gw_nov_preview

More documents

Recommendations

Info

COURSES BRINGING YOU THE BEST PLACES TO PLAY EACH MONTH 94 Golf World The Open Issue 2015
COURSES TOP 100 RANK 73 GB&I TOP 100 SPOTLIGHT Royal St David’s It may lack the drama of some of our other seaside stars, but Chris Bertram says you are unwise to underestimate this Welsh links. LEFT AND BELOW: The Snowdonia mountain range and Harlech Castle afford dramatic backdrops as you navigate the links of Royal St David’s. There are distinct phases to a visit to Royal St David’s. The initial experience is laced with intrigue and anticipation, emotions borne from a memorable arrival in the town of Harlech. Once on the links, your sentiments are more prosaic, cultivated by the challenge of a course touted as the world’s toughest par 69. It may feel a tired description, but it is founded in accuracy. It’s almost as if St David’s seduces you into relaxed complacency, only to bloody your nose and make off with your wallet. By reading this article you now have no excuse for being hijacked by her; yet first glimpse of this delicious linksland will still likely encourage some to fancy their chances with this relatively short exam. Most of Harlech is wedged seemingly precariously into a steep hillside overlooking the Gwynedd coastline and it is into this lofty location that you enter the town within Snowdonia National Park, picking your way along the kind of twisting coast road you only ever seem to travel along when homing in on a worldclass links. It is from here that you first catch a glance of the course, eliciting teenage-like excitement at glimpses between gaps in the hillside houses of the stellar linksland way down below. There then becomes an impatient urgency to your journey as you weave down the narrow lanes – including Ffordd Pen Llech, the UK’s steepest public road (40 per cent gradient) – that is akin to a descent in the Alps. If you can avert your eyes from the ribbons of sandy turf between pyramid dunes you will likely notice Harlech Castle. It is an imposing sight, dating back to 1283 and was once captured by Welsh revolutionary Owain Glyndwr before being regained by the army of Henry Tudor. Its bloody history only adds to the romance of the setting. Hunched down atop a spur of rock, the castle’s towering location is at once intimidating and puzzling, given it is half a mile from the sea. In fact, when it was built the Irish Sea lapped its foundations and it is due to changes in geology that it now finds itself inland. On land left behind by the retreating sea sits the links of Royal St David’s. Your journey here – the glimpses of the November 2015 Golf World 95
Page 1 and 2: 3 FREE GOLF BALLS* * Just pay £1.9
Page 3 and 4: There was a time, not so very long
Page 5 and 6: DANNY WILLETT BEST OF BRITISH “I
Page 7 and 8: BEST OF BRITISH RUSSELL KNOX THE SH
Page 9: EQUIPMENT GOLFBUDDY PT4 £299 PHOTO

gw_nov_preview

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?