New look for oldest golf club in Wales

The Dunes, which consists of ten luxury four-star rooms, sits above the clubhouse and offers panoramic views of the town, dunes, and fairways.

This expansion significantly enhances the club's ability to accommodate golfers, societies, and groups, allowing them to enjoy the inclusive stay-and-play packages.

Tenby Golf Club manager David Hancock said: "The new facilities are aimed at preserving the club’s future. We have been going for more than 135 years, and we hope this project will enable us to go for another 135 years and more."

The project started at the beginning of the year and includes the introduction of a new restaurant, The Links, welcoming residents and tourists while celebrating Pembrokeshire’s culture and cuisine.

As part of the redevelopment, new car parking facilities have been added for customers of the complex, including four electric vehicle charging points.

“I've been working here for 20 years and I have to pinch myself every day that I am walking into the same place,” added Hancock.

“We started with just three dormer rooms thanks to a grant from Ryder Cup Wales, plus an extensive development of the practice area. Then we added four more which meant we could take up to 14 people. And that proved very, very popular.

“Now we have 21 rooms, a standalone four-star guest accommodation and a top-quality restaurant, which has been a £1.7 million development.

“There are five new dormer rooms, 10 four-star hotel bedrooms, plus the existing seven rooms, so it is quite a place.

“It has involved funding through loans and grants, but the business plans are in place ready for next year and looking to build on a good start. We have got a good team and we are really proud of the place.”

An asset for the community and golf in Wales

The ambition of the club has been commended by Wales Golf. “This development is not just an asset for Tenby, but also an asset to golf in Wales,” said Theo Baker, Wales Golf Regional Club Development Officer (West & Mid Wales) and Coach Education Lead.

“The transformation at the club is incredibly impressive. It shows how golf clubs can think outside of their traditional roles to raise revenue, using the space and advantages they may have.

“When I visited the hotel after it had opened, I was very impressed at the quality of the place. It is a great venue overlooking the golf course and the club is to be congratulated for their ambition.”

It is a considerable investment for a golf club which has been voted one of the top 10 best value courses in the UK by Golf Monthly magazine, as well as being regularly voted one of the top courses in Wales.
Hancock says they are taking advantage of the strong local tourism, the golf club being a few minutes from Tenby’s beaches and town centre.

“We are a fairly typical, semi-rural golf club with a finite number of chimney pots around us, while the main businesses in the area are tourism and agriculture,” he said.

“We need to look at ways to keep the oldest golf course in Wales thriving, and to do that we needed a stronger revenue stream which had to come from accommodation and hospitality.

“We are still a members golf club, but very welcoming to visitors to come and use all the facilities. There is still the facility to stay and play, but the hotel is more than just a place for golf breaks while the restaurant stands alone.

“We call this ‘The Birthplace of Golf in Wales.’ We are the oldest affiliated club dating from the 1880s and there is evidence of golf being played on this piece of land long before that.

“It is a quality course, we will be hosting the Welsh Men’s Open Stroke Play again next year for instance.

“Whatever income we can generate will be re-invested in the golf club and the golf course itself because it needs to be maintained to a high standard.”

Tenby became the first affiliated golf club in Wales in 1888. The first records of golf being played in Wales are at Tenby and Pontnewydd, both in 1875, while the first recorded examples of established golf courses in Wales are at Tenby, and Borth and Ynyslas, both in 1885.