YOU have to give a lot of credit to the people who designed Swansea Bay Golf Club.

On what is not a particularly big parcel of land — and one which is bisected by one of the busiest roads in the country — they managed to create a course that is not only peaceful, but one where you feel totally isolated.

And that's a good thing.

The sixth, eighth and 10th greens, for example, are within about 50 yards of each other.

You would never know it.

Articulated lorries and who knows how many cars race past on the M4 slip road as you prepare to tee-off on the short 13th.

You wouldn't know that either.

Swansea Bay is fair and flat. Good drives are rewarded, the greens are relatively easy to read, bunkers are not steep or severe and the rough far from perilous.

That isn't to say that it doesn't hold any fears.

After a nice easy opening hole — the short par-four is as gentle as you are likely to find — the first real test comes at the second, a 466-yard par-four which officially ranks as the hardest on the course. Those for whom length off the tee is a problem are immediately in trouble, for this is a par-five in all but name.

But the section of course to the north of Fabian Way is by far the easier of the two. The real dangers lurk on the other side of the road.

Go to Swansea Bay on a hot day in the middle of summer and the perils lay dormant. Go when the wind's up and they don't.

Just before the turn are where the potential card-wrecking holes lie.

Both eight and nine are played directly into the breeze which blows straight off the sea.

Eight can be hard enough but nine, where two of your best smacks with wooden clubs can still leave you 150 yards short of the pin, can be soul-destroying.

The back nine also has the potential to show its teeth.

Three long par-fives give your driver a thorough examination and the only real respite comes with the par-three 17th and the short 15th.

We liked the 15th, where you drive from an elevated tee through an avenue of trees and where a really good connection will leave you just shy of the green.

And the best thing of all? It's not against the wind.

HOW MUCH? Weekdays £18, weekends and Bank Holidays £26.

WHERE IS IT? From Swansea, go along Fabian Way and turn left at the roundabout after Amazon. The course is on the right.

CAN YOU GET ON? Yes, but it's best to call beforehand.

HARDEST HOLE: The ninth. It only measures 412 yards, but when the wind is in your face it feels like 612. A par here feels like an eagle.

BEST HOLE: The 12th. Only a long drive will carry you over a stream, though it still leaves you short of a dog-leg to the right with trees shielding the green. Just edges out the 15th.