If I were going for a game at Aberdovey tomorrow it would set me back £35, to stay for the day would be an extra tenner.

At say, Rye, in the South of England, it would be in the region of four times that. So, to experience a similar level of course, both brilliant, quirky and, in places, sensational, you would be paying over £100 more.

I’m guilty of huge bias when it comes to Wales. My late dad was born and raised in a two-street town, Llanidloes, right in the heart of the country where the population doesn’t even reach 3,000.

This is where I hit my first ball, joined my first golf club – the nine-holer at St Idloes set me (my dad) back £4 for the year of 1981 – and where, for summer after summer throughout the 80s, I would do at least four laps a day and hone a swing that continues to let me down to this day.

St Idoles Golf ClubBut what it also taught me was that there was very little need for any fuss when playing golf. No signs telling me what I can and can’t do or what I can and can’t wear.

I went back to St Idloes five years ago, thanks to an invite from the captain, and nothing had changed. You stopped for a drink after hitting your tee shot at the 8th – a particularly crooked drive meant my cousin could pick up both his ball and the four pints of Brains bitter in one fell swoop – and it was brilliant.

Something like 25 years might have passed but St Idloes was still just a golf club, a big part of the community and somewhere to hit a ball around in a very picturesque eld.

There are just over 200 courses in Wales. I might have played around 40 of them and I have no memory of feeling uncomfortable, underdressed or unwelcome at any of them.

2nd, Royal PorthcawlMy No 1 would be Royal Porthcawl, which is generally assumed to be the best in the country, while my favourite memory would be taking on Wales’ only other royal layout at Royal St David’s.

I have my dad to thank again for getting me excited about Harlech. Throughout my teenage years I would quiz him about this or that course but he would always bring the conversation back to Royal St David’s, this was his little slice of golfing heaven. Just the thought of it would make his nostrils are in the same way that the running skills of John Dawes or Barry John might.

To do it in style you can travel by train from Aberdovey and arrive a few minutes’ walk from the 1st tee at Harlech.

Plenty regard it as the toughest par 69 anywhere on the planet but that’s not really the point.

1st, AberdoveyIt might be an unrelenting test of your skills but it’s also charming and romantic – Bernard Darwin said of it: “Small wonder if the visitor falls in love with Harlech at first sight for no golf course in the world has a more splendid background than the old castle which stands at the top of sheer precipice of rock looking down over the links.”

And when it’s all done you will be very pleased with yourself for getting the train as you can have a couple of additional pints in a bar steeped in history, character and warmth.

Much like Wales, it’s just that most golfers haven’t quite caught on yet.

Mark Townsend

Been watching and playing golf since the early 80s and generally still stuck in this period. Huge fan of all things Robert Rock, less so white belts. Handicap of 8, fragile mind and short game

Handicap: 8

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