Prestatyn Golf Club

Prestatyn GC is a quirky links style course in north Wales. It is a standard par 72 configuration at 6,269 yards from the visitors Yellow tees.

I played the course off a twilight tee time in September in bright mildly windy conditions, though the wide ‘rough’ areas of the course were wet underfoot in the wake of a period of heavy rain.

Because of this the need to find the fairway off the tee became more important than ever. My driving performance on the day wasn’t good enough.

A disappointment was that the grass on both the fairways and in the light/heavy rough areas was much longer than expected so distance and ball rollout was limiting.

The greens were mostly in good condition even after some maintenance work and my putting stats were good with only one three putt hole.

The course itself is a relatively gentle walk.

I personally didn’t like the layouts of three of the four par 3 holes, ie one blind downhiller, one blind uphiller and one where the green slopes down from the front of the green off the back rough into trouble.

There was at least three holes where because of no knowledge of the precise hole layouts I elected to play layup shots for safety rather than take on the approach carries. Such uncertainties and additional shots should not apply on a next time.

Reflected in my scoring stats I found holes 12 - 16 the most difficult, including a quadruple bogey on one hole.

While the course is located close to the sea because of sea defences I can’t recall any part of the course where I was aware of our proximity.

The slope rating of the yellow tees is 112 which struck me as very low considering its coastal location as well as railway tracks as one of its boundaries and many water filled ditches.

Despite any negative comments expressed about the course I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and would happily play it again if I was in the area.

The club pro was very friendly and helpful in sorting out my game and the pre match catering was good.