Golf Wales

For more information on golfing holidays in Wales call activity Wales on 01437 766888 or email fran@activitywales.com. Also see golf holidays and golf holiday packages

No more appropriate means of transport links golf to its past than the railway. Without the puffing steam trains of more than a century ago, golf would not have been able to lay the foundations of the popularity the game enjoys. And nowhere does that link exist today in more spectacular or nostalgic form than in Wales where it is still possible for golfers to pretend that the motor car had never been invented which, indeed, it hadn't when many of our classic courses came into being. The fact that so many of our courses have railway lines running past them is no accident nor is it a sign of negligent planning. The presence of a line and, more importantly, a halt was a valuable neighbour for a new course at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th when roads were poor and the car had yet to replace the horse.

In Wales, as in other parts of Britain and Ireland, most of the early clubs were set up along the coast. This was mainly due to the value of the seaside as a natural and traditional site for a links. But the fact that Wales is predominantly hilly and mountainous means that most communications were confined to the coastal strip. Goods and livestock were mainly transported by sea on the coasters that plied their trade along the western shores. But it was the railway that brought the swifter links and golf wasn't far behind.

Although golf was played in one form or another right around the Welsh coastline since the 1860s or even earlier, it was in 1888 that the first club was formed in the dunes to the west of Tenby just 800 yards from Tenby rail station. This superb sea-side course offers views of the old walled town and views over the monastery island of Caldey. Clubs soon began springing up all over Wales. Rhyl and Caernarvonshire were formed in 1890 and later that year golf gained its first footing in the industrialised south east when Glamorganshire GC began its life in Penarth.

The railway was instrumental in that birth. The founders of Glamorganshire were offered a few fields next to a cement works to build a course. It wasn¹t the loveliest site, but the attraction was that the Taff Railway had two years earlier built a halt on the Cardiff-Barry line to serve the cement workers and the advantage of having a fast and regular rail service to the gates of the golf club was an opportunity not to be missed. That service was to enable Glamorganshire to become the leading club in Wales before the turn of the century. Sadly, that halt and so many others in Wales have disappeared - either the result of Dr Beeching¹s savage cuts to the British rail system or to the general cutting back which we have lived to regret.

Inevitably, the car took over as the favoured conveyance of golfers seeking out the finest courses which are often to be found in remote places. Of course, if it wasn't for the train many of our courses might not be regarded as the classics they are because the most important passengers they carried at first were the golf course architects. The finest golfers at the time tended also to be the best designers, but without trains to carry them to these far flung sites, their creations would not have taken place till later.

Scotsman James Braid, one of the finest golfers of his era, was responsible for a good proportion of Wales' best courses and his contemporaries like Harry Vardon and J H Taylor put their names to many others, but it is be doubted if they'd have had the time or inclination to do the necessary travelling if they hadn¹t had the train to take the strain.

But the clock can be turned back to the days when you could chug up for your game by train. Wales still accommodates the golfers who wish to arrive in the manner of old. There isn't a more fitting way to arrive and, after all, the luggage racks were almost purpose-built to hold golf bags. If the station was a distance from the course, a ride in a pony and trap might have been necessary. I suppose taking a taxi doesn't spoil the experience and it certainly brings more courses into the visitor's range. However, if you wanted to stick rigidly to the nostalgia then you would need to visit the Cardigan Bay courses that have hardly changed in a century or more. There is a regular train service from the Midlands, changing at Shrewsbury, that brings visitors to Aberystwyth (there's a good course here, but you'd need a cab) and from there the old Cambrian Coast railway line conveys you to some great, historic courses.

Not far north of Aberystwyth is the Borth & Ynyslas course which challenges Tenby's title as the oldest in Wales, but although Borth's 18 hole course was in existence by 1885 they didn't form a club until after Tenby in 1988. But let's not quibble; Borth is situated on the finest linksland where golf was played for many years earlier. The club was one of the founders of the Welsh Golf Union and the open meeting they first held in 1894 continues to this day. The train station is a gentle 400 yards away and the place is immensely popular with visitors, many of whom are attracted because the course is not physically demanding. But, while it permits golfers of varying abilities to enjoy a game, it can still be a stern test. Well-known golf architect Donald Steel sums it up as Oa highly enjoyable holiday course with the capacity to challenge the best players.

Borth is on the other side of the Dovey Estuary to the world-famous Aberdovey club but the train has to wend its way up the southern side of the estuary to Machynlleth (where there's been a lovely Braid-designed nine-holer since 1895) before returning back down the northern side to Aberdovey. Is there a nearer course to a station in Britain? The pro's shop backs on to the platform and the first tee is a short wedge away. The pleasure of arriving is only just the beginning because this is a wonderful golfing experience that has hypnotised countless golfers, among them two of the sport's great names - Bernard Darwin and Ian Woosnam. Darwin was golf's first literary giant. A top amateur - he played in the first Walker Cup in 1922 - he wrote for The Times and became a legendary figure. He'd known Aberdovey since the early days when they cut flowerpots into the ground as holes. He called it the course that my soul loves best in all the world and once described travelling there by train, counting the diminishing stations that divided him from there and finally stepping out on the platform Oas excited as a schoolboy home for the holiday.

Those words were written 100 years ago and the same journey, and probably the same emotions, are still available. If golfers get to Aberdovey they don't usually resist taking the train on up the beautiful coastline to Harlech where Royal St David's awaits in the shadow of the castle built by Edward 1 in the 13th century to keep the Welsh in check. The train pulls in just a few minutes walk from a course that has been described by professionals as the toughest par 69 in the world. When the majestic castle was built, the sea pounded the rock just below its steep ramparts but over the centuries has retreated to leave the expanse of natural linksland that never meant to be anything but a great golf course.

Unlike many links courses, Royal St David's does not go straight out and home again. Only twice do successive holes proceed in the same direction so the wind invariably causes consternation among the dunes. In recent years the course has hosted the Wales Seniors Open, one of the top prize-money events on the European Seniors Tour. Obviously the castle dominates the scene but if you ever get tired of seeing it, there's a splendid view of Snowdon available. And if anyone questions Harlech's entitlement to the Royal prefix - in 1934 King George V was Patron and the Prince of Wales was captain.

Continuing the journey north, the railway will take you close, but not adjacent to many other impressive courses. Nearby, the coast curves into the Lleyn peninsula and courses like Porthmadog, Criccieth and Pwllheli where David Lloyd was once an enthusiastic regular. On the northern coast of the peninsula, Nefyn is probably the most picturesque course in Wales and the railway can carry you across the Menai Straits to Anglesey where more courses abound. It is a similar story in the south, where Royal Porthcawl is easily accessible by rail. The main London-Fishguard line runs within ten yards of Ashburnham, another famous links course. The thought of a leisurely train ride through some of the loveliest scenery with a game of golf waiting at the end is not one that usually invades the mind of the modern golfer but in no other way is it to possible to experience an authentic history of the game, and of Wales.

Words by Peter Corrigan, photographs by Wales Tourist Board

Copyright 2005 Goscar Rock