The 10 Best Golf Courses in Wales

Wales, often called the land of golf, boasts some of the most stunning and challenging golf courses in the world. 

Wales has fewer than 200 courses but the quality and surroundings still make it a brilliant golfing destination. For reference, Scotland has somewhere around 550 and England something like 2200.

The stars of Welsh golf lie around the coast and make up nearly all of the below. Here are some of the greatest links courses on the planet and one has held women's and senior Majors in recent years. 

But the real message is the supreme value for money that is a constant around the Principality. Golfers will think little of pointing the car towards Scotland and heading for a few days' golf but Wales remains less of a thought and, as such, the green fees are remarkable. With prices rocketing, particularly at the Top 100 layouts, here you can really enjoy a great value trip, with some equally as incredible golf. There are no airs or graces, they'll be pleased to see you and you'll almost certainly return.

The first trip I've pencilled in this year is for three days in Wales, both for the value but also the setting. None of the courses on our list make it into the below top 10 but the depth in quality is very underplayed in Wales. You want to be stirred and stimulated and you want to guarantee something a bit different and there's lots to go at here.

If you do want the ultimate trip for never having to get in your car stay in Barmouth. From here you can get the train to Royal St David's and Aberdovey and have a sensational few days away.

Green fees below are the highest quoted for the summer of 2026 so you will be able to find cheaper ways to get on the course and particularly away from peak season eg Porthcawl is £138 in the winter. Without further ado, let's take a look.

Got a favourite local course you think we should add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.

The best golf courses in Wales

Royal Porthcawl

Location: Porthcawl, Bridgend

Green fees (weekday): £250

Rightly regarded as one of the best links courses in the world, Royal Porthcawl Golf Club is a true jewel of Welsh golf. 

Royal Porthcawl is often whispered about as a possible Open venue and, but for some better logistics, it would make for a brilliant stage for the game's oldest Major. There isn't a weak hole on a course that has hosted the Women's Open, Senior Open, Walker and Curtis Cups and seven Amateur Championships. 

This is where Tiger Woods played the Walker Cup and where Bernhard Langer has won twice. The German described it as 'Spectacular when the wind blows, you can see the ocean, beach and hills’. 

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Bristol Channel, the course features classic links characteristics such as tight fairways, deep bunkers, and fast, undulating greens. Designed by the legendary Harry Colt, Royal Porthcawl is known for its strategic layout and its ever-present coastal winds.  A combination of natural beauty and challenging elements makes it a memorable destination for golfers of all abilities.

The course weaves through rolling dunes and offers spectacular views from almost every hole. 

The 2nd and 3rd always come to mind when considering the very best holes here but it's all very good and the finish is outstanding. Things begin with the normal 18th in championships, when you and I play here it opens with a marvellous short 4, played from in front of the clubhouse, with the sea on your left. 

Visit Royal Porthcawl

Aberdovey Golf Club

Location: Aberdovey, Gwynedd

Green fees (weekday): £85-£125

For a more traditional and less commercialized Welsh golf experience, Aberdovey Golf Club is a must visit for serious golfers. 

Located on the beautiful west coast of Wales, the course offers spectacular views over Cardigan Bay and a chance to play on a classic links course that has retained much of its original charm.

Aberdovey’s design makes the most of the natural landscape, weaving through dunes, gorse, and heather. Though the course is relatively short compared to modern layouts, it is far from easy. 

The unpredictable weather conditions here, coupled with strategic bunkering and narrow fairways, make it a true test of accuracy and shot-making. Aberdovey offers a traditional golf experience with an emphasis on strategy and precision. 

Bernard Darwin has a storied association with this course on the west coast of the country and he described it in gushing terms – 'There are several very excellent courses in Wales but I am quite determined to put Aberdovey first – not that I make it for any claim that it is the best but because it is the course that my soul loves best of all the courses in the world’.

The unhurried atmosphere and stunning coastal backdrop make it a fantastic choice for those seeking a more laid-back, authentic links experience.

This is the birthplace of the Welsh Golfing Union and it remains one of the country's very best. It's often described as an out-and-back, old-fashioned links but the actual routing is more of a 90-degree bend with the par 3s crossing the course. A brilliant description was to liken it to a 'badly tied bow tie'. The 16th is an absolute worldie of a short par 4 where the tee and green sit alongside the railway line.

Royal St. David’s

Location: Harlech, Gwynedd

Green fees (weekday): £80-£145

Sitting underneath the magnificent Harlech Castle, Royal St David's is one of the most enjoyable spots to play golf, as well as maybe the most testing par-69 anywhere. This course is regularly ranked among the best in the UK, and its scenic beauty adds an extra layer of enjoyment to any round.

Known for its traditional links design and stunning views of both the Snowdonia mountains and the Cardigan Bay coastline, this course is a must-play for serious golf enthusiasts.

Royal St. David’s is a challenging, yet fair course that stays true to its traditional links roots. The layout offers a series of strategic holes, with deep bunkers and fast greens that require accurate shot-making. It offers a routing which means the wind comes from all angles and the course really comes to life from the 12th tee.

From here you have five 4s and two 3s, which include 13, a  sweeping two-shotter before a short hole where a par requires a proper long iron. There then follows another fantastic par 4 to complete a run of three holes which will stand up to anything. The stunning views of the mountains and coastline only add to the allure of this incredible course.

You can't really go wrong with a trip to St David's, it offers brilliant value for money and has to be one of the most relaxed and down-to-earth Royal clubs. You can locate both Aberdovey and Royal St David's by train which adds to the romantic nature of two incredible courses.

Visit Royal St David's

Pennard Golf Club

Location: Southgate, Swansea

Green fees (weekday): £110

Often referred to as the "links in the sky," Pennard Golf Club offers a truly unique golfing experience. 

Situated on a dramatic clifftop with sweeping views of the Gower Peninsula, the course is a hidden gem that combines stunning scenery with a challenging layout.

Pennard Golf Club is a traditional links course known for its tough, tight fairways, deep bunkers, and fast greens. 

Former Open champion Max Faulkner thought Pennard to be the best course in Britain and many would have it as their No. 1 in Wales. It almost has to be seen to be believed and it is described as The Links In The Sky and you can expect rumpled, crumpled fairways, revetted bunkers, supreme turf and exceptional greens.

The 7th is probably the stand-out hole with a rippled and spectacular fairway and a 12th-century church ruin and the remnants of Pennard Castle before an approach to a punchbowl green. The finish is equally off the normal charts with the 16th green perched on the edge of the cliffs. 

American author James Finegan says this: "Only two or three times in a lifelong pursuit of the best golf this world has to offer, will an unknown course surface that is so superlative it would compel us not simply to cross an ocean but, if necessary to circumnavigate the globe. Such a course is Pennard."

Visit Conwy Golf Club

Conwy

Location: Conwy, Caernarvonshire

Green fees (weekday): £85-£125

Conwy has held many prestigious events and staged the Curtis Cup as recently as 2020 when Great Britain & Ireland claimed a rare victory. It was also the first Welsh club to host qualifying for The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2006.

This is another fantastic Welsh links on the north coast and, while it is consistently flat, the two nines offer something a bit different. It's never boring, there are some very attractive angles to holes and the backdrop of the mountains and Great Orme make for a fabulous backdrop as you begin the back nine after a front nine where the estuary often adds plenty. Here the 7th is an absolute peach of a par 4, one of many on the property.

Another unpretentious club which boasts a course that is special and certainly one of the best five layouts in the Principality.

Visit Conwy Golf Club

Tenby Golf Club

Location: Tenby, Pembrokeshire

Green fees (weekday): £85-£100

Wales' oldest course, dating back to 1888, and it remains one of the country’s most charming tests. For a change we open with a par 5, one of only two, and the 1st is a cracking hole, reachable and rising into a distant corner. James Braid was the brains behind Tenby where incredible views, blind shots, neat dunes and great greens all make up a fun and challenging layout.

The 4th is a lovely par 4 while the short 12th is most likely the signature hole, played adjacent to the coast, and the best stuff all comes alongside the water. The view from the 17th tee is where the course opens up before your eyes and you appreciate how brilliantly everything has been fitted in.

Tenby is Wales' party town and makes for a stunning spot if you're lucky to make a few days of a trip here – it takes a bit of getting to but it's well worth it.

Visit Tenby Golf Club

Ashburnham Golf Club

Location: Burry Port, Carmarthenshire

Green fees (weekday): £55-£75

Another stellar layout in South Wales, less than an hour from Porthcawl, and another elite links. A traditional out-and-back routing which has been laid out by JH Taylor, Fred Hawtree and Ashburnham member Ken Cotton.

We begin with something different in a downhill par 3, from a fraction less than 180 yards, where out of bounds can play an early part if you shove one right. From the 3rd to the 16th it is all links, the beginning and end offer more of a parkland feel.

The 16th is the club's most spectacular hole, with an elevated tee, the Gower Peninsula in the distance and a railway line beyond the putting surface.

There's nothing very stuffy about the world-class Welsh links and this is another where you should make a day of your visit here.

Visit Ashburnham Golf Club

Southerndown

Location: Ogmore by Sea, Bridgend

Green fees (weekday): £89-£95

A bit like Pennard in terms of its elevated positioning, not quite as dramatic but equally a very memorable 18 holes.

We probably obsess too much about defining courses and Southerndown is a tricky one to put into a single category. Uniquely the club describes its 18 holes as a 'limestone-heathland-links'. There is a massive limestone outcrop, which rises over 70 metres from the sea, and, like Pennard, this is very different to much else.

Gorse plays its part too and many of the great designers – Willie Fernie, Herbert Fowler, Willie Park, Harry Colt and Donald Steel – have all added to its challenge. The Duncan Putter is a leading 72-hole amateur event and is played here every April – former Walker Cup skipper Nigel Edwards has won this four times.

'The breezes blow cool and fresh here, and on a still and stifling August day, when the golfer is almost too limp to crawl round Porthcawl, he will be wise to refresh himself by a round on the heights of Southerndown," writes Darwin.

Visit Southerndown Golf Club

The Twenty Ten Course, Celtic Manor Resort

Location: Newport

Green fees (weekday): £50-£176

The course built for the Ryder Cup of its name. Rory McIlroy’s first one and the scene of that memorable Monday finish when Colin Montgomerie’s team held on.

Expect plenty of water, superb conditioning and slick greens. The back nine is where it gets most interesting and particularly varied and things really move up a level, literally, after the testing 14th where you seem to have water everywhere. 

The Twenty Ten Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., was created specifically for the 2010 Ryder Cup and offers a challenging yet enjoyable experience for golfers at every level.

Set in the picturesque Usk Valley, the Twenty Ten Course features a mix of parkland and strategic hazards, including water features, bunkers, and the famous 18th hole with its natural amphitheater. T

The course can be a monster off the back tees, given it was stretched for the Ryder Cup, so play off the appropriate tees. 

This way you can take on the par-4 15th, the one where every player tried to drive the green in 2010, and you might get a chance to take on the 18th in two. Lots of memories from 16 years ago and the scene of one of the great Ryder Cups, despite all that rain. And the hotel is as grand as anything in the country.

The course’s challenging layout ensures golfers will be tested, while the resort’s amenities provide the perfect place to relax afterward.

Visit Celtic Manor

Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club

Location: Kenfig, Bridgend

Green fees (weekday): £50-£110

If you do take on a golf trip to Royal Porthcawl, then you should absolutely add Pyle & Kenfig in to your itinerary. This is a sprawling and undulating links with towering dunes and interesting valleys. Two very different loops make up this challenge and, while the front nine is more than interesting and is the work of Harry Colt, the back nine is the star of the show.

This is immediately apparent from the testing 10th onwards and these nine holes, designed by P. Mackenzie Ross, really make the most of the dramatic terrain. The views around 13 and 14 are spectacular and you'll hit all kinds of different shots over the closing holes.

The last three make for a fitting finish and first-time visitors will come off the course amazed that they've never considered such a great test before.

Visit Pyle & Kenfig

Why Golf in Wales is So Special

Wales offers more than just great golf—it provides a rich, diverse golfing experience that combines history, beauty, and challenge. 

From the spectacular coastal links courses to peaceful inland gems, golfers can find a variety of courses to suit their preferences. 

Wales' dramatic natural landscapes, including its rugged coastline and rolling hills, serve as the perfect backdrop to a round of golf.

But what truly makes golfing in Wales special is the atmosphere. 

Welsh golf courses are known for their welcoming, friendly nature, making players feel at home from the moment they arrive. 

Additionally, the country’s long-standing golfing traditions ensure that golfers have access to courses with deep roots in the sport’s history. 

Whether you’re playing at a world-famous venue like Royal Porthcawl or a hidden gem like Aberdovey, Wales offers an unforgettable golfing experience that should be on every golfer’s bucket list.