Affordable Golf Breaks - P+K

WHS Scores

SOW: 24.7

EOW: 23.8

Welcome to Part two of my Best Affordable Golf Weekender here on 54 to Scratch, the Golf blog that follows a wannabe golfing superstar (not really) on his journey from beginner to something representing an actual golfer.

Last time, I talked about the first day of a recent golf trip I made. You can click here if you would prefer to start from the beginning and find out more about Clyne golf course. Alternatively, you can obviously stay here and continue to read, the choice is yours.

With that said, Day 2, we had breakfast (as previously mentioned, stunning) and made our way to Pyle and Kenfig.

Pyle and Kenfig is a course that normally costs £90 a round and is a true test. It’s a Par 71 with a slope of 128 (yellows) and course rating of 70.6. They had signs up for the Senior Open as they are one of the 3 qualifying courses being used, which I think says a lot about the quality of course it is, as well as the type of test it offers.

On arrival, the first tee box struck my step dad as “being better than most greens”. The course looked like a typical links course at this time of year, with yellowed, burnt looking fairways that make the immaculate greens and aforementioned tee boxes stand out even more.

The first few holes, felt simple enough, the first 3 being fairly straight par 4’s.

Having said that, there were signs of the potential difficulty that this course had to offer to some - the fairway bunkers here are placed at some interesting distances and have high lips green side. If you go in one, as I did a few times later in the round, you are faced with the reality that you WILL NOT be hitting anything other than a short iron/wedge out of there.

Anyway, I shot 2 5’s and a 6 on those opening holes, which filled me with confidence. The slope/rating of the course meant that this was a decent start, with me effectively playing 2 under for these opening holes.

On the next par 3, a wayward tee shot left me in the one patch of heavy rough available, which took me a couple of attempts to get out of.

The next par 5 went to plan, but a 3 putt left me with a 7. The next par 3 I again struggled with, with some poor strikes meaning it took me 3 to get on the green and another 3 putt meant a triple bogie. On the next par 3, a wayward tee shot left me in the one patch of heavy rough available, which took me a couple of attempts to get out of. The next par 5 went to plan, but a 3 putt left me with a 7. The next par 3 I again struggled with, with some poor strikes meaning it took me 3 to get on the green and another 3 putt meant a triple bogie.

The next hole was a dog leg left Par 4, which I proceeded to get another triple on after a great tee shot, but going in a bunker on the fairway from my second shot didn’t help. Up to this point, I don’t think any of us realised that we had been slowly but steadily climbing up hill and the view from the 8th green and 9th Tee was amazing, looking over the Bristol Channel and overlooking Royal Porthcawl, which really stands out from up on that hill.

The 9th Par 5 goes back down the aforementioned hill and goes straight down to where you came from, finishing right next to where the 1st tee is.

I finished the 9th with a 7, which left me on 56 (3 over).

You then go back over the road to take on the back 9. Apparantly, the course was redesigned post WW2, and the back 9 does feel like a different course. This part of the course is just stunning in places, with one of my favourite holes I’ve played so far (more on that later in the blog.)

The 10th starts with a Par 4, that had some awesome bridges that were a definite nod to a certain Old Course in Scotland…  I had a decent drive (my driving on this trip to Wales was definitely one of the strong points, a rarity I must say!). Another couple of shots got me on the green and on the most difficult hole on the course (according to stroke index), I got a net birdie (5).

I then got my only par on the next hole, a glorious par 5 that winds it’s way through ferns either side of the fairway, with an elevated green standing out in the background.

A rather fortunate third shot (I topped my hybrid and it rolled forever up onto the back of the green) and 2 putts from 30feet plus gave me par. The next par 3 required you carrying the 3 bunkers that are right in front of the green, which I managed thankfully, a chip and 2 putts gave me net par.

The next hole has to be my favourite looking and most fun hole I have played to date. Standing on the tee, with the 30 degree sun above us, you look at a blind dog leg right. The fairway is bordered by Sand dunes with luscious green ferns growing on them.

My tee shot took me to the base of one of the dunes, which meant I needed to take a wander around the dune to see where I was going next and realised that the hole effectively zigzags, with the hole taking a slight left towards the green.

I decided to take the tiger line over the dune, but got the line wrong, ending up OOB.

I eventually holed out for 8, but that didn’t take away from the beauty of the hole (or the proceeding 2) as it was truly like being transported to another country.

The next par 3 caught me out, as I topped my first shot into the dune that was right in front of me, and then got the 3rd shot wrong. I eventually got a 6.

The next hole, you can see me play on my reels here. The elevated tee shot looked gorgeous as the hole goes around a dog leg right to a really interesting green. I hit my tee shot to the right and then tried another blind approach over the dunes. Landed short but then played a decent shot onto the green and 2 putted despite a crazy break.

As we were walking off this hole, unfortunately the heat got to me and I finished with some real blowups, scoring 9 on the final two holes each.

Overall, I ended up 10 over net par, which was pretty bad but largely down to those final two holes. The pin positions on the day seemed to all be tucked behind bunkers, so I think we played it on quite a tricky day.

I would highly recommend Pyle and Kenfig if you are in the area, would love to go back. Even for the standard rate of £90, it would be a worthwhile venture out compared to some courses of this level!

We then played Clyne on Day 3 again, where I played a lot more consistent overall, scoring 2 better than the first time round. Again, would highly recommend Clyne too - it really is a wonderful course.

Overall, if you are looking for an affordable golfing break, South Wales - Swansea in particular, offers a great amount of choice. There are numerous golf courses in the area that are all top quality if reviews are to be believed and you could easily play every type of course (parkland/clifftop/links) within just a few days.

I definitely want to go back, especially once I eventually get YouTube up and running - more to come on that soon…

Thanks again for taking the time to read this - more to come soon!

Happy golfing!

Gear Check

Driver - Callaway Rogue ST

Irons - Taylormade Stealth

Wedges - Taylormade Hi-Toe 52, 56, 60

Putter - Scotty Cameron Squareback

Shoes - Adidas Tour 360 22

Trolley - CRUISER GOLF CR-Micro