need_my_wedge
Has Now Found His Wedgie
When I stared back to golf about 5 years back, one of the first images I saw in GM was the aerial shot of the old 8 holes on the point at Nefyn & District Golf Club. It was love at first site and an immediate addition to my golfing bucket list.
5 Years on, game at the best it’s been, playing off 19 and we’re good to try. We phoned the club and were informed that they had an online booking system for visitors. No problem, log in, find a date and time and we were set - Saturday 14[SUP]th[/SUP] September, to play the front 10 and the old back 8. We trekked up the afternoon before and stayed with friends in the area so that we had a fresh start in the morning. Arrived at the course about 40 mins before our tee off, parked up, kitted up and made our way to the pro shop where it started to go wrong. We joined a fairly busy queue in the shop for what appeared to be a group of players that had just turned up to play and were being fitted in........just in front of us. This initially pushed our tee off back by 15 minutes but ultimately meant we were waiting on every tee.
The weather was not too bad, cloudy, 16 degrees and a good 2 or 3 club breeze coming in off the sea. Standing on the first, it’s a very picturesque view down to a marker post with sea behind, which belied the drop the fairway undergoes. Unfortunately, my tee shot had gone right leaving me with a blind shot over a hill and what I thought was a bungalow but turned out to be storage building. Playing over the obstacles I found myself in one of the many bunkers on the course before playing onto the green and 4 (yes four) putting on what was a very glass like green.
From there the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] – 4[SUP]th[/SUP] all run along the edge of the cliff into the wind with no room for error for the power faders ... It did take me 3 holes to get to grips with the speed of the greens, but the scenic views from each hole were more than making up for it. The 5[SUP]th[/SUP] was a lovely little par 3 playing across the wind as we started to turn back towards the clubhouse. Unfortunately the speed of play was getting slower and slower, culminating with a 25 minute wait to tee off on the 8[SUP]th[/SUP]..... but somehow I managed to card 4 consecutive pars between 5 & 8. Fortunately for us (or so we thought) two of the groups in front of us were playing the new back 8, informing us that they would be moving aside before we started to play the old back 9.
No cause for comfort there though, as we wondered over to the 11[SUP]th[/SUP] tee to find 2 new groups queuing there. This was the part of the course I had come to play, the stunning aerial shots were right, it looked awesome........ too bad it didn’t play as well as it looked.
The 11[SUP]th[/SUP] plays down into a dip for the first shot, with a second shot up to a plateau. Unfortunately, from your ball, you cannot see the green, not even the top of the pin, just a steep incline covered in heather and gorse, a real hit and hope shot.
On to the 12[SUP]th[/SUP], and this is where it really became a bit Mickey Mouse. I say that with a heavy heart because I really had longed to play this and wanted it to be as good as it looks....... there’s a pedestrian walkway through the length of the point, the path starts adjacent to the fairway but you have a blind shot at a marker post. A sign tells you to take the 100 yard stroll up to the marker to ensure it is clear to play. Wondering up, it reveals that the fairway falls away down and right, anything left will put you on the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] fairway or in the sea if you hit your drive well. But the biggest worry was the walkers strolling along the path, there was no view of them what so ever, you were really driving blind..... We decided to act as a watcher for each other to ensure we a) new where the ball had gone, and b) were able to call fore in the event we were heading for a pedestrian. Both of us safe on both counts, however, this prompted for more fun and games as the second shot to the green is now a blind slight dogleg right with the walkway literally turning and running right across the fairway in front of the green. There is no way you can safely play a second to the green. We were only aware of this as we once again took the 100 yard stroll up to the brow of the hill for a look. The only option was to dink the ball over the hill and play a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] shot to the green when we could see the walkers (and there were many of them).
By the time we had gotten to the green, it had taken us an hour to play 11 and 12......
The 13[SUP]th[/SUP] is a nice hole, driving over the rocks to cut the dog leg requires a 210 yard carry to hit the fairway, a task that we were both up to. The green is in a strange location though, squeezed in at the foot of the lighthouse.
14 par 3 is novel, the tee is on a mat at the base of the lighthouse, playing over the 13[SUP]th[/SUP] green down to the green near the lifeboat station.
15 plays over the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] green up over the rocks to the blind brow of the hill, no marker to help your line, just hit and hope.
The par 3 16[SUP]th[/SUP] is a fine test, at 180 odd yards into a 3 club breeze with absolutely nowhere else to go but the green.
17 runs back along the cliff with straight drives a necessity, and 18 is a short par 4 back up the hill to the clubhouse.
I returned with a total of 1 lost ball and a score of 90, 1 over my handicap, I’m very pleased with that as a result on my first attempt. All in all, it is without doubt a very beautiful location, and I am glad that I have been to play it, but, I must say that it was also extremely disappointing. No round of golf should take 5 hours to play, and the layout of the old back 8 was just too “quirky†for my liking, making it very difficult to play a good game.....
I’m afraid it’s one location that I won’t be returning to play.
5 Years on, game at the best it’s been, playing off 19 and we’re good to try. We phoned the club and were informed that they had an online booking system for visitors. No problem, log in, find a date and time and we were set - Saturday 14[SUP]th[/SUP] September, to play the front 10 and the old back 8. We trekked up the afternoon before and stayed with friends in the area so that we had a fresh start in the morning. Arrived at the course about 40 mins before our tee off, parked up, kitted up and made our way to the pro shop where it started to go wrong. We joined a fairly busy queue in the shop for what appeared to be a group of players that had just turned up to play and were being fitted in........just in front of us. This initially pushed our tee off back by 15 minutes but ultimately meant we were waiting on every tee.
The weather was not too bad, cloudy, 16 degrees and a good 2 or 3 club breeze coming in off the sea. Standing on the first, it’s a very picturesque view down to a marker post with sea behind, which belied the drop the fairway undergoes. Unfortunately, my tee shot had gone right leaving me with a blind shot over a hill and what I thought was a bungalow but turned out to be storage building. Playing over the obstacles I found myself in one of the many bunkers on the course before playing onto the green and 4 (yes four) putting on what was a very glass like green.
From there the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] – 4[SUP]th[/SUP] all run along the edge of the cliff into the wind with no room for error for the power faders ... It did take me 3 holes to get to grips with the speed of the greens, but the scenic views from each hole were more than making up for it. The 5[SUP]th[/SUP] was a lovely little par 3 playing across the wind as we started to turn back towards the clubhouse. Unfortunately the speed of play was getting slower and slower, culminating with a 25 minute wait to tee off on the 8[SUP]th[/SUP]..... but somehow I managed to card 4 consecutive pars between 5 & 8. Fortunately for us (or so we thought) two of the groups in front of us were playing the new back 8, informing us that they would be moving aside before we started to play the old back 9.
No cause for comfort there though, as we wondered over to the 11[SUP]th[/SUP] tee to find 2 new groups queuing there. This was the part of the course I had come to play, the stunning aerial shots were right, it looked awesome........ too bad it didn’t play as well as it looked.
The 11[SUP]th[/SUP] plays down into a dip for the first shot, with a second shot up to a plateau. Unfortunately, from your ball, you cannot see the green, not even the top of the pin, just a steep incline covered in heather and gorse, a real hit and hope shot.
On to the 12[SUP]th[/SUP], and this is where it really became a bit Mickey Mouse. I say that with a heavy heart because I really had longed to play this and wanted it to be as good as it looks....... there’s a pedestrian walkway through the length of the point, the path starts adjacent to the fairway but you have a blind shot at a marker post. A sign tells you to take the 100 yard stroll up to the marker to ensure it is clear to play. Wondering up, it reveals that the fairway falls away down and right, anything left will put you on the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] fairway or in the sea if you hit your drive well. But the biggest worry was the walkers strolling along the path, there was no view of them what so ever, you were really driving blind..... We decided to act as a watcher for each other to ensure we a) new where the ball had gone, and b) were able to call fore in the event we were heading for a pedestrian. Both of us safe on both counts, however, this prompted for more fun and games as the second shot to the green is now a blind slight dogleg right with the walkway literally turning and running right across the fairway in front of the green. There is no way you can safely play a second to the green. We were only aware of this as we once again took the 100 yard stroll up to the brow of the hill for a look. The only option was to dink the ball over the hill and play a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] shot to the green when we could see the walkers (and there were many of them).
By the time we had gotten to the green, it had taken us an hour to play 11 and 12......
The 13[SUP]th[/SUP] is a nice hole, driving over the rocks to cut the dog leg requires a 210 yard carry to hit the fairway, a task that we were both up to. The green is in a strange location though, squeezed in at the foot of the lighthouse.
14 par 3 is novel, the tee is on a mat at the base of the lighthouse, playing over the 13[SUP]th[/SUP] green down to the green near the lifeboat station.
15 plays over the 14[SUP]th[/SUP] green up over the rocks to the blind brow of the hill, no marker to help your line, just hit and hope.
The par 3 16[SUP]th[/SUP] is a fine test, at 180 odd yards into a 3 club breeze with absolutely nowhere else to go but the green.
17 runs back along the cliff with straight drives a necessity, and 18 is a short par 4 back up the hill to the clubhouse.
I returned with a total of 1 lost ball and a score of 90, 1 over my handicap, I’m very pleased with that as a result on my first attempt. All in all, it is without doubt a very beautiful location, and I am glad that I have been to play it, but, I must say that it was also extremely disappointing. No round of golf should take 5 hours to play, and the layout of the old back 8 was just too “quirky†for my liking, making it very difficult to play a good game.....
I’m afraid it’s one location that I won’t be returning to play.
