Six of Conwy's best holes
Hole 3. 379 yards, par 4.
After a tricky opening two holes, Conwy really begins to show its character as the third brings you round beside the seaside. You notice the out of bounds markers along the edge of the course more than the beach and sea which lie behind, though.
A semi-blind tee shot has plenty of tricky landing areas, though the bigger hitters can clear a sizeable hollow in the middle of the fairway which can cause problems in terms of stance for the second.
Miss the fairway and there is big trouble, not just gorse and a well positioned bunker, but also thick rough on some difficult slopes.
The approach to the green has plenty of tricks between the grassy dunes as well. The bunkers in front may not affect the best players, but there is rough on the right of the green with a downhill chip as well as a steep slope on the left.
All the slopes and undulations from tee to green make for an immensely natural challenge.
Hole 5. 452 yards, par 4.
A lengthy par 4 with trouble all the way. Bunkers on both sides of the fairway puts a premium on accuracy from the tee. Either side of the fairway has brutal patches of rough all the way down. You can be lucky and end in a lighter area, but there are not many of those.
The bunkers short of the green may well catch those hitting out of the rough for their second, while the deep bunker to the right seems to act like a Venus flytrap and suck in any ball hit too close.
The green is full of undulations, six footers are desperately tricky here.
Hole 8. 445 yards, par 4.
The best players will fly the break in the fairway which can easily catch the club player, but that only brings in a new set of problems.
The ideal tee shot will move from left to right to hold the position in the fairway, but the wind will always be a factor whatever the direction.
The solo bunker on the fairway is a trap for the unwary, the rough is particularly punishing for those who stray too far the other way.
The green is well protected by bunkers front and right, with bushes if you go too far left. A two tier green makes shipping and ling putting extremely slippery and testing.
Hole 15. 162 yards, par 3.
Conwy has the deserved reputation of one of the toughest finishing stretches around and that nerve-jangling finale starts in earnest at the par three 15th.
It is a classic par three in that anything other than a perfect tee shot requires great short game skills, while the wind makes perfect tee shots hard to judge.
It is not particularly long but it can be tough to get the correct club when playing straight into the wind, bringing some seriously tough bunkers in front of the green into play and making a four the best probable result.
In more favourable conditions players will find the green very tricky with sloping surrounds so that chipping is especially difficult should the tee shot be at all wayward.
As for the back of the green, just do not even go there.
Hole 16. 430 yards, par 4.
When Carl Mason won the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open from the likes of Costantino Rocca at Conwy in 2007, the 16th defined his tournament.
He stormed to victory with an incredible four under par score on the back nine, rounded off with a birdie on the 16th – where he had suffered a triple bogey seven on the opening day.
It is a hole where it is much easier to come unstuck than to get a birdie. It is long into the wind, with plenty of gorse on both sides, and easy to run out of room if the wind is helping.
A wayward drive will almost certainly be lost, making provisional tee shots a regular event.
The green has quite a slope from back to front, while anything that is not quite straight will be thrown towards the trouble lurking on both sides.
The only time a player can relax is once the ball is in the hole.
Hole 17. 397 yards, par 4.
The 17th plays back parallel to the 16th, so one of them is always playing into the wind – or both are playing across it which can be even harder to control.
Again there is trouble on both sides and plenty of lost tee shots. The fairway gets tighter the further you go, but a three wood or iron off the tee leaves a long and difficult second.
The green is well protected by bunkers to the left and right, with a tricky putting surface.
Conwy’s Amen Corner is definitely the finishing stretch and any player who can come through the closing holes unscathed has a right to be very pleased with himself.