Matt in Wales

Last updated: 13th August 2010

THURSDAY

Windy Wales

Twelve months ago the windy roads of north Wales were a big talking point amongst the players, especially the continental contingent who were a little flabbergasted by the tight and twisting B roads and Welsh language road signs.

They all had satnavs but that was little help as they tried to navigate from Manchester airport to Harlech via the Snowdonian Mountains (some ending up at the dead-end of farm tracks).

This year it is easier to find the course because we are all at Conwy GC which sits at the end of the A55 and is an easy ride from north-west England.

But the windy problem this week is going to be of the gusty, blustery kind.

This part of the world usually has a south-westerly wind, but today the course was buffeted by a north-westerly that local girl Becky Brewerton thought was the strongest and toughest she has encountered on this course.

The club professional Peter Lees is an amateur weatherman and he tells me that tomorrow the wind will again have gusts of up to 36mph, but will have moved to a northerly direction.

English hope

Late in the day only two players had recorded under par totals. One was the steady Dutchwoman Christel Boeljon and the other the English girl Henni Zuel.

A few years ago Henni was one of the brightest hopes of ladies English golf but her early professional career didn't go to plan. However she has quietly buckled down and the improvements have come.

She played some superb golf in the bad weather at Royal Birkdale and has maintained that form this week.

It is interesting that she, like many professionals, rates the putts she holes for par as much as the birdie efforts. She holed some longish par putts early in her round to prevent a poor start.

She also completed her round with eight straight pars, but by this stage she was making life a little easier, leaving herself putts she would expect to hole - but is encouraged that she did exactly that.

Welsh hope

The home crowd aren't without someone to cheer either. 17-year-old Amy Boulden plays at nearby Maesdu GC and knows the conditions around here as well as anyone.

Keep an eye on her, in the short- and long-term.

Today she shot a round of level par, but she is good looking, smart and has a canny game; she could be a future star on tour.

Wales' Pebble Beach

Although I ended my day at Conwy, catching up with the players and caddies, some of whom were looking a little shell-shocked by the wind ("mate, it was unbelievable early on, absolutely brutal," one caddie told me), I started my day with an early drive to Nefyn GC on the Lleyn Peninsular.

I have long desired a round on this little gem. It is a cliff top course that slightly resembles Pebble Beach but is also strikingly like the Old Head of Kinsale course in Ireland with one huge difference: the latter is expensive and difficult to get a tee-time on; Nefyn is an incredibly welcoming place, much easier to get to and a bargain price.

I played with Nic Brook of the Daily Mirror and after a lovely chat with Simon Dennis, the secretary manager, we set off into the wind and towards the sea.

I will be writing a fuller review of our day and the course, but I can't help myself telling you that the day was easily one of my top ten golfing experiences.

It was not just the friendly welcome, but the drive there which is breathtaking, the course which was in fine condition, the views which are sensational in all directions, the cliff top tees which are a little scary and the drives which needed to be hit in the direction of Ireland before the wind blows them back onto dry land.

The final eight holes are played on a peninsula that is known as 'The Point' and those holes are a little tricksy, but boy are they fun to play. Every shot threatens to disappear into the ocean and so does the golfer if he isn't careful.

And even better, nestled amongst the bottom of the cliffs near the 12th tee, there is a cost pub, very like the Jigger Inn, where you can grab a pint and watch the boats bobbing about on the sea.

A wonderful day and a golfing day (or weekend) I totally recommend. A pity I fell for an old trick. Five up after 12 holes, I had a beer and proceeded to collapse Mark Calcavecchia style. I lost the next five holes only to make a good par on the final hole to save face and a halved match.