The True Links Project: March 2025

Monday, 31 March 2025

Porthmadog golf club, Gwynedd, Wales

www.porthmadog-golf-club.co.uk

White tees 71.5, slope 124

Red tees 71.9, slope 116

Porthmadog golf course lies at the mouth of the river Dwyryd as it flows into Ceredigion Bay in north-west Wales. It was founded in 1905 as a nine hole course but expanded to 18 holes in 1911, reputedly with the input of James Braid.

This was the start of a few days in Wales playing four true links courses. We played Porthmadog with Lynn and David Lawson on a lovely sunny day with a light breeze. This is a course of two halves, the first nine being inland and more like a heathland or parkland course. with quite a lot of water and many trees. Unusually these holes consisted of three par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s. Apart from water in front of the 1st green the first two holes were unremarkable. The next three holes were on parkland type terrain. The 5th has water on both sides of the landing area for drives and is a dogleg to the right. A pretty par 3 follows with an island green. Accuracy is required at the par 3 9th, with water hazards awaiting a short or long shot.

The island green at the 6th hole

The view from the 13th tee

The second nine holes are much more more linksland in type with crumpled fairways and harder, faster running ground. The 10th starts with a blind drive followed by a narrow entrance to the green guarded by bunkers. Heading for the sea, the 11th is a par 3, with runoffs around the green making accuracy essential. We thought that the 12th was a rather contrived hole up a huge hill with very little fairway and a plateau green' which repels shots which are slightly short. Lovely views of the beach greet the golfer from the next tee but the hole is a blind par 3 with only a glimpse of the green from the tee. Large dunes on the right give the 14th its name, Himalayas, and with out of bounds on the right and a blind drive it is easy to lose a ball if not struck perfectly. The par 5 17th is lined by gorse and doglegs twice from right to left. A ditch lurks to the right of the green to catch the unwary. It is a disappointing finish with an uninviting and nondescript 18th hole.

The second nine is true links

Worth playing? Not in the same league as nearby Royal St David's or Aberdovey.

The True Links Project

There are 247 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.