10 Things You Didn't Know About Royal Porthcawl Golf Club

Royal Porthcawl will host the 49th edition of the AIG Women's Open, so here are some facts about this historic links golf club

AIG Women's Open trophy at Royal Porthcawl
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Royal Porthcawl Golf Club is no stranger to hosting high-profile events, and this year the final women's Major of the year, the AIG Women's Open, will be contested over its stunning links course.

In this video and article, we look at what you need to know about the famous Welsh club.

1. Royal Porthcawl has a long history of staging major amateur and professional tournaments, but this will be the first time the club welcomes the AIG Women’s Open.

2. Two former AIG Women’s Open Champions - Sophia Popov and Georgia Hall took part in the 2011 Vagliano Trophy at Royal Porthcawl.

3. Royal Porthcawl is a signatory of the Women in Golf Charter and is committed to increasing female membership within the club’s strategy.

4. Royal Porthcawl member Darcy Harry won the Hulencourt Women’s Open in Belgium to qualify for the final Major of the year.

Darcy Harry

Royal Porthcawl member Darcy Harry

(Image credit: Ladies European Tour)

5. The original course designer is Ramsay Hunter, but other contributors have included Harry Colt, Hawtree and J H Taylor, Tom Simpson and current architect Martin Ebert.

6. You can see the sea from every hole and on a clear day you can see across to Somerset and the Gower.

7. The timber clubhouse is a huge part of the Royal Porthcawl experience - it has to be one of the closest to the sea anywhere in the world.

Royal Porthcawl Golf C;lub 18th hole

(Image credit: Kevin Murray)

8. The course layout is quite unusual for a links of its age, as there is no out and back routing.

9. For the AIG Women’s Open hole 18 becomes the Championship 1st and the normal 1st hole becomes the 2nd and so forth.

10. The boardwalk which runs along holes 2 to 4 is part of the Welsh Coast path which runs the entire coastline of Wales (870 miles).

Alison Root

Alison Root has over 25 years experience working in media and events, predominantly dedicated to golf, in particular the women’s game. Until 2020, for over a decade Alison edited Women & Golf magazine and website, and is now the full-time Women's Editor for Golf Monthly. Alison is a respected and leading voice in the women's game, overseeing content that communicates to active golfers from grassroots through to the professional scene, and developing collaborative relationships to widen Golf Monthly's female audience across all platforms to elevate women's golf to a new level. She is a 16-handicap golfer (should be better) and despite having had the fantastic opportunity to play some of the best golf courses around the world, Kingsbarns in Scotland is her favourite.

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