendraeth Valley, beautiful wooded surroundings and one of the best layouts in South Wales. Couple that with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and the warmest welcome anywhere and Glyn Abbey needs to be top of your list for enjoyable golf.
Designed by leading golf course architects Hawtree & Son, the Course is located on the southern slope of the Gwendraeth valley and set amidst a woodland area with tremendous views in all directions. Extensive additional tree planting took place throughout the course, which is characterised by its wide, undulating fairways.
Opened for play in 1992, the 18 hole par 70 course is 6202 yards in length and has been built to international standards, with USGA greens. There are some tremendous holes to test even the lowest handicap golfer, whilst always offering options for higher handicaps. Each hole has its own unique character and requires considerable thought.
Not a Golfer?
Take advantage of our 9 hole Mission Course, no experience necessary, just lots of fun and a great walk! Or have a go on our 6 bay covered driving range from just £1.50.
The 2010 Clubhouse extensions are now complete, offering a lovely 60 seat restaurant and an executive lounge with balcony views overlooking the course. Home made food served all day and real Welsh Ales on the bar. We have a great gym too if you want to work it back off!
Birdies and Bets
The ideal start for an afternoon at the races
Fancy a day out at the races with a round of golf at Glyn Abbey Golf Club included? If so, our Birdies and Bets package is just for you!
The package includes:
- Coffee & bacon roll on arrival at the golf club
- 18 holes of golf
- 2 course meal at Glyn Abbey's Capers Restaurant
- Raceday admission ticket to Ffos Las
Midweek £40
Weekend £45
No. of holes: 18
Length: 6000yds (Yellow Tees), 5400yds (Red Tees)
Par: 70
Course Type: Parkland
Call Glyn Abbey on 01554 810278 to book, only 400 yards from Ffos Las!!
To find out more about Glyn Abbey Golf Club, visit www.glynabbey.co.uk.
Machynys Peninsula Golf and Country Club
A world-class golf course in a dramatic setting, Machynys Peninsula brings the unique Nicklaus Design style to Wales for the first time. An exciting and versatile course, Machynys Peninsula has been designed to challenge the best players in championship conditions and yet still be enjoyable for the higher handicapper, by utilising up to six tees per hole. The shaping of the 3.5 million pound course layout has included the creation of 25 acres of new lakes - salt and fresh water - giving it a unique feel for a links-type golf course.
Gary Nicklaus - who has been overseeing the project design on behalf of his father, the legendary Jack Nicklaus - has identified some of the more challenging and interesting holes as the 4th, 5th, 16th and 18th. Naming the fourth, 'the most unique, a short-ish par 4 but a very challenging and a difficult one nonetheless'. He goes onto say: 'The 16th, a par 4 that is played across the lake from right behind the clubhouse is probably one of the most beautiful holes on the course. The view from the green of the whole bay is spectacular, whether the tide is in or out'.
No. of holes: 18
Length: 7100 yards
Par: 72
Course Type: Links
Birdies and Bets offer
Green fees and a Day at the Races for just £36 or Tea/Coffee on arrival, 18 holes, 1 course main bar meal and a Day at the Races £41
For more details or to book call 01554 811092
Southerndown Golf Club
Bracken to the left, bracken to the right and a fairway rising to the sky". Henry Cotton judged the first at Southerndown to be one of the most difficult opening holes in golf.
Nature has been kind to Southerndown and 'natural' is the word most often used to describe it. No trees or water hazards, just bracken, gorse, bunkers and wind! As you stand on the first tee looking across the sea to Porthcawl and the giant sand dunes, which border the Ogmore River valley, imagine the centuries of fierce sand storms, which have given Southerndown its downland-links character - its undulating fairways, fine grasses and tight lies. It's no surprise that the course drains quickly and rarely closes in bad weather.
When you turn from admiring the view to face the deceptively wide fairway of the first, remember Henry Cotton's words and keep an eye on the bracken and the gorse, especially on windy days.
100 years have passed since John Alexander took a group of fellow golfing enthusiasts across Ogmore Down. They agreed about the potential of the site and asked architect, Willie Fernie, to lay out a course. Herbert Fowler, Willie Park and Harry Colt all made significant changes to Southerndown's design and the course is now rightly acknowledged to be one of the finest championship golf courses in Wales.
Among the various attractions of the course are the four Par 3's, each with its own distinctive character and challenges. Many a card has been ruined by a wayward tee shot landing in a bunker. Harold Gould, Southerndown's legendary Professional, was once asked, which club to use on the 5th: he answered by giving a demonstrationwith every club in his bag!
Nowhere is club selection more important than on the 7th hole, the longest Par 3. Wind direction can mean the difference between a short iron in favourable conditions and a driver into a strong South-Westerly.
Even if you have survived all the Par 3's, a testing finish still awaits you, with 3 of the last 4 holes played into the prevailing wind. Pars on 16, 17 and 18 are always an achievement and a tee shot over the gorse on to the split-level fairway of the 18th will set you up for an unforgettable finish.
No. of holes: 18
Length: 6417 yards
Par: 70
Course Type: Downland/Links
To take your golf break a stage further, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club
Pyle & Kenfig, affectionately known as P & K, possessing high dunes and deep challenging valleys in a layout that offers plenty of diversity has hosted many important tournaments including the 2002 Amateur Championships and Home Internationals in 2003 and 2006. It has also hosted many national and professional tournaments.
Originally mapped out in 1922 by H.S. Colt, large areas of the course were requisitioned by the arme in World War II, after which it was decided to move seawards into dunesland that designer P. Mackenzie Ross described as a 'golfer's paradise'.
There are two loops of nine holes returning to the cosy clubhouse and the second half regarded as the more challenging of the two, with the final three holes viewed as the hardest. Each over 400 yards and with a daunting tee shot towards deeply-bunkered greens, they promise a demanding finish that helps make a visit to these links a memorable experience. Pyle & Kenfig is a must to include in your South Wales golf itinerary.
No. of holes: 18
Length: 6805 yards (Championship Tees), 6588 yards (White Tees), 6128 yards (Yellow Tees), 5446 yards (Ladies Tees)
Par: 71
Course Type: Links/Downland
To take your golf break a stage further, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Royal and Porthcawl Golf Club
The course has a magnificent setting sloping down to the seashore. The absence of sand hills usually found on links courses enables the golfer to see the sea from every hole and to enjoy memorable views south to Somerset and Exmoor, and northwest across Swansea Bay to the Gower Peninsula. with holes facing into every point of the compass, the player is always tested by the wind and will probably need every club in the bag.
Royal Porthcawl was described as being one of the twelve finest courses in the world by the late Tom Scott, a leading writer on golf and former editor of Golf Illustrated. Since his day the club has acquired a large practice area and further improvements have been made to the course, developments which keep Royal Porthcawl firmly among the world's top golf courses. The status of the course is sustained by the many amateur and professional events held at the Club over the years. Among others, the Club has hosted the Amateur Championship, the Walker Cup, the Curtis Cup, the European Team Championship, the Home Internationals, the Vagliano Trophy, the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship, the Dunlop Masters, the Penfold, the Ladies European Tour and the Coral Classic.
No. of holes: 18
Length: 6406 yards
Par: 72
Course Type: Heathland/Downland Links
To take your golf break a stage further, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Pennard Links Golf Club
Pennard Links Golf Club is located 8 miles west of Swansea in the Gower Peninsula, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Golf has been played there since 1896, although the course owes most of its appeal today first to James Braid and then to C.K. Cotton.
The holes at Pennard are routed over classically undulating and tumbling linksland, full of hummocks, hillocks and hollows and pocked with dunes large and small; in sum, exactly what we might hope to find beside the shore.
Yet this exceptional terrain is not beside the shore - it is two hundred feet above it. No wonder Pennard has been called "the links in the sky".
Pennard has been ranked in the UK's top 100 courses for the last four years and is currently rated as the fourth best course in Wales.
No. of holes: 18
Length: 6225 yards
Par: 71
Course Type: Short Gorse/Heather
To take your golf break a stage further, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Ashburnham Golf Club
One of the classic Welsh links courses, Ashburnham celebrated it's centenary in 1994 by staging the British Home International Team Championships. This was the latest in a long line of important tournaments held here since the early 1900's when Harry Vardon said: "This is the course I like best in Wales." His sentiments have been endorsed by more modern professionals. Bernard Gallagher, Europe's former Ryder Cup captain won his first tournament, the 1969 Schweppes , at Ashburnham, and it was here that Sam Torrance also gained his first title, the 1976 Martini.
Overlooking Carmarthen Bay, the course has it first two and final two holes inland near the clubhouse. Holes three to eight strike out, parallel to the sea, straight into the prevailing wind and holes nine to fifteen run back with the wind directly behind.
With out-of-bounds and assorted trouble on the right in both directions there is no peace for the slicer. Neither are the fairways of a generous width and the fact that the current course record is no lower than 70 bears witness to the credential of the challenge.
No. of holes: 18
Length: 6627 yards
Par: 72
Course Type: Links
To take your golf break a stage further, please do not hesitate to contact us.
