The Golfing Paintings of Douglas Adams
 
This month's story is about three locally painted pictures of Conwy Golf Club that have gone global and can be seen in Golf Clubs all over the world. 
But let's start at the beginning.
Golf was first played on Welsh soil when three visiting Scotsmen, laid out a few roughly made holes on a spur of land known as the Morfa close to Conwy in 1869.
However, it was several years later before a group of members from the Royal Liverpool Golf Club on the Wirral, realised the potential of the area and had a professionally designed 12-hole course laid out by their club professional, Jack Morris. The course was enlarged to the full 18 holes five years later.
Conwy (Caernarvonshire) Golf Club was formed on the 30th June 1890, the third oldest club in Wales behind Tenby, 1888 and Rhyl March 1890.
The Morfa was badly affected by the demands of the First World War and the course, along with the surrounding area, was appropriated for military use. This meant that the old links course was virtually obliterated and the course was closed from 1914 to 1919. To keep the club functioning, everything was moved in a northerly direction to the site that the course now occupies.
During the Second World War it was decided to build the prefabricated harbours used in Operation Overlord for the invasion of Europe. The Mulberry Harbours were constructed on a site at the back of the present second green. This was the 
location of the then ninth green which was lost and never replaced. Fortunately, this was the only real damage the course suffered.
The most amazing thing about the golf club however, is that in September 1893
only three years after the club was formed, painter Douglas Adams (1853-1920) visited Conwy and was inspired to paint three pictures of golfers in action on the golf course.
“The Drive”,                                 “Difficult Bunker” and                         “Putting Green.”
THE DRIVE   Probably the best known of the three paintings.  In the middle distance is the mouth of the River Conwy and theoutline of the Great Orme beyond.
DIFFICULT BUNKER   In the mid distance can be seen "The Ship" public house which was demolished in the 1980s to make way for the A55Expressway. Conwy Mountain is in the background.
PUTTING GREEN   To the left-hand side is the Great Orme dominating the emerging resort of Llandudno whilst Deganwy can be seen on
the right edge of the painting.
It is amazing to think that copies of these three paintings are featured in golf clubs all over the world. Since no location is given for the paintings, most people, particularly in America think that they represent traditional old images of Victorian Scotland.  Few people have any idea that they are in fact Conwy Golf Club  here in north Wales. The Paintings are particularly popular in north America and two  of the paintings are exhibited in the Golf Hall of Fame is St. Augustine in Florida. 
Almost every golfing memorabilia shop in America has a set of the painting for sale. Restaurants and other eating places in golfing destinations often display one or the other of the images. Golfers flying into Pinehurst, generally regarded as the “Home of American golf” are met with a large image of “The Drive” in the arrivals lounge. The Tournament Players Course at Eagle Trace near Fort Lauderdale in Florida has a very large copy of “The Drive“ as the only painting in its impressive walnut clad entrance lobby. 
So if you are visiting a golf club somewhere around the world look out for one or three of the prints  amazingly originally painted in Conwy.
 


My thanks to Conwy Golf Club, History Points and Golf World for the 

contents of the article.