Southerndown Golf Club
Ogmore-by-Sea, Bridgend · Designed by Willie Fernie (1906); later Fowler, Willie Park Jr, Colt and Donald Steel · Est. 1905
Why this Edge Score: A rare limestone-heath course high above Ogmore-by-Sea, Southerndown plays over springy downland turf grazed by sheep, with huge Bristol Channel views. Firm and true in every season, this natural, characterful layout rounds out our top ten in Wales.
Southerndown opened in 1905 as the Ogmore Down Golfing Society, and Willie Fernie laid out the course a year later. A remarkable roll-call of architects followed — Herbert Fowler, Willie Park Jr, Harry Colt and, in modern times, Donald Steel — each leaving a mark. It sits high on the downs above Ogmore-by-Sea, on a limestone plateau that rises more than 70 metres straight from the Bristol Channel.
What makes it special is the ground itself: a rare "limestone-heath," where springy, links-like turf sits over free-draining limestone and is clothed in heather, bracken and gorse. Centuries of wind-blown sand give the opening holes a distinctly links character, while sheep graze the fairways and keep the turf tight — only the gorse defeats them. The wind and that gorse are the course's defences.
The views are panoramic — across the Channel and along the Glamorgan Heritage Coast — and the golf is glorious, natural, walking golf. Because the limestone drains so freely, Southerndown plays firm and true when inland courses are waterlogged, making it a rare all-weather pleasure.
Holes worth knowing
- 1The opening downland holes — the first stretch plays over springy, sand-blown turf with the Bristol Channel spread out far below; heath golf with a links soul.
- 2The gorse-lined heights — the exposed clifftop stretch, where the wind and the blazing spring gorse are the defence and the sea fills the view.
Highlights
- Rare limestone-heath downland course
- Grazing sheep and huge Bristol Channel views
- Designed by Willie Fernie, refined by Fowler, Park, Colt and Steel
- Drains superbly — plays firm year-round
Good to know
- →Sheep have grazed these fairways for over a century — they keep the turf tight, and the gorse is about the only thing they won't nibble; you play around them.
- →The limestone plateau drains superbly, so Southerndown plays firm and fast when inland courses are soaked — one of the best wet-weather and winter rounds in Wales.
- →It is downland golf with a links soul: the ball runs for miles on the springy turf, so use the ground rather than the air, and don't be greedy at the gorse.
- →Below the course, Ogmore-by-Sea and the Glamorgan Heritage Coast are lovely; the stepping-stones by ruined Ogmore Castle and the huge dunes of Merthyr Mawr (a Lawrence of Arabia location) are a short detour.
- →Royal Porthcawl and Pyle & Kenfig are minutes away, so Southerndown slots easily into a three-links South Wales trip; Cardiff airport is 35 minutes.
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