Welshpool

Welshpool Golf Club is an inland gem in mid-Wales, located just over ten miles from the Welsh border with England. 

 

After living at a couple of different locations, Welshpool Golf Club finally settled on its current location in 1930, with five-time Open Champion James Braid being the man to design the course.  

 

The course, at just 5,700 yards, might be the shortest you will find on the NCG Top 100s: Wales list. However, don’t let the glorious views of Snowdonia and the rolling Welsh hills lull you into a false sense of security. 

 

  

Visit Welshpool's website here. 

Go back to the NCG's Top 100s Homepage.

 

The club was established in 1894 in Deer Park, Powis Castle, but before finding its current home on Golfa Hill, Welshpool's members also played at 'Red Bank' on the outskirts of the town. 

  

James Braid was invited to lay out their final resting place at Golfa Hill in 1930 and did a typically impressive job of fitting the holes into the landscape. 

  

The construction company of John R Stutt built the course and Stutt compared Welshpool to Gleneagles, despite the latter not providing anything like the spectacular shots with which the Golfa abounds. 
 

The hillside theme that gives Welshpool its appeal and ensures there is never a dull moment, with the undulating terrain serving up a constant diet of interesting shots from tumbling fairways into and around characterful greens. The moorland course has a suitably memorable climax, the winding 18th dropping way below the tee. But if you like old-fashioned golf with pulpit greens, ditches, greenside swales, the occasion blind shot and gorse lining every fairway then you’re in for a treat. 

  

“The fact is that it is almost as impossible to describe the course as to describe the view; it is so unexpected, so unlike anything else, perched on the roof of the world. It is a beautiful place and I realised how incomplete had been my golfing education until I had seen it” - Bernard Darwin on Welshpool 

 

Welshpool measures only 5,700 yards to a par of 70, but don’t let that fool you into thinking you will be able to bully your way around the course. The opening hole could be seen as drivable, but if you don’t feel like you’re fully warm, then take a long iron or hybrid off the tee to leave a wedge to the 1st green. The 2nd is the opening par 3 on the course, while the 3rd is the hardest hole on the front side of the course. 

 

4 and 5 are both drivable for the long hitters at just 287 and 274 yards respectively, however, there is trouble to be avoided for those going for it. The 6th has OOB down the left side, and the tee shot needs to be at the marker post. Anything long of this green will drop off into a deep grass bunker behind the putting surface. The 7th is another short par 4 that should be a birdie chance. It is just 300 yards from the tips, but anything right will find itself down the hill and never be seen again. There is a small pond to the left of the green that needs to be avoided.

 

Despite being a par 3, the 8th is the fourth hardest hole on the card. With a two-tiered green and the putting surface itself sitting above you, a par is a very good score. A split fairway on 9 thanks to a pond means you have a decision to make as to whether you go for it off the tee. The back nine opens with one of just two par 5s on the course, and starts what is, by far, the longer side of the course at Welshpool.  

 

11 is another tough par 3. It plays downhill to one of the smallest greens that you are ever likely to see. 12 is the hardest hole, and the only par 4 of more than 400 yards. It reaches all the way back to 455 yards from the tips and is a proper test of driving and accuracy for all golfers. A blind tee shot awaits on the 13th. The marker post or slightly right of it is the ideal line off the tee. The green sits at the bottom of the slope, with a running approach being the best idea for some. 

 

The 14th is the last par 5, and at just 490 yards, it could be reachable in two after a good drive. 15 is the last par 3, with the closing holes at Welshpool all being short par 4s. At 312, 328 and 325 yards, respectively, the final three holes are not long, but don’t take them lightly...

 

Where is Welshpool Golf Club located?  
Welshpool Golf Club is in the heart of east Wales, and the venue sits just 11 miles by road from the Welsh border with neighbouring England. It sits just off the A458 which runs from Mallwyd, in the southwest of the country, to Quinton, which is just outside Birmingham. The town of Welshpool is around five miles to the east of the golf club. 

 

The nearest train station to the venue is also in Welshpool. Trains run west to east, starting in Shrewsbury in England, running through to both Aberystwyth and Pwllheli on the western coast of Wales. For international travellers, Welshpool is within a 90-minute drive of three English airports – Birmingham, Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester. The latter of the three is the busiest airport in the country outside of London.

 

Are there any other NCG Top 100s: Wales venues nearby?
Welshpool is one of several venues on the NCG Top 100s: Wales list that is close to the English border, but it is also somewhat on its own. Vale of Llangollen is the nearest, but that remains a 35-mile trip north. Llandrindod Wells, Aberdovey and Borth & Ynyslas are also within 50 miles of Welshpool.

What golf facilities does Welshpool Golf Club offer?  
Along with the 18-hole golf course, Welshpool Golf Club also has practice facilities for golfers to hone their skills prior to a round. A putting green and practice bunker are both available. 

What are the green fees at Welshpool Golf Club?  
The price of a green fee at Welshpool 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 Welshpool Golf Club, visit their website here. 

 

  

Visit Welshpool's website here. 

Go back to the NCG's Top 100s Homepage.