A golf weekend in North Wales

North Wales is one of the most beautiful places in Britain to play golf, and one of the cheapest for the quality — a run of natural links strung between the Irish Sea and the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia), at fees that will make an English visitor wince with envy. It is an easy weekend from the northwest of England as well as from Wales, and the scenery does a lot of the work: you spend two days hitting shots with Snowdon on the horizon.

Most weekends here should be planned around Nefyn(about £79), out on the Llŷn Peninsula. Its famous nine holes run along “The Point,” a narrow finger of land with the sea visible — and in play — from every tee, which is why it gets called the “Cypress Point of Wales.” The masterstroke: a footpath down from beside the 15th leads to the Tŷ Coch Inn, a pub on the beach at Porthdinllaen rated among the best beach bars in the world. A pint on its wall, looking back across the bay to Snowdon, is one of the great half-time breaks in golf.

Nearer the top of the coast, Conwy (about £85) is a proper old championship links beneath the medieval castle walls and an Open final-qualifying venue — a serious test and a fine starting round. Beside it, the classic James Braid links at North Wales (Llandudno) (about £60) is superb value for an afternoon, with the Great Orme looming over the closing holes.

Down the coast, Royal St David's (about £70) plays out beneath the brooding walls of Harlech Castle with Snowdon behind — a deceptively hard par 69 and one of the best-value championship rounds in Britain. Further on, Aberdovey, in the Dovey estuary, was the writer Bernard Darwin's home course, of which he wrote that it was “the course that my soul loves best of all the courses in the world.” It is a lovely, historic way to finish a weekend.

For the northern courses, base in Conwy or seaside Llandudno. If Nefyn and the Llŷn are your focus, stay out near Abersoch or Pwllheli; for the Harlech end, Harlech itself. It is a long, gorgeous coast, so pick the base that matches the two courses you most want — our North Wales golf guide has the detail, and the planner will handle the driving.