The Welsh Tourist Board once promoted Wales as follows: “For the many who have tired of sun loungers… Wales. Home of proper holidays. Phrasebook optional, sense of adventure essential, indifference best left at home.” What can we add to that? Probably not much really, especially as Wales was firmly in the golfing spotlight in October 2010 when Newport hosted the Ryder Cup.

Celtic Manor Resort’s Twenty Ten course was purpose-built for that event, which was not only a nail-biter, but also resulted in the first Monday finish in Ryder Cup history due to Friday’s play being washed out by torrential rain.

There are more than 170 golf courses in the country with associated clubs administered by the national governing body WalesGolf and around twenty County Unions and Associations. We feature the best fifty Welsh golf courses and a few of these world-class layouts should be on every golfer’s “must-play” list.

The two Royals of Porthcawl and St David’s are perennially located near the top of the national rankings but there are plenty of other excellent courses, many of them hugging the long Welsh coastline, and these should also be sought out and savoured.

We updated our Welsh golf course rankings in May 2022. Click the link for full details.