Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club

If it didn't have a royal neighbour, P & K would enjoy a far wider reputation. It has many fine qualities that distinguish it from Porthcawl, as competitors in the 2002 Amateur Championship will discover when both courses host the qualifying rounds of the tournament. Although nearby, Pyle & Kenfig possesses much higher dunes and deeper, disconcerting valleys in a layout that offers plenty of diversity. Originally mapped out in 1922 by H.S.Colt, large chunks of the course were requisitioned by the army in World War II after which it was decided to move seawards into dunesland that designer P. Mackenzie Ross described as a 'golfers paradise'. There are two loops of nine holes returning to the cosy clubhouse and the second half is regarded as the tougher of the two with the final three holes regarded as the hardest of the lot. Each over 400 yards and with a daunting tee shot towards deeply-bunkered problems, they promise a demanding finish that helps make a visit to the more fabled links down the road an incomplete experience if you don¹t include P & K in your itinerary. The course is rated in the Top 120 courses in the UK.