The Missing Links: May 2017

Saturday, 27 May 2017

Rhyl Golf Club, Wales

www.rhylgolfclub.co.uk

White tees par 71, SSS 71, 6315 yards

Red tees par 73, SSS 71, 5559 yards

Rhyl Golf Club lies on the North Wales coast to the east of the town of Rhyl, once an elegant Victorian resort which unfortunately declined in the late 20th century. It was designed by James Braid and opened in 1890, leading to a claim to be Wales' oldest golf course.

The 2nd green with the town of Prestatyn in the background

Rhyl is a nine hole course which lies on links land but is very flat. There are few contours and no views of the sea because of a ridge which runs the length of the course, Unfortunately the inland side is dominated by a large and rather noisy holiday park which runs the length of the course. We played on a windy but dry day and were disappointed by the quality of the course. The fairways although fast running were poor and the tees worn and infested by weeds. The greens had clearly been watered and were slow and lush, not in keeping with a links course. It has four holes out and five holes back but none were particularly memorable.

The course is bordered by a large holiday park

Worth playing? No

The Links Project

There are 246 true links golf courses in the world and this blog is a record of our attempt to play all of them. My husband Ron and I are keen golfers and I came up with the idea of this project after he gave me the book by George Peper and Malcolm Campbell 'True Links' which lists them all.

The commonest question we are asked about our project is 'How do you define a true links course?' This will be debated by aficionados for long after we have (hopefully) completed our quest and there will never be a correct answer. The strict definition is from the British Golf Museum:

1. The course must be beside a river estuary

2. It must offer partial or occasional views of the sea

3. It must have few trees

4. It must have numerous bunkers

5. It must have nines that run out and back, the front heading to a far point and the back returning to the clubhouse

Peper and Campbell defined their list as follows:

Terrain - how close is the course to the sea? Do the fairways run fast and hard? Do the greens favour a run-on approach? How open is the site? How natural? Is there a freedom from trees? Is the invasion of gorse and brush controlled? How light is the environmental footprint on the land?

Turf - is there a sand base? What grasses are dominant on the fairways and greens? Is the rough managed ( creating biodiversity for flora and fauna)? How well does the course drain?

Weather - how exposed is the site to the elements? What are the typical wind conditions? Does the course play hard and fast all year round? Must temporary greens and tees be used in winter? Is the course susceptible to winter closure?

Peper and Campbell included courses which supplied the correct answers to most of these questions. But however defined, to me the poem by Sir John Betjeman encapsulates the feeling of links golf.