A Ryder Cup resort and a run of the best links in Britain, in a compact and friendly country with short transfers and real value. Celtic Manor, Royal Porthcawl, Pennard and Nefyn, with one concierge to plan it all.
Photograph: The Celtic Manor Resort, via Google
By Fredrik Filipsson, Co-founder · Fact-checked by Morten Andersen · Editorial policy · Last reviewed June 2026
A buddies golf trip to Wales is the value play of British group golf. Few countries pack so much coastline and so many great links into so small a space, and the transfers are short, the welcome is warm and the green fees sit well below the marquee names of Scotland and Ireland. In the south a group can base near Newport or the Glamorgan coast, pair the resort comfort of Celtic Manor with the classic links of Royal Porthcawl, Pennard and Pyle and Kenfig, and never spend long in the car. In the north a links run beneath the mountains takes in Royal St David's at Harlech, the clifftop drama of Nefyn and District on the Llyn Peninsula, Aberdovey and Conwy. It suits the fourball that wants serious golf without the serious bill, the society that wants a big resort hotel and a Ryder Cup course, and the milestone trip that wants the sea, the castles and a proper pint at the end of the day.
If your group plays one course in the south, make it the Twenty Ten Course at Celtic Manor, the first course in history built specifically to host the Ryder Cup and the venue of the 2010 match in Newport. Pair it with Royal Porthcawl, long rated the finest links in Wales and a Senior Open host, and you have the spine of a south Wales week. In the north, Royal St David's beneath Harlech Castle and the cliff holes at Nefyn are the rounds the group will still be talking about years later. Facts on this page were verified June 2026.
The first course in history designed specifically to host the Ryder Cup, and the venue of the 2010 match where Graeme McDowell sealed the winning point. A dramatic valley layout with water in play down the closing stretch, set at a big resort hotel with the Roman Road and Montgomerie courses alongside, the natural heart of a south Wales buddies week.
