NGC Press Release

"Girls just want to golf - In Wales
Wales offers up world-class golfing against a breathtaking and beautiful natural backdrop."

By Diana Rowe

These days, it seems more and more girls just want to play golf, so why not play golf where the game started – or at least nearby in Wales, where "golf is as it should be" is the country's slogan? A four-day whirlwind visit allowed me to discover that Wales, the home of the 2010 Ryder Cup, is indeed a golfing gal's new best friend.

Scotland might be considered the home of golf, but the price of a round can bring a girl's swing down. Wales boasts a stunning backdrop of sea and mountain, hill and vale, welcoming people and a natural setting for some of the best golf in the world, much less expensive and crowded than their neighbors. That's quite enough to put this small, often-missed gem of a country back on the map.

GOLFING IN WALES
Welsh courses rate amongst the best in the world and this country has been re-emerging on the shortlist as Emerging Golf Destination of the Year, with three courses making the Golf Digest list of the world's top 100 outside of the USA -- including one of my stops at Royal St. David's (Harlech).

The landscape of Wales is reminiscent of my Iowa farming roots: mostly rural with many mountains and rolling hills. The vibrant green foliage is made richer by the on-and-off again drizzling rain we encountered. The rolling hilltops are scattered with wooly sheep and cattle painted against a distant skyline.

Our road trip weaved through the narrow roads, flanked by the stone hedges. The quaint villages emerging along the way boasted tantalizing Celtic names like Pwllhel and Gwynedd, with extra consonants and missing vowels. How could these unobtrusive villages and farms be home to world-class golf, we wondered aloud, until surprisingly a challenging and well-designed golf course sprung into view.

NEFYN
Nefyn is a small town on the northwest coast of the Lleyn Peninsula in Gwynedd. Nefyn & District Golf Club is laid out along this peninsula. The course is magical from the first hole to the last, with waves crashing on the rocks, the faint hint of thyme on the cliffs, the orange beaks of the oyster catchers, the distant cawing of the seagull and unrivalled sea and mountain views from all 26 holes.

The original article can be found here

http://www.johnnyjet.com/folder/archive/Diana-Rowe-Wales-2009.html

Prettiest golf course

(Tie) Poipu Bay, Kauai and Nefyn & District, Wales. Both offer a wealth of coastal scenery, perched on cliffs high above the water, where your camera is as important as any club in your bag. Keep your fingers crossed for a sunny day (though that's a far easier wish on Kauai than in north Wales).
Their beauty comes with a price: these are two of the windiest golf courses you'll ever play.

http://www.worldgolf.com/column/golf-travel-awards-best-of-2008-9401.htm