Ashburnham

Ashburnham Golf Club is in southwestern Wales and was founded in 1894, with the course extending to an 18-hole layout eight years later. JH Taylor’s changes in 1910 made the course into what it is today. 

 

The Welsh venue has played host to several professional tournaments, including the precursor to the BMW PGA Championship.

 

The Martini Tournament and Final Qualifying for three Senior Open Championships have all taken place at Ashburnham in its long and storied history.

 

 

 

 

Visit Ashburnham’s website here. 

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Beginning life as a nine-holer in 1894, it was extended in 1902. Since then, each of JH Taylor, Fred Hawtree and Ken Cotton (himself a member) have created what stands today and that can be stretched to all but 7,000 yards from the very back tees. 

 

Taylor’s influence was the greatest on Ashburnham’s layout and design. The five-time Open Champion made the changes prior to the First World War, and the layout has remained essentially the same since.  

 

The course has held several major amateur and professional competitions over its century-long life. Many notable events have been hosted at Ashburnham over the years, including the BMW PGA Championship. Bernard Gallacher picked up his first pay cheque here when he won what is today the DP World Tour’s flagship event in 1969. Another Scottish legend, Sam Torrance, won the Martini Tournament in 1976 and winning Ryder Cup captain Dai Rees was also victorious at Ashburnham. 

 

It has also played host to Final Qualifying for the Senior Open Championship, doing so on all three occasions that Royal Porthcawl has hosted the tournament (2014, 2017, 2023). 
 

First impressions of a course from a clubhouse bay window are usually revealing. But not here at Ashburnham, where the first and last holes are entirely untypical of what lies in between. It is a course that can push back to more than 7,000 yards from the tips, but for us mere mortals, the Whites come in at just over 6,650 yards, to keep it playable!

 

The 1st, like at Royal Lytham & St Annes, is a par 3. Add in the flat, parallel-running 2nd and 17th, along with the short 16th, and the rest is very much a course within a course. The opener is a 175-yard challenge, and arguably not what you want for your first shot of the day! The 2nd is a tough, long par 4 of 440 yards, and one where anything right off the tee might find itself running OOB...

 

These remaining 13 holes are classic links. They dive through the dunes with a beguiling combination of blind and open vistas; some are arrow-straight, others are dog-legged – occasionally more than once.  All are completely natural; if it is manicured, target golf you prefer, look elsewhere. A few are fearsome, a few are (theoretically) straightforward, and every so occasionally Ashburnham throws up the kind of hole that is simply impossible to play without foreknowledge of its perils and secrets. 

 

"The course I like best in Wales is Ashburnham” - Six-time Open Champion Harry Vardon 

 

The 3rd takes you into the dunes, with a rideg around 200 yards from the tee. If you take it on, then you will be left with just a flick of a wedge into the green. OOB comes into play down the right of the 4th as well, while a trio of fairway bunkers are also in play off the tee. The 5th is the first of the par 5s at Ashburnham, and at just 485 yards, it offers up a real scoring opportunity. The pick of the front nine is the short 6th. Here, the target is a raised green protected by a yawning front bunker and a steep bank on the right. A strong iron shot indeed is required to find the sanctuary of the green.

 

7 is another medium-length par 4 with OOB down its right side, before you come to the blind tee shot on the 8th. Fire over the gorse bushes in front of you and hope for the best! If you do find the fairway, then this par 5 is another good scoring opportunity. The front nine at Ashburnham concludes with a tough par 4. At 425 yards, it is one of the longer 4s on the card. It sweeps from right to left, with bunkers lining the left side of the fairway, on the inside corner. Avoid those, and you will have a clear shot at a green that sits above the fairway and has a false front to it.

 

From the tips, the 10th pushes past 600 yards, easily making it the longest hole on the layout. A couple of bunkers sit on the left side of the fairway, but other than that, there is no real trouble off the tee thanks to the generous fairway in front of you. When you get to 11, and you find the fairway, don't think you will have a flat lie for your second shot. It is one of the most undulating fairways you will come across, and another charm of Ashburnham's dune holes. The 12th demands a drive down a funnel  of gorse before then turning sharply to the left. The temptation from the tee on this par 4 of moderate length is to hug the left of the fairway but all that results is a blind and highly awkward second over a hill.

 

13 is the shortest hole on the course at just 135 yards, but arguably the signature hole on the property. Played from an elevated tee, and across an old road, the green is set into the bank, so anything slightly long might well find its way back down to the putting surface. 14 calls for a drive to the first of two fairways, and then a second hit more with hope than certainty over a marker post whose function is not immediately clear. At 460 yards, the 15th is one of the tougher par 4s, with a large ridge in the middle of the fairway to contend with as well. 

 

There is a climb to the 16th tee as Ashburnham finishes in a similar style to the way it begins. 16 is the last of the par 3s, and offers panoramic views of the Gower Peninsula as its backdrop. The penultimate hole is a trick par 4 with a narrow ditch running down the right side, before you come to Ashburnham's closer. The 18th measures little more than 350 yards though playing slightly longer, the tee shot does not require too much in the way of length. while the second calls for a shot to a green at the top of a steep hill.

 

Where is Ashburnham Golf Club located?  
Ashburnham Golf Club is between the seaside towns of Pembury and Burry Port, in the southwestern corner of Wales. It sits just off the B4311 and is around six miles from the city of Llanelli. 

 

Pembury & Burry Port Station is within a mile of Ashburnham Golf Club and has regular trains running in both directions. Trains from Pembury & Burry Port can run to Carmarthen, Swansea, Manchester Piccadilly and even all the way east to London Paddington. As with all golf courses in southern Wales, Swansea and Cardiff Airport are the two major airports for those coming from further afield to travel into. Cardiff is the larger of the two, and the busiest airport in Wales. 60 miles separates Cardiff Airport from Ashburnham Golf Club.

 

Are there any other NCG Top 100s: Wales venues nearby?
Ashburnham is one of two venues, along with Machynys Peninsula, in and around Llanelli that makes the NCG Top 100s: Wales list. Tenby is 40 miles to the west, while the trio of Langland Bay, Pennard and Clyne on the Gower Peninsula are within half that distance.

What golf facilities does Ashburnham Golf Club offer?  
There is not a driving range at Ashburnham, but golfers can warm up for their round on the championship course by hitting some balls in the practice nets. There is also a putting green and a practice chipping green with a practice bunker for those finishing touches. There is also an indoor Swing Studio at Ashburnham Golf Club. The studio uses the latest Trackman technology. 

What are the green fees at Ashburnham Golf Club?  
The price of a green fee at Ashburnham Golf Club changes throughout the year, depending on the season. It is also different depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend.

 

For more information on current green fees at Ashburnham, visit their website here.

 

 

 

 

Visit Ashburnham’s website here. 

Go back to the NCG Top 100s Homepage.