Royal St. David's Golf Club

We played the first six holes of this course in a deluge, the worst weather I've ever played in. We were soaked, and not playing that well, but to still walk off the 18th with positive memories says a lot about the course. It was in tremendous shape and held up well in the conditions. It's plenty long as a 6,600-yard, par-69 layout. There were a handful of 420+-yard par 4s, which played like three-shot holes into the wind and rain. And the par-3 finishing hole felt a little too easy to be a closer. But you could tell that, in the right conditions, this was a tremendous set up. You just needed a little wind in your favor and a little less rain.

Played 72 holes in Wales during the trip, and only 6 holes were played in rain, but it was the first 6 at Royal St. David's. Sideways. The locals had no use for the day, but us four Americans stood up to the task.

The course would be tough in perfect conditions so you can imagine what the wet, windy start was like. But it was a true, beautiful links test with some truly great holes.

The par 3s were particularly memorable, especially the closing 18th hole, which my partner birdied.

I'd love another crack at it in perfect conditions. Still, the rain didn't dampen my affinity for it.

Let’s just get this out of the way: For the first six holes, we played in an absolute downpour. We’re talking sheets of rain here. Not another soul on the course. By the time we reached the seventh tee, though, the rain had turned into a light drizzle, and it didn’t really bother us for the rest of the day. Good thing, because Royal St. David’s turned out to be spectacular.

It’s plenty tough as a par 74, and we were playing the only tees available to us at 6,600 yards. Maybe it was an opposite wind direction that day, but there were four par 4s that I couldn’t reach in two shots, and I’m not a short hitter by any means (270-yard average when I find the center of the clubface, which these days is pretty seldom). Nevertheless, the highlight of the course is the final five holes, which loop through dunes and feature a couple of blind shots (the 221-yard 14th is particularly interesting). The course ends on a par 3, which is unique, but it’s no doubt one of the best courses in Wales.

ok we were lucky with the weather, short sleeves in october, in Wales !! The condition of everything on and around the course was excellent, nothing pretentious about this club, I would reccommend it to anyone, a proper championship golf course for under £40, just brlliant. holes 15 & 16 are gems