By Adrian Millerick, europeantour.com
at Royal Porthcawl
Royal Porthcawl will host Wales’ first Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex this week, and it is certainly no coincidence that this picturesque coastal venue was bestowed with that honour.
Located 30 miles from the Welsh capital Cardiff on the Glamorgan coast, and boasting a rich history dating back to 1891 with views out to the Bristol Channel from every hole, this gorse laden challenge will provide a stern test for some of golf’s greats.
Philip Golding certainly has plenty of pedigree round the 6,901 yard, par 71 course. The Englishman conquered Royal Porthcawl to win the Speedy Services Wales Senior Open on the European Senior Tour last year in testing, blustery conditions.
Overview
“It’s playing really well, completely different from last year when I won,” said Golding. “We had some mixed weather when I won here last June, so you can imagine how nice it looked this morning at 8.20am when it was breathless. I mean there’s a bit of wind now, but nothing like these links courses can be like. It’s a stunning set-up, it really is.
“The greens are looking fantastic and in really good condition, so I hope it’s going to stay like this for the week. There’s a bit of nasty rough in places, but I think the winning total will be lower than when I won here.”
Bunkers
Royal Porthcawl is home to some treacherous looking bunkers, located in dangerous places, and it’s a matter of risk and reward on some holes. A good shot and a birdie might be carded, but anything slightly off line might be punished.
“Like all great links courses this set up features a lot of dangerous bunkers that ideally you need to be avoiding,” said Golding, the 2003 Open de France winner. “There are proper hazards out there. They are pot bunkers, designed for a reason, and you should treat them like a hazard. The strategy to go round here is to avoid them, and like any golf course, you do the practice round, Pro-Am and you learn to plot your way round.”
Wind
Golding’s European Senior Tour victory in Wales came with the breeze really blowing, so he is well qualified to discuss negotiating the elements round these parts.
“Obviously any links course is tough – but they are designed to be protected by the elements. Today in the Pro-Am I had nice conditions, but just when you think it’s comfortable, a bit of wind blows and all of a sudden it’s a different course. It doesn't take much.
“Last year the wind was really battering across – 30mph or 40mph winds. But things can be so changeable – this morning I hit three wood, pitching wedge to the first and Carl Mason hit driver, four iron when he played yesterday afternoon. Those are the margins we are talking about when things change a bit round here.”
Links golf
It would be fair to say Golding has enjoyed some considerable success on links courses over the years. The year before he lifted the Speedy Services Wales Senior Open, the 51 year old re-wrote the record books in the same tournament on the links of Conwy Golf Club, carding an opening round 64 to match the weekend rounds he posted the previous weekend in the SSE Scottish Senior Open. It was the first time a hat-trick of 64s had been achieved on the European, Senior or Challenge Tour.
“I love this format of golf, you need a lot of creativity and you need to be able to play bumps and runs, like you saw with Rory McIlroy last week at The Open Championship,” said Golding.
“We don’t play that much links golf. The Americans think we play all the time, but we don’t. We play once, twice a year. Obviously I have some good memories of this place and the way of playing golf, and hopefully they’ll be some more by the end of the week.
“You don’t get many golf courses like this. You can use any club in the bag you want, just get it round as well as you can. Avoid the traps, and the bit of rough here and there. Accept your mistakes, because like at any other course, you’re going to make them. And try to enjoy the experience.”
