(This series is neither well planned or coherent. What it is, though, is the result of spending a few spare hours at Christmas 2021 looking through some recently located files of pictures, and thinking about my golfing journey to this point. I’ve been lucky to have played in some pretty special places, and made some lasting connections along the way, and year end seems as good a time to reflect back on a dozen of these as any. Who knows, it might inspire me to plan a few more exploratory trips for 2022…)
I can’t really remember what prompted my first visit to Pennard, about 15 years back. Our family had lived within an hour of it for the best part of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, and I had been a keen golfer for most of that time. We’d even holidayed in the gorgeous Gower Peninsula regularly, and I’d set early alarms to emerge from the tent and hit short irons up and down the pristine Rhossili beach, which was quite rightly deserted by all sensible humans at that sort of hour. But I’d never even heard of Pennard.
It would be another few years before the suggestion to meet up with a couple of fellow golf architecture types and head for “the links in the sky” would surface. By then, I’d put another huge chunk of the M4 between my alarm clock and that windswept turf, and given the dozens of better-known, more celebrated golf courses that we would hammer past in pursuit of an early-ish tee-time, I am still struggling to understand the initial motivation.
But I am so glad I made the trip that day, and many others since, for there is something primal about Pennard that reminds the golfer of the importance of fun in the game. To me, that’s what it should be all about, but at times, you’d never guess this the way people go about it. At Pennard, I don’t know how you couldn’t have fun.
So we met in a service station, and moved clubs and shoes about, and then faced that westward drive so familiar to me - the passage back to the parental home in Cardiff for many years. Swindon, Bath and Bristol passed by, then the toll charge into Wales (in those days you paid to get in, but could freely drive out, as my Welsh schoolmates would never tire of reminding me, an apologetic Englishman!). My heart lifted as the blue signs said “South Wales”, and fragments of my earlier study of the Welsh language returned, along with a thousand other memories of childhood in the area.
The car doors eventually swung open at Pennard, and we stepped from the calm air conditioning into a brisk wind, our constant and enthusiastic companion for the next few hours, and hurried to sort out our modest fees, and grab a scorecard which would prove tough to hold on to out here, let alone operate or record a decent score on.
Sometimes, the holes on a course seem to imprint on me quickly; sometimes it takes longer. In the case of Pennard, since that initial visit, I must have played it a further dozen times, and while I think it would all come flooding back the next time I stand on that 1st tee, the specific details of the adventures we shared through that landscape remain sketchy. The hole names on the card help, a nice touch, and reading a review of the course from one of my playing partners that and many other morning brings back some more recollections, and smiles (thanks, Sean).
But the things that I recall and cherish most about Pennard, which bring a smile whenever it is mentioned, are for some reason more general in this case. There is a sublime harmony in the blend of the rugged conditioning, the imaginative layout, and the location - a staggering spot on a plateau above Three Cliffs Bay, with the sea never far away. Somewhere in the above review, Sean quotes Tom Doak, suggesting that Pennard is “too spectacular” for some tastes. Not mine…it is an inspiring landscape, but I could stand and look at it all day long.
Originally laid out by James Braid, the course has been altered by others over the years, but it has also been shaped by the weather out here on the peninsula, and by the cattle that are sometimes to be found roaming around, keeping the members’ subs down as they graze on the vegetation.
There is a timeless feel to Pennard, which is only enhanced by the battered remains of a 13th century castle, past which the “Castle” hole plays. Through the course, the turf is firm and fast, at times as fast-running as any other course I’ve played, with nothing artificial to detract from the natural feel of the place. It is great golfing land, and the style of presentation is perfect for this template of how much of golf used to be - wide open, with good lies and bad, and at the end of each challenge, a green that rolls true. If only more golf courses were set up like this.
On almost every long hole, I would stand staring at the open land ahead and have to imagine where might be a sensible place to try and hit my ball, amidst waves of hillocks and the occasional, terrifying bunker. The wind might have other ideas, of course, but this surfeit of choice was both refreshing and challenging. For the good golfer (not me, by the way), a clearly defined target is probably helpful, but the extraordinary width that Pennard offers seems to create challenge for all levels of player, and it certainly brings a feeling of freedom to be gifted such choice.
By the time I arrived home from these trips to this wonderful place, most of the day would be gone, and the exhilaration of a jaunt in the sea air and the endless motorway driving would render me useless, exhausted. But such was the feeling of fun that it wouldn’t be too long before another such journey was planned, despite the absurdity of driving for twice the amount of time I spent playing.
It has now been a few years since I’ve been back, but writing this, and remembering all that is marvellous about this true hidden gem, it won’t be much longer. This is how golf was meant to be played. I can hardly wait!
I hope you enjoyed this! If you did, please share it with a friend or two, and encourage them to subscribe. This in turn will encourage me to keep on writing this stuff! You can find a link to some other pieces here, and please also consider following my twitter feed here. Happy New Year fellow golfers!