Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

About the club

Though Royal Porthcawl, located near Cardiff, was established in the 1890s, the club's layout remained in flux until the 1910s, when Harry S. Colt was brought in and saw to thorough renovations; further work was done by Tom Simpson a couple decades later. All the holes at Royal Porthcawl offer views of the ocean, though this of course means that they are at the mercy of the breezes off the water. The Colt touch remains evident in the bunkers, which are especially challenging on windy days. The Open Championship has never been played in Wales, but if it should be, this would be the place, provided that the local authorities could adapt the infrastructure of a little coastal village to meet the needs of a major competition. The club has, however, hosted a number of amateur events, most notably the Walker Cup in 1995, where Tiger Woods lost to Gary Wolstenholme.