Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

Rest Bay,

Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan CF36 3UW

Office
+44 (0)1656 782 251
Pro shop
+44 (0)1656 773 702
Fax
+44 (0)1656 771 687

Email
Email the course
Website
Visit website

Golf pro
Peter Evans (Head Golf Professional)

About the course

The Course:

18 holes. Seaside links. Undulating terrain - a few slopes to climb.
Surroundings:

Coastal duneland.
Designer:

Original 18-hole layout designed by Ramsay Hunter (1898). Later modifications by various designers, including Harry Colt (1913) and Tom Simpson (1933).

Back
tees

Club
tees

Front
tees

Yards

7065

6197

5729

Par

SSS or slope

Location

Latitude:

51.491708

Longitude:

-3.725808

How to get there:

19 miles SE of Swansea

Leave the M4 motorway at exit 37. Follow A4229 direction Porthcawl. After 2.4 mi at roundabout turn right into Newton Nottage Rd (which becomes Fulmar Rd) direction Nottage and Rest Bay. After 1 mi road bends sharply left. After a further 300 yds turn right into small road (unsigned). After o.5 mi golf entrance is in front of you.

Europe /
Swansea /
Royal Porthcawl

Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

Est. 1891

Royal Porthcawl Golf Club is home to a gloriously definitive links golf course - timeless, challenging and royal in every way. This superb and undulating layout may not have the towering "alpine" sand dunes found on some links courses, but there is plenty of elevation change as the "outer" front-nine circles around the "inner" back-nine. From every hole on the course, bar none, you'll enjoy fine sea views out onto the wide Bristol Channel.

In addition to firm gently undulating fairways, the course is characterised by superb bunkering and wonderful, sloping greens. Stray too far from the good-width fairways fringed by light rough, and ball-finding may not be so easy, especially if the thicker rough and liberal scattering of gorse bushes have anything to do with it. Rather than an out-and-back layout, the first eight holes take you around the course’s perimeter, with the next ten played inside this ring. There's not one weak hole among them. The heavily-bunkered 7th is one of the best short par-3’s you’ll find anywhere.

In its wonderfully natural setting, Royal Porthcawl is far removed from the distant industrial landscape of Port Talbot, which is occasionally glimpsed over the sand dunes of Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club to the west. Acknowledged as one of the best golf courses in Wales, we'd go further and say Royal Porthcawl is one of the world's finest examples of authentic seaside links golf.

Stay&Play at Royal Porthcawl: onsite Dormy accommodation available in the clubhouse, see Where2Stay section below.

List of courses: Wales - South

Visitors

Who can play and when?

Visitors welcome on weekdays and weekends.

Must book in advance. Proof of handicap required.

Green fees

Visitor fee, 18-holes in high season (April thru' Oct): Mon-Thur £145 (includes cooked breakfast or 2-course lunch); Fri £155; weekends & bank holidays £160.

Credit cards accepted. Contact club for full details, discounts, packages, day tickets, etc. [Last updated: 2020].

Other information

Players generally walk this course.

Practice facilities

Good

Did you know?

Edward VII conferred the Royal prefix on Porthcawl Golf Club in 1909. By royal prerogative, two Welsh golf clubs can use the "Royal" title, namely: Royal St David's and Royal Porthcawl.

Royal Porthcawl has hosted numerous top level professional and amateur competitions, including the Walker Cup in 1995 (GB&I 14, USA 10) and the Curtis Cup in 1964 (USA 10.5, GB&I 1.5). For more details view Top Golf Tournaments at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club.

Published ranking

2019 Golf World rating: 34th best course in Britain & Ireland; No.1 in Wales.

Where2Stay

Fairways Hotel3-star

West Drive, Porthcawl CF36 3LS

+44 (0)1656 782 085
Visit website
Close to Royal Porthcawl Golf Club and right next to the sea, giving some wonderful views across the Bristol Channel. All rooms have king size beds which can be adapted to suit families or twin rooms. The rooms, all en-suite, ensure comfort as well as practicability.
- Golf at this hotel:
  
  No
- Golf within 5 miles:
  
  Royal Porthcawl; Pyle & Kenfig
- Golf within 20 miles:
  
  Southerndown; The Vale Hotel (Wales National and Lake courses).
Royal Porthcawl Golf Club (Dormy Accommodation)

Rest Bay, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan CF36 3UW

+44 (0)1656 782 251
Visit website
The onsite Dormy offers first class accommodation for twelve. There are six single and three twin rooms. Each room is furnished with en-suite bathroom, remote control TV and tea and coffee making facilities.
- Golf at this hotel:
  
  Royal Porthcawl
- Golf within 5 miles:
  
  Pyle & Kenfig
- Golf within 20 miles:
  
  Southerndown; The Vale Hotel (Wales National and Lake courses).

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