"WHATEVER you do," they told us, "just make sure you stay on the fairways."

Easier said than done, we thought.

As it turned out, this was sound advice from Erol Golbas, general manager at Fairwood Park Golf Club.

How do we know? Because we failed to follow it.

It was not that we were trying to get tangled up in the devilish rough or stuck behind one of the thousands of trees at Swansea's only Championship golf course. Or indeed tangled up in the rough behind one of the trees.

But when you stand on the tee not knowing if your drive will fade or draw — or rather slice or hook — encounters with the thick stuff are inevitable.

And we got to know the long grass pretty well at Fairwood Park, discovering that it can be very difficult to get your ball out of it.

It's a relatively flat track, but it's not for bullies.

Stray off the fairway here and you'll often be left taking your medicine, chipping out sideways or muscling the ball back to where you meant to put it in the first place.

But then it was never going to be easy. Not for nothing was Fairwood Park chosen to host the Welsh PGA Championship twice in the early 1990s.

Apparently, many a pro failed to impress when they came to this corner of Gower, which is reassuring.

We didn't impress either — but were impressed.

This is a gem — 6,700 yards of good looking parkland. The course is peaceful and secluded, and so are many of the holes.

It may not be quite so quiet when Fairwood Park's clubhouse is demolished.

The plan is to turn the place into a golf resort, something Wales is short of compared to Ireland and Scotland.

A 42-bedroom, four-star luxury hotel and leisure complex will look over the 18th hole. The idea is to capitalise on the Ryder Cup's visit to Wales in 2010.

Europe and America collide in Newport, but the belief is that the competition will have a positive impact all across the country.

The theory is that big-spending Americans in Wales to check out Celtic Manor will not spend a whole week in South-East Wales. They will take a tour of the region's finer courses.

They won't be disappointed if they pay a visit to Fairwood Park.

And they'll like it even more if they're good enough to keep the ball on the fairway.

HOW MUCH? £25-£32 depending on the day of the week

CAN YOU GET ON? Visitors are welcome, but you should get in touch first to arrange a tee time.

WHERE IS IT? Off the A4118 in Gower, opposite Swansea Airport

HARDEST HOLE: 15th — Good luck off the tee. Hit long left and you're wet, hit right and run away into rough. And after that there's a raised green protected by two bunkers to find.

BEST HOLE: 18th — Clear the bunkers with your tee shot and you may well run a long way down towards the green. Then comes a short iron over the brook to a putting surface which sits next to the clubhouse.

DID YOU KNOW? Former Wales star John Hartson is a member at Fairwood Park.

AND ANOTHER THING: There was an RAF hospital on the sight of the clubhouse during the Second World War.