Located on the west coast of Wales, due south of Anglesea, and overlooking the Irish Sea, Nefyn & District Golf Club is a spectacular headland links course, similar to that found at The Old Head of Kinsale in Ireland. Perched atop the Porthdinllaen headland on the Lleyn Peninsula, it extends into the Irish sea providing a stunning backdrop to a beautiful and challenging golf course. The club was founded in 1907 and as a nine-hole layout and in 1912 extended to 18-holes. Then in 1933, J. H. Taylor and James Braid combined their design skills to revise the existing golf course, and to add a further nine holes yet to make it a 27-hole layout. Latterly, Fred Hawtree and companion A. H. F. Jiggens added three new holes in the ’80s. Today, these three nine-hole loops are imaginatively known as the ‘Front,’ ‘Old,’ and ‘New’! The front and new combine to make the original 18-holes and are widely accepted to be the best configuration.
The opening three holes on the ‘Front’ nine are superb golf holes played along the shoreline. A partially blind tee shot out to the horizon will find a sloping fairway that drops down to a green sitting beautifully framed against the Irish Sea. This is one of the most picturesque holes in all of the UK & Ireland. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes all hug the clifftops and provide for stunning views again across the bay and the Irish Sea. Then, just when you thought you were getting exposed to the best of the views, the ‘Old’ nine holes come into play. Starting back at the clubhouse, you take in the best of the promontory holes beginning with a par four played to a green set on the hilltop. The third hole of this nine, named “Ty Coch” is a fabulous par three played across a chasm with a carry of more than 140yards. The 4th hole is the ‘signature’ hole of Nefyn & District Golf Club and one which is worth the journey for your golf vacation to Wales alone. A classic risk and reward hole measuring 411yards from the medals tees that require a tee shot to be played across the bay and cliffs commanding a 200yard carry to the fairway. The green is perched on the edge of the cliff between two rocky outcrops that must be avoided at all costs, but upon reaching the putting surface, you are presented with one of the best vistas in golf. A superb par four, and not for the faint of heart!
When you get to the 15th tee, a pathway takes you down into the harbor where you will find the aforementioned ‘Ty Coch Inn’ or the red house pub. Well worth a little break in the round for!
Nefyn & District Golf Club presents one of the most beautiful courses in the whole of the British Isles where you can see the sea from every single hole. It provides a very stern test for handicappers of all levels and is certainly worthy of inclusion on any golf vacation itinerary when visiting Wales. The Consummate Pro will be delighted to bring you to Nefyn.
