Pennard Golf Club, WALES  

A golfer can't help but be attracted to the untamed ruggedness of Pennard.

Donald Steele and Tom Doak have sung the praises of Pennard in their respective books in the past several years. Still, few people have even heard of the course and fewer have played it. Pennard never has appeared on even one of the several British magazine top 100 UK course rankings.

There are two schools of thoughts when it comes to Pennard. The argument over the merits of this unknown course looks something like this:

Pennard enjoys one of the dozen or so most spectacular settings for a golf course in the world. Located on the beautiful Gower Peninsula in south Wales, the scenery is complete with expansive views across the course, past a 12^th century Norman castle, and down 200 feet to a vast white beach dotted with wild horses. Even if the golfer's game deserts him, the scenery more than compensates.

The spectacular-ness of the setting grows through the round at an enticing rate. The first five holes whet the appetite, the next two holes show off the castle ruin to great effect. The 7^th tee is one of the magical spots in all the world of golf. Having teased the golfer, the back nine heads into the best part of the property. The 10^th -13^th are set in and across valleys to shelf greens. The whole course points the golfer to the 16^th tee where only a curmudgeon cannot be moved by the glorious view. The final two holes provide a sterling finish.

No, this is not a housing project.

The history of the design of the course is not overly clear. James Braid is given some credit and the 14^th hole is named after him. Braid was let the movement of the land serve as the principle test for golfers. The course was laid out in such a fashion as to maximise the sloping terrain.

The crumpled landscape of the 14th with nary a level lie anywhere!

The sloping terrain encourages the golfer to appropriately shape his shots to hold the firm (sometimes bare) fairways. Lee Janzen, after winning at Olympic Golf Club, said he viewed that course as supremely strategic because of the need to shape the tee shots either way. The authors view Pennard in a similar manner.

The important thing though is: are there good golf holes at Pennard? The kind that draw you back time and time again for another game? The answer is emphatically yes, as we see below.

Holes to Note:

7^th hole, 350 yards: The elevated tee shot is to a wildly undulating fairway, which is matched by a small, fiercely contoured green that slopes away from the golfer. Hardly conventional, but altogether much more stirring because of it.

Trying to control the flight of the ball in a windy location from such a rollercoaster fairway
(as seen here at the 7th) is challenging indeed.

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