Links or Parkland? Why a South Wales Golf Trip Should Include Both

When golfers plan a golf trip to South Wales, there is one style of golf that understandably attracts much of the attention: links golf.

Wales has a spectacular coastline and some outstanding links courses. For visiting golfers — particularly those travelling from the United States, Europe or elsewhere in the UK — experiencing traditional British links golf can be one of the main reasons for making the journey.

But here's our advice.

Don't spend your entire South Wales golf holiday playing just one style of golf.

The best golf trips are often built around variety.

Play the links. Experience the wind, firm turf, coastal scenery and unpredictable bounces.

Then head inland and discover something completely different.

Traditional Welsh parkland golf.

And that's where Brynhill Golf Club, situated in Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, deserves a place on your South Wales golf itinerary.

Links Golf vs Parkland Golf – What's the Difference?

For golfers visiting Wales for the first time, particularly overseas visitors, the difference between links and parkland golf can be dramatic.

Traditional links courses are generally found close to the coast.

Expect exposed landscapes, relatively few trees, undulating terrain, firm turf, deep bunkers and — this is Wales after all — wind that can completely change the way a hole plays from one day to the next.

Links golf encourages creativity.

The ground becomes part of the game. A golfer might deliberately land an approach short of the green and allow it to release towards the flag.

A 150-yard shot isn't necessarily a 150-yard club.

You have to improvise.

Parkland golf presents a very different challenge.

Fairways are framed by mature trees. Approaches are often played through the air. Elevation, hazards, positioning and the angle into the green become increasingly important.

At a good parkland course, the question isn't simply:

“How far can you hit it?”

It's:

“Where do you need to hit it?”

That's very much the challenge at Brynhill.

Why Your South Wales Golf Holiday Should Include Both

Imagine a four or five-day golf trip around South Wales.

You spend your first couple of rounds experiencing the country's coastal golf. Maybe Royal Porthcawl, Southerndown, Pyle & Kenfig and Pennard.

You're learning to flight the ball beneath the wind.

You're putting from places you'd never normally consider using a putter.

You're discovering that a perfectly good shot can receive a terrible bounce — and an average one can sometimes end up ten feet from the flag.

Then you arrive at Brynhill.

Suddenly the landscape changes.

Mature trees frame your view from the tee.

Fairways ask you to choose the correct side.

Elevation changes your perception of distance.

Approach shots need to finish in the right areas.

The wind may still be there — we are in Wales — but now there are completely different strategic questions to answer.

Same game. Completely different examination.

That's what makes a memorable golf tour.

Brynhill Golf Club – Traditional Parkland Golf in South Wales

Established in 1921, Brynhill is an 18-hole parkland golf course in Barry, surrounded by the countryside of the Vale of Glamorgan.

At 6,368 yards, golfers shouldn't make the mistake of judging Brynhill purely by the number on the scorecard.

Brynhill has never been about length alone.

This is a golf course where position can be more important than power.

Mature trees, elevation changes, strategic hazards and demanding approaches mean golfers continually have decisions to make.

Can you take driver?

More importantly, should you take driver?

Which side of the fairway gives you the best angle?

Where is the sensible miss?

Can you attack the flag?

Or is the middle of the green the smart play?

Brynhill asks these questions throughout your round.

And there is a saying around the club that perhaps sums it up best:

If you can learn to play Brynhill, you can play anywhere.

There's actually quite a bit of evidence to support that.

A Parkland Course That Has Produced Exceptional Golfers

For a members' golf club in the Vale of Glamorgan, Brynhill has an extraordinary history of developing talented golfers.

Perhaps the most famous is Stephen Dodd.

Dodd enjoyed an outstanding professional career, becoming a multiple winner on the European Tour, representing Wales internationally and eventually achieving one of the biggest victories of his career when he became Senior Open Champion in 2021.

Then there is Kyron Sullivan.

Sullivan also progressed from Brynhill into professional golf, earned European Tour status and became a winner on the Challenge Tour.

More recently, after returning to the amateur game, Kyron achieved something particularly special at the 2026 Senior Open at Gleneagles.

He made the cut in a field containing some of the biggest names in world golf and finished as the championship's leading amateur, winning the prestigious Silver Medal.

Today, Stephen Dodd and Kyron Sullivan are both Honorary Members of Brynhill Golf Club.

And they are part of a much wider story of talented golfers who have developed their games here.

Perhaps there really is something about growing up playing a course that continually demands accuracy, strategy, shot-making and course management.

Links Golf Tests Your Creativity. Brynhill Tests Your Decisions.

This is one of the reasons Brynhill complements the famous links courses of South Wales so well.

On the links, you may need to manufacture shots because of the wind, terrain and ground conditions.

At Brynhill, the challenge is frequently about decision-making and execution.

A slightly misplaced drive can leave your route to the green obstructed.

An approach from the wrong side of the fairway can make an apparently straightforward hole considerably more difficult.

And simply reaching for driver on every par four isn't necessarily going to produce your best score.

Good players recognise this very quickly.

Brynhill rewards golfers who think.

A Course With Ryder Cup Design Pedigree

The modern Brynhill layout also has an impressive architectural connection.

The course was redesigned in the 1990s by respected golf course architect and former Ryder Cup player Dave Thomas.

Thomas became one of Britain's best-known golf course architects and is particularly associated with The Brabazon at The Belfry, synonymous with some of the most famous moments in Ryder Cup history.

At Brynhill, the parkland landscape provides all the ingredients for strategic golf: mature trees, natural contours, changes in elevation and holes that ask different questions throughout the round.

It's a completely different experience from standing on an exposed links tee looking towards the sea.

And that's precisely why we'd recommend playing both.

More Than 100 Years of Welsh Golf History

The Brynhill story began in 1921, but some of the names associated with the club would eventually become known throughout the golfing world.

The original course has a fascinating connection with Ted Ray, winner of both The Open Championship and US Open, who helped peg out Brynhill's original greens and tees.

Then there is the extraordinary Dai Rees connection.

Brynhill's first Club Professional was David Rees.

His young son was Dai Rees.

That young boy would become one of the most important figures in Welsh and British golf.

Rees enjoyed an outstanding playing career, represented Great Britain in numerous Ryder Cups and famously captained the team that defeated the United States in the 1957 Ryder Cup at Lindrick.

Decades later, another famous American golfing personality would become part of Brynhill's story.

When Brynhill's new clubhouse was officially opened in October 1984, the honour was performed by legendary entertainer and lifelong golf fanatic Bob Hope.

For visiting golfers — particularly those travelling from the United States — there are some wonderful transatlantic connections hidden within the history of this South Wales members' club.

A Golf Club Run by People Who Grew Up Here

There is another unusual part of the Brynhill story that visiting golfers may never know unless somebody tells them.

Some of the people helping to run the club today actually grew up playing golf here.

Brynhill's General Manager, Scott Warne, first came to Brynhill as a junior golfer.

Alongside him was his older brother, Leon Warne.

Leon also developed his game as a Brynhill junior before pursuing a career in professional golf.

Today, he is a PGA Professional and Brynhill's Director of Golf, having returned to the club where his own golfing journey began.

That creates a rather unusual dynamic.

Two brothers who grew up playing junior golf at Brynhill are now helping to lead the club.

One as General Manager.

The other as PGA Professional and Director of Golf.

For both of them, Brynhill isn't simply somewhere they work.

It's the golf club they grew up in.

They have experienced Brynhill as juniors, golfers and members, and now from the perspective of people helping to shape its future.

That connection matters.

It helps explain why Brynhill remains determined to preserve the character and traditions of a genuine members' golf club while continuing to modernise the golf course, facilities, clubhouse and overall member and visitor experience.

It's also part of what separates visiting a traditional members' club from arriving at a large commercial golf resort.

At Brynhill there are generations of stories connected to the place.

From Dai Rees, Stephen Dodd and Kyron Sullivan to the professionals, members, juniors and families who have spent decades here, Brynhill has always been about more than 18 holes.

Even some of the people running the club today can genuinely say:

“We grew up playing here.”

Experience a Real Welsh Members' Golf Club

This is something we think deserves a place on a golf holiday.

There's nothing wrong with luxury golf resorts. They can provide fantastic experiences.

But they're not the only way to experience golf in Wales.

Come into a traditional Welsh members' golf club and there's a different atmosphere.

You might meet someone at the bar who has been a member for 40 years.

The person talking to you about the golf course might have played it thousands of times.

The PGA Professional grew up playing it.

The General Manager grew up playing it.

There are club champions, characters, families and stories that stretch across generations.

It's authentic.

And for someone travelling hundreds or even thousands of miles to experience Welsh golf, we think that's worth discovering.

From Coastal Wales to the Vale of Glamorgan

One of the great advantages of planning a South Wales golf break is how much variety can be experienced within a relatively compact area.

Brynhill is located in Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, with convenient access to Cardiff and the wider South Wales road network.

It is also particularly well positioned for golfers travelling through Cardiff Airport.

That creates several possibilities when building your itinerary.

Brynhill could be your opening round.

Arrive in South Wales and begin your trip with traditional parkland golf before heading towards the coast.

Alternatively, make Brynhill your final round.

Enjoy 18 holes, return to the clubhouse for some food and a drink and finish your South Wales golfing adventure in the surroundings of a traditional Welsh members' club.

Its accessibility to the wider road network also makes Brynhill easy to incorporate into a multi-course South Wales golf tour.

Particularly Good for American Golfers Visiting Wales

The links-and-parkland combination can be particularly appealing to golfers travelling from the United States to play golf in Wales.

For many American golfers, links golf is understandably one of the great attractions of travelling across the Atlantic.

Playing traditional links golf in Great Britain and Ireland is a bucket-list experience.

But travelling thousands of miles and only playing one type of course means missing part of the story of golf in Wales.

Welsh golf isn't exclusively links golf.

Traditional parkland members' clubs have played an enormous part in the country's golfing history.

Brynhill provides visiting American golfers with an opportunity to experience what competitive club golf in Wales can actually feel like.

It's not a manufactured resort experience.

It's a real Welsh golf club.

A challenging course.

More than a century of history.

A clubhouse full of character.

Food and drinks afterwards.

Members who care about their club.

And people running it who once stood on the same first tee as junior golfers.

That's part of the experience too.

The Golf Is Only Half of a Great Golf Trip

Ask a group of golfers about their favourite golf holiday and you'll rarely hear only about golf shots.

You'll hear about the breakfast.

The clubhouse.

The person they met behind the bar.

The argument over who actually won the money.

The meal afterwards.

The hole someone birdied.

And the story about the putt that gets slightly longer every time somebody tells it.

That's why the clubhouse experience matters.

At Brynhill, visiting golfers can combine their round with food, drinks and genuine Welsh hospitality, making the club particularly suitable for societies and travelling golf groups.

Modern Brynhill also offers PGA facilities, practice areas and The Nest indoor golf simulator, alongside a clubhouse where visitors can relax before and after their round.

It's about creating a complete day rather than simply selling a tee time.

Build Experiences, Not Just a List of Famous Courses

There isn't one perfect South Wales golf itinerary.

That's the beauty of it.

But we'd encourage visiting golfers to think in terms of experiences rather than simply rankings.

Play a championship links course.

Play beside the sea.

Play somewhere historic.

Play somewhere you've never heard of.

Play somewhere the locals play every Saturday.

Play parkland.

Play links.

Visit a famous course.

And discover a hidden one.

Give yourself at least one round where you arrive without knowing exactly what to expect.

Those are often the rounds you remember most.

Links or Parkland?

So, links or parkland?

Our answer is very simple.

Both.

Come to South Wales and experience the drama of traditional links golf.

Feel the wind.

Use the contours.

Embrace the unpredictability.

Then come inland to Brynhill.

Walk through mature Welsh parkland.

Think your way around 18 holes.

Test your accuracy.

Challenge your course management.

Discover more than a century of golf history.

Meet the people.

Enjoy some food.

Have a drink in the clubhouse.

And experience a golf club that still feels like a golf club.

Because the best golf trips aren't necessarily about ticking famous names off a list.

They're about experiencing golf in all its different forms.

And if you're planning a golf holiday in South Wales, we'd love Brynhill to be part of yours.

Brynhill Golf Club

A superb South Wales parkland course.
More than 100 years of history.
A proper Welsh golf club welcome.