Today I had the pleasure of playing at Royal Porthcawl for the first time.  A quick flit from Bristol along the M4 and over the River Severn, scoot past Cardiff and hang a left takes you down to the coast.  As you approach the clubhouse you pass the old Miners Rest which was established as a seaside convalescent hospital for the working classes, particularly miners, in 1862.

We’d driven over in pretty reasonable weather but the second we pulled into the car park it absolutely chucked it down with rain.  At that precise moment I was all for going home.  But, a glance across the bay to Swansea showed that in the howling wind it was going to blow over pretty quickly.

We were there in plenty of time to have a good look round the clubhouse and what a beautifully old quaint place it was (in places) by blended with a nice modern dining room where we were to later have lunch.

The old parts of the clubhouse were festooned with all kinds of golfing memorabilia along with rows and rows of old black & white photos of past captains.

So off to the first tee. A fairly gentle par 4 to start at 353 off the white tees, but an overall course length of 6,580 yards off the whites, you knew was going to be a challenge in the wind.  And when I say wind, I mean something like a 3-4 club window.

I won’t talk you through every hole, but suffice to say that coming in with 25pts shows just how tough a course it was to play in the wind.

This is definitely a course I shall be returning to.  Apparently from Nov – Mar you can get a four-ball for £200 including bacon roll/coffee before you go out.  A bargain for when your inland/parkland course is waterlogged.