Trudy Carradice visits Machynys Peninsula

A recent invitation to play a fourball at Machynys Peninsula was too good a chance to miss and as soon as I mentioned it to three golfing friends they leapt at the chance to take on Wales' only Nicklaus designed course. Easily reached off the M4 we made an early start with expectation and excitement in our hearts. As we entered the long driveway leading to the course the sun was already up and the mist beginning to rise from the lakes. I knew that we had uncovered a seaside gem.

On arrival we were met by the Golf Manager and the welcome from him and everybody else, professional staff and caterers, was warm and inviting. The clubhouse is a delight, being full of full-length windows and wonderful swirling wood. After a coffee and bacon roll (which I later discovered has won an award for The Best Golf Club Bacon Roll in Britain') we went out onto the veranda, which runs around two sides of the clubhouse, to take in the panoramic views of the Gower Peninsula and the Llwchwr Estuary.

Many famous golfers have graced these fairways. People like Colin Montgomerie and Phil Price have played here. Ryder Cup legend Brian Huggett is the club president and former European number one Laura Davies has gone on record as stating that these greens are Incredible'. Every year the club hosts the S4C Wales Ladies Championship of Europe and numerous corporate events. Sir Steve Redgrave, who originally visited in 2005, had to bring his celebrity charity tournament back again a year later due to popular demand. Machynys is officially the youngest ever R&A Championship venue in the world after hosting the British Boys Home Internationals in 2007.

In the short time that the course has been in existence the quality of the greens has become legendary. Ask anybody who has played Machynys and they are bound to wax lyrical about the pace and quality of the putting surfaces. I had listened to several press friends telling me about these greens and I was eager to find out more for myself.

It would have been easy to stand on the veranda for hours but after another coffee it was time to pull on our golf shoes and take on the course. At 6,285 yards (off the club tees) Machynys offers a great challenge. The fairways undulate and roll along the edge of the Estuary and offers far more of a pleasant stroll than the endurance test you encounter on some courses - no names, no pack drill.

For those of you who intend coming here to play, the first real test of your golfing ability - or, at least, your ability to think on the course - will come at the fourth. The conservative way to play the hole is to lay up to a reed lined stream which crosses the fairway on driving distance. Big hitters take note - you can drive over the stream but that route is fraught with danger. I must confess that none of us even attempted to take it on. After all there are times to risk everything, times to play percentage golf.

The ninth is one of my favourite holes on this course. Get a good drive away and you shouldn't have too many problems but you need to take care that your ball doesn't funnel down into the water on the right - many balls that come up just a little short and right of the green finish in this watery grave.

The back nine begins with a tricky 377-yard par four. The best approach here is from the right, thus avoiding the bunkers and offering you a comfortable way into the green. The twelfth is a daunting hole if ever there was one. A huge lake sits in front of the tee and it is very easy to let your ball slide or drop into this. It is a long hole with a tricky approach where accuracy is equally as important as length.

The thirteenth is, I think, something of an undervalued hole. It is a long par five which sweeps gently to the right. The green is elevated and protected by several bunkers. Just to hit this one in regulation means you are playing good golf, particularly into the prevailing wind; to get a birdie is a huge achievement.

There is no light relief in the last few holes on this course. Water runs down the right hand side of the fifteenth, all the way from tee to green. Then you come to the club's signature hole, the long par four sixteenth. This can be a real card wrecker if you don't hit straight into the middle of the fairway. The eighteenth has a 161-yard carry over water. There are also bunkers and rough on the left and out of bounds on the right. When you approach the green the danger is still not over as a huge cross-bunker lies waiting for under-hit shots.

After playing Machynys Peninsula I can understand how the likes of Lloyds TSB branded their experience on the course as "The best corporate day ever!"

I would like to say that I played well over the course. I can't but that did not detract from a magical experience - and that speaks legions about the quality of the place. My playing partners, who performed better than me, were ecstatic about Machynys and, like me, have vowed to return as soon as possible.

If I were to recommend any single golf course for you to try this year it would have to be the magical Machynys Peninsula.

7:05pm Thursday 26th June 2008

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