Epic golf trip in South Wales and South West England

On the map below, you see the number of golf courses in the South of Wales and South West England, on this screenshot alone there are 346! (that’s pretty much the same as all the courses in Spain!) Not only are there many courses, but the quality is insane. From Top 100 of the World courses like The Church course at St. Enodoc (£145 highest rate in summer/weekend) and Royal Porthcawl (£195 highest rate in summer/weekend) but also hidden gems like Ilfracombe (£40) and a lot of other hidden gems.

Helped by our local partner, Golf South West I made an epic trip in the South of Wales and South West England playing some of these courses and staying in Hotels, Inns and Airbnb’s. I flew into Bristol with Easy Jet which has 116 direct connections to European airports.

From Bristol Airport less than 45 min drive across the bridges and into the lovely Welsh countryside. Here you find the Celtic Manor Resort that boosts three 18 holes golf courses. The Roman Road, The Montgomerie and of course the 2010 Course that hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup. As soon as you drive up you realize this is a well-run resort, with valet parking and constant shuttle services to the 2 clubhouses and the hotel. I stayed in the main hotel overlooking some of the Roman Road holes. 

From the hotel, there are constant shuttles going to the clubhouses. We took ours to the 2010 Course and were welcomed by the very friendly starter and the amazing practice facilities. A huge driving range where you can hit from the grass, a big putting and chipping green and really nice staff that advised us to wait a bit so we wouldn’t have to wait on the course. It worked perfectly as we only ran into the four-ball in front of us on the 18th.

Celtic Manor 2010 was the host of the Ryder Cup and has a lot of history, there were plaques with famous shots and even a video in the buggy with one of the memorable shots. The clubhouse is huge and you can still see the lockers of both teams with their names on it.

The Celtic Manor Resort is a perfect base for playing the 3 on-site courses and some of the other courses in the area, like Royal Porthcawl and Burnham & Berrow, which I both played during this trip.

When I arrived at 7:15 at the Royal Porthcawl clubhouse it was still quiet, luckily the workmen behind me told me the code to open the gate so I could have a peek at the hidden gem we were about to play today. The clubhouse from the outside doesn’t look as majestic as you might expect from a top 100 of the World club, but when you enter it is quite the opposite. I will not disclose more just go there and have a look for yourself. The staff are all super friendly. I was caddied by Harry - the son of the pro - and we had a ball! I’m sure he got me an extra 10 points with his superb knowledge of the course and advice on what club to hit where.

Royal Porthcawl has been the host of several big championships including the senior tour. Choose your tee well because from the back tees some holes need a 230+ carry to reach the fairway. With a £ 125/195 week/weekend green fee this is probably the Top 100 course with the best price/quality rate I have ever played. Read my review below for more detailed information on my experience.

I slept in a nearby Airbnb but if you are in time you can also book the dormie rooms at Royal Porthcawl via this link. I always love to sleep on a golf course, when you wake up you have the best light and the whole place to yourself.

Burnham & Berrow is a club situated south of the Bristol Channel just 35 minutes west from Bristol airport. The course was established in 1890 and has two courses, the 9-hole Channel Course and the 18-hole Championship course. It has regularly hosted The Open qualifiers and both courses are a good test of golf. My advice is to play the Channel course first, these 9 holes really test your accuracy and if you play well here it will feel a lot more spacious on the Championship course. 

Choose your tee well on the Championship course if you want to have fun here, the back tees can be pretty brutal, especially with a non-prevailing wind as we experienced. They have just hired a new General Manager with loads of experience in UAE, sure he will do well telling more members and visitors about this amazing course. If you want to read my detailed review of both courses, click the button below. Another nice touch at Burnham & Berrow was that the Dutch flag was flown at the starter's house because I was there. It's the first time I experienced this and I found it very hospitable.

At Saunton, there are two championship 18 holes courses, West and East. We played West first and were amazed about the quality links course. Due to the past dry weeks, the course played extremely dry and firm, we regularly hit 200+ meters (220+ yards) with 5 irons of the tee. You really have to plot your way around the West course, I only hit one driver all day. A member gave us a great tip, “only play it where you can see it!”

The clubhouse is on top of the 18th of the East course and has a marvelous view. A practical tip: in England at most courses golf shoes are not allowed in the clubhouse, it is not enforced everywhere but best is to take a drink outside or change footwear.

The next day we played the East course, a little bit more playable than West and if possible a little more beautiful. Both are really a test of golf, again pick the tee that fits your game, and maybe move one forward to have more fun.

After the East course at Saunton, we had some energy left and checked out the hidden gem Ilfracombe. This course is smacked against the hills above the little town of Ilfracombe. The first 4 holes are a bit quirky but the higher you get (I think the height difference is at least 250 meters between the clubhouse and the highest point) the better it gets. We took a buggy (with the 18 holes at Saunton in our legs) but I did not see any players without a buggy. We had tons of fun and only had to pay £ 25 per person including a buggy for a twilight round. Best bang for my buck this year.

This hotel is smack in the middle of Barnstaple, but they have 2 small parking lots just a par 3 from the hotel. On the ground floor there is a cocktail bar and a nice restaurant with amazing ceilings, where breakfast is served as well. The breakfast is great, next to buffet style you can also order specific stuff from the menu. The staff is very friendly and the Brend family that owns the hotel, own several more in Barnstaple like the Park Hotel, just 5 min down the road. We also had dinner there, and you can just charge it to your room at The Royal & Fortesque. On the last day we had dinner in the Imperial Hotel even closer and also great food & service. 

Royal North Devon GC - also known as RND - is the oldest golf club in England. Established in 1864, the clubhouse is a golf museum with old clubs, photos and other memorabilia. The men’s locker room is amazing with 159 years old lockers and more old designs, really beautiful! In the clubhouse, there are binoculars to see who is playing where. They also have a small 7 holes par 3 course called the Taylor course to sharpen your short game. After a delicious lunch, we played the Championship course. The first hole is a challenge straight away, the wind is a key factor on every hole and the views & surroundings on the front nine are amazing. You play along the sea and beautiful links holes are followed one by one. Coming back to the clubhouse you cross the road and sometimes have to wait for the beach visitors going back home.

The Molesworth Arms in Wadebridge Cornwall is an Inn above a pub in the middle of town. It has been catering to guests since the 16th century and is really nice and only 20 minutes from St. Enodoc. Great atmosphere, when we came in after our game they were playing a pub quiz and we could help a team with some correct answers. On the menu is a lot of delicious seafood. Upstairs in our room, there were fish everywhere, this time on the wallpaper. Breakfast was really nice; besides the buffet, you could also order from the kitchen. On the first day, we had a very early tee time, before breakfast started but they were very flexible and we could get some tea/coffee, toast, yoghurt etc. Very friendly and flexible.

The last golf courses we played on our South West England golf trip were at St. Enodoc. This course close to Wadebridge in Cornwall was established in 1891 but got its current form by James Braid in 1907. Tom Simpson also worked on the course and got the name of the beautiful little church that's in the middle of holes 10,11 and 12. The church is from the 13th century and was covered in sand in the middle of the 19th century, in 1863 it was extricated and now gives a lot of character to the course. The course, especially the back nine is quite undulated and takes everything you got. Lovely views of the Padtown harbour across the Camel Estuary. Next to the (main) Church Course St. Enodoc has a 4087 yards long 18 holes Executive Course called the Holywell course. The course has nine par 4's and nine par 3’s. Some of these holes would easily fit into the big course and are a lot of fun to play. We had bogeys, pars, birdies, an eagle on a par 4 and even a hole in one! so one of my best golf experiences so far!

After St. Enodoc I returned in the direction of London and made one stopover in Bournemouth to play Parkstone. A well-designed golf course founded in 1909 which was first designed by Willie Park Jr. and later amended by James Braid. It is almost like this course originated in Surrey and was picked up and put in Dorset. Beautiful sloping fairways, massive pine trees and great greens. The balcony overlooking the 1st and 18th holes is a place you never want to leave.

The Village Hotel in Bournemouth is practically located close to the motorway in the direction of London and has everything you need. You can even use the fitness studio, which I kindly declined after playing 12 courses in the last 9 days. They offer a late check-out, but I didn’t need that one either since I was leaving at 6:30 to make another tee time. But the bed was perfect and downstairs there was a pub/grill restaurant with excellent burgers and a lot more to choose from. The Village is a chain and they have 33 hotels in the UK.

All in all Wales & The South West of England is a great region to visit and play golf. It is home to quite a few top 100 courses of the world, top 100 UK & I, hidden gems and loads of true links courses. The distance between the courses is relatively short and the price quality ratio is amazing. I think if some of these courses would be in Fife, Scotland or other more famous regions they would be much higher on the top lists and twice as expensive.

Golf South West is a tour operator that focuses on inbound golf travellers in the South West of England and the lower parts of Wales. They have a small team that has great relations with the local courses and hotels and can help you to build a tailor-made custom package exactly according to your preferences. Society golf groups receive a 1 in 16 free place. They have a host of exclusive offers with selected venues including free range tokens, room upgrades and unlimited golf.

Oh yeah, another way to make a golf trip unforgettable is to make your first hole in one, I made mine on St. Enodoc so an amazing end to an unforgettable trip!