Swansea Bay

This likeable part-links course has fine turf throughout its 18 holes which start off as gentle parkland golf for five holes before you cross under the motorway slip road for eight holes, on more rugged and rolling duneland.

You then return to the tree-lined part of the course for the closing stretch.

The real good stuff comes between holes eight and 11 where you play four exceptional links holes. The eighth is the pick of the bunch and wouldn’t be out of place on any championship course whilst the green complexes at the 10th and 11th are also both superb.

The other 14 holes impress at times too and whilst the backdrop is mostly industrial, and you virtually play underneath the motorway at times, it was a pleasure to discover this gem on a beautiful October evening in 2014.

The best of the non-links holes is the 14th, a bunkerless par five, that scales a large ridge before playing along higher ground.

Many of the holes on the clubhouse side of the course are now tree-lined but have rippling fairways. It would have been interesting to see this course one-hundred years ago because whilst the routing must have changed, because of the road infrastructure, I can imagine it used to play more links-like throughout. It’s almost as if it’s losing its linksness and associated firmness as the shrubbery and trees envelop it.

Thankfully there are enough holes that remain to make this worthy of a visit, especially at the green-fee rate of just £17.