John Hopkins, golf correspondent, The Times - born in Wales, schooled in Wales and lives in Wales.
It took less time than I expected to choose my Dream 18 holes in Wales. I simply got out my notebook, jotted down ten holes I had really enjoyed, called in some experienced friends and a consensus quickly emerged. Even so, the final choice is mine and entirely subjective.
John Hopkins Dream 18
1. Marriott St Pierre
(Old course) 574 yards, par 5.
Long and narrower than some but a gentle start to our round. The wonderfully stately trees for which St Pierre is justly famous line the left of the hole and the latter half of the right and lift the spirits. Avoid them and the battle is half over.
2. Holyhead
180 yards, par 3.
The name of James Braid, who designed the course in 1912, will occur again and again, much as rocky outcrops do on this course. I like Braid's courses because the holes seem to have been placed naturally in the landscape. This hole has echoes of a favourite of mine, the 12th at Royal Birkdale. Go when the gorse is in bloom.
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3. Tenby
390 yards, par 4.
One of the favourite holes of Dai Rees the great Welsh golfer and named after him. It is one of my favourites, too. I like it because it’s tricky… I once saw a golfer chart the course of his putt exquisitely on this hole. He aimed for Anglesey in the knowledge that his ball would curl round and end near Birmingham.
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4. Llanymynech
339 yards, par 4.
How can you not like a hole that starts in one country and ends in another. Fifteen holes here are in Wales, three in England and its boundary is part of Offa's Dyke. Plenty of views here from what was a hill fort in Roman times. Try dropping that casually into the conversation at the 19th.
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5. Whitchurch
433 yards, par 4.
One of the best and most difficult par 4s in the Cardiff area. It tests you every step of the way.
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6. Newport Links, Pembrokeshire
190 yards, par 3.
Played across dunes to a sliver of a green set slightly at an angle and defended by dunes to the left. It is some test if the wind is straight into you – I’ve used everything from a 5 wood to a 7 iron on this hole.
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7. Royal Porthcawl
122 yards, par 3.
A hole that demonstrates that short and difficult are not incompatible. The same length as the Postage Stamp at Royal Troon and the 7th at Pebble Beach. Exquisitely bunkered and wonderfully shaped, this hole is only a flick on a calm day but much more difficult than might appear because of the shape of the green and its bunkers.
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8. Langland Bay
343 yards, par 4.
Named Braid's Choice, so the old course architect gets another mention. The hole is something of a dogleg that runs along the side of Caswell Bay from a tee near the beach to a green overlooking the sea. The views are stunning - keep your eye on the hole.
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9. Vale of Llangollen
439 yards, par 4.
The river Dee runs along the the right of the hole, giving it its name, the River Hole, and there is not much room on the left either. Imagine trying to land your ball on a policeman's helmet. If you play too safely, you might have a long putt to the flagstick, overhit the putt and you could be down the back of the green.
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10. Southerndown
168 yards, par 3.
Call me perverse but for all the talk about length when you play Southerndown in a wind, the hole I like is the short 10th. Harold Gould, a former pro at the club, used to say: "never give a putt on the 10th green." There you have it..
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11. Pyle & Kenfig
509 yards, par 5.
One of the gems on the homeward nine holes and the only par 5. There is nothing to this hole, which bends slightly from right to left, so long as you can hit your drive a long way and with a little draw for a right hander and then make sure you clear the two cross fairway bunkers sixty yards in front of the green with your second.
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12. Conwy (Caernarvonshire)
503 yards, par 5.
A good par 5 where you have to be straight from the tee because of four bunkers that lurk around the landing area and a green that is, oddly and distinctively, without a single bunker around it. Just as all good par 4s do not have to be 450 yards so all good par 5s do not have to be well over 500 yards.
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13. Nefyn
(Old Course) 405 yards, par 4.
The drive is intimidating, across an inlet, but rewarding when you reach land the other side. Beware a fairway coming the other way, though. The second shot is inspiring because it is hit to a green cradled by lichen-covered rocks with the sea beyond. Pause before you putt and look around. What you see is stunning.
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14. Ashburnham
556 yards, par 5.
A good risk and reward hole. It is long and could rightly be described as a safe par 5 if you choose to play it carefully. But if you get a good tee shot away and then take the brave line to get on to the green it is possible to be putting for an eagle. The long, thin green has an air of mystery about it.
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15. Royal St. David's
432 yards, par 4.
This is links golf at its best, a hole that looks difficult, is difficult and looks as though it has been there for years. As you approach the green, look at the natural way the dunes rise on either side of you. This hole could have been a prototype of many holes built on the so called stadium courses around the world.
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16. Machynys
451 yards, par 4.
My reasons for choosing this hole are simple and vainglorious. The last time I played it I nearly holed for a birdie. Like so many of my favourite holes, I find it suits the eye. The drive across a pond behind the clubhouse is rewarding because when you drive well over water it seems more satisfying than a drive over land because of the degree of danger involved.
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17. Aberdovey
428 yards, Par 4.
I do not share all the enthusiasm for Aberdovey of Bernard Darwin, The Times's greatest golf writer and a predecessor of mine. That would not be possible because Darwin described it as the course his soul "loves best of all the courses in the world." To me Aberdovey is merely wonderful and of its 18 holes I find the 17th to be a real handful. Imagine teeing off when a stiff wind is blowing from the right, the opponent to whom you do not want to lose is one up and has just hit his ball into in the middle of the fairway, and you suspect that any moment you will hear the whistle of an oncoming train on the railway line that runs to your left. Little more need be said.
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18. Celtic Manor Resort
(Twenty Ten Course) 595 yards. Par 5.
A classic finishing hole that will be demonstrated to its tantalising, devilish length when Europe face the US at The 2010 Ryder Cup. Long and slightly, not noticeably, downhill. Two bunkers at the turning point in the fairway force you to play to the right, the safer but longer route to the green. But if you go too far to the right and you will discover mounds. There are ponds in front of the raised green and as if all that were not enough the green has bunkers to the left and to the right. A steep bank rises to the left of this fairway and it will be from this wonderful vantage point that the hole will be best enjoyed at the Ryder Cup.
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