In the early 20th century, running across the hillfort of Dinas Dinlle (NPRN 95309) and the block of 5 fields to the south there was a 9-hole golf course, part of the Dinas Dinlle Golf Club (also known as the Carnarvonshire Golf Club). The golf course was established in 1906 and re-established in 1913, and although the exact location of the 1906 course isn’t confirmed, it is thought to be the same location as the 1913 course. Evidence for the golf course survives in documents and on the ground and encompassed some 13 hectares (33 acres) of land running 900m south from the first teeing green at SH 4365 5657.
The initial golf course was formally opened in June 1906 with a club membership of around 100 people. However, by May 1907, the club had ceased to exist and the reason given was that its inaccessibility had proved detrimental (Evans 2009, 8). In 1913, a further attempt was made to establish a course and newspaper reports confirmed that ‘Dinas Hill, a prominent hillock, forms part of the course’. The land for the course was leased from the Hon. Frederick. G. Wynn of Glynllifon Park to ‘The Caernarfon Bay Hotel and Bungalow Limited’ who had acquired the nearby Caernarfon Bay Hotel (Evans 2009, 24). The third edition Ordnance survey of 1917 shows the hotel (SH 4368 5667) and confirms the presence of the golf course across the hill and enclosure containing Dinas Dinlle hillfort along with the fields to the south, through the annotation ‘Golf Links’. It is unclear how long this course was operational, but correspondence between Glynllifon Park and Mr H O Hughes of Bodvan, Llandwrog discuss the revival of golf here in April 1923 (CRO: XD2/11511).
Contemporary accounts indicate that the golf course afforded quite a challenge to those not accustomed to hilly courses. The first green was on the crest of the hill and required judgement and skill to manage. The secretary of the club R. Isaac Jones offered a cigar to every amateur player who reached the first green with their first stroke. The terms for playing the course in 1913 were 1 shilling per day, 3 shillings per week, 5 shillings per month and 21 shillings per annum (Evans 2009, 27).
A plan of the 9-hole golf course along with the distance for each hole is reproduced in Evans 2009, page 27; though the source for the information remains unclear. Using this plan, it is possible to trace some surviving elements of the golf-course on the ground. An earthwork survey of the hillfort undertaken by the EU-funded CHERISH Ireland-Wales project (see notes) in November 2017 also identified some of the surviving golf course elements (see record for NPRN 95309 for further details). The southern interior of the hillfort around SH 4369 5629 was the green for the second hole and here there are earthwork features including slight banks and scoops. Some of these scoops such as those cutting into the inner bank of the hillfort may well represent bunkers, though potential roundhouses cannot be discounted. The teeing green for hole 6 is situated at SH 4375 5631 and involved the adaptation and terracing of the southern terminal bank defining the main entrance of the hillfort. A clearly surviving square platform at SH 4382 5627 marks the green for hole 7 or the teeing green for hole 8.
Sources:
L. Barker and H. Genders Boyd, RCAHMW (CHERISH), February 2022