Thursday 22 August - Doonbeg

Our final round of the tour was at Doonbeg.  Oh yes, "Trump" Doonbeg.  The course was originally designed by Greg Norman, and opened for play in 2002.

Norman fell in love with the site, and wanted it to be as natural as possible.  14 greens and 12 fairways were essentially just mown in the position that nature built them, and it follows a traditional link style of 9 holes out, and nine back.  One slight difference to most modern course see it with 5 par threes and 5 par fives.

Donald Trump purchased the property in 2014, and had Martin Hawtree redesign the layout.  It had been criticised as being too difficult for the average golfer.  Hawtree made the course more playable.  It certainly had that feel about it.  Playable from the tee, but still with it's challenges.

One of the challenges was the weather, again.  Incredibly strong cross winds on every hole made it tough.  We were getting sandblasted, and covered in salt spray.  Those wearing glasses needed constant attention to keep their vision clear, as did someone with a camera lens.

Some of the dunes here are incredible, and the way the course is routed between them is very impressive.

This above is the par three 9th.  The wind was so strong, that I started my shot at the beach.  I thought I hit it perfectly, and finished in the dunes on the right.

With Trump ownership sometimes comes Trump.  Now as POTUS, a visit from the owner takes on a new meaning.  He was here approximately 6 weeks ago.  Here is a bit of a list of things that were in place for him to play golf "safely".

• Bookings were closed, and pre booked guests were subject to airport style security checks.
• 2 Irish guards stationed on each tee.
• Warships stationed offshore.
• Snipers located on many of the high dunes.
• 5 - 6 helicopters in the air.
• A total involvement of approximately 1300 local police and security personnel.

Do we still want him to visit for the President's Cup and play at The Heath??

The green approach at the par five 13th hole.

The par three 14th hole.  This time with the wind coming from the right.  This hole had been completely rebuilt by Hawtree, after a storm ruined it in 2014.

Behind the green at the par four 17th.

To play the 18th, you need to cross the first fairway in front of the green, and you are met with this.
Our caddy said this about Irish links golf.  "They say that the Scots invented golf, but the Irish perfected it".  This statement could well be true with the quality of the golf we have played the past 2 weeks.
Coralie Cazaly was our victor today.

Thanks to everyone on the tour for a great trip.

Wednesday 21 August - Lahinch

The visit to Lahinch had been much anticipated by all.  Unfortunately the weather gods did not share our enthusiasm.  On most days we have had some poor weather to deal with.  Either very strong winds, a downpour or two of rain, or consistent drizzle.  Well we got the worst of it all.
Torrential rain, and 60kmh winds meant that most rounds were abandoned before the completion of nine holes.
Even the local goats were hiding.
Prior to departure on Friday, I had some spare time, and the weather was perfect (of course it was when we were not playing), so the club allowed me to go back and take a few photos.

In March 1892 Alexander Shaw, Richard Plummer and a number of officers from the Black Watch Regiment of the British Army went to the west coast of Clare in search of sand dunes that would be suitable for the development of a golf course. They discovered Lahinch and during a second visit in early April, laid out a links golf course.

Lahinch carries many of the characteristics of classic old world design, that make playing it and courses like it so much fun.  The above shot is at the tee of the par five 4th hole.  You drive in between the dunes, and are confronted by a another dune directly in front of you.  You must play over this dune (aiming at the marker on the hill) to the green.

After dealing with that, you walk to the left, and are faced with another dune.  This hole however, is a par three. Again you select your club, and fire at the white marker on the hill. (you can see the marker on the left side of the picture above).

The view from behind left of the 5th green, showing the obstacle that you hit over.
It was in 1894 Alexander Shaw invited Old Tom Morris, the celebrated Scottish golfer, to design a new links golf course.  Old Tom Morris placed great emphasis on the sandhills side of the links. He said Lahinch was “the finest natural course he had ever seen”.  These two holes are Old Tom Morris holes.

In 1926 the services of world renowned Golf Course Architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie were sought and plans for a new 18 hole course were agreed. In his report to the Committee, Dr. MacKenzie stated that, “Lahinch will make the finest and most popular golf course that I, or I believe anyone else, ever constructed.”   The cost of the development was set at £2,000.

In 1999, the famous British golf architect, Dr. Martin Hawtree, who has re-designed several British Open links for the R&A, modernised the links.  He re-routed 4 holes and added 2 new par 3′s, the 166-yard 8th and the 170-yard 11th, both set deep in the impressive sand dunes.  In all, 16 tees were re-built and 14 greens completely re-shaped, restoring them to their original character conceived by MacKenzie.  Hawtree wisely left the magical “Klondyke” (4th) and “Dell” (5th) holes alone.

The view from the tee on the par three 8th, showing the extent of the use of the natural dunes.

The green at the 8th.

The Club crest embracing the thistle and the goat was approved by the Committee in the early 1950’s. The thistle represented the Scottish element in the founding of the Club, and the goat symbolised the weather.

The barometer at the Club was not functioning properly in the 1960's and the Secretary / Manager wrote on it's face; “See Goats”. When the weather was wet and the forecast poor, the goats were usually seen hovering around the clubhouse – in fine weather they made their way out to the far regions of the golf links.  The barometer is still there, with this message.
As I mentioned earlier, the goats were not near the clubhouse.  When I asked one of the members about it, I was told "they have been tied up out on the 9th, if we are getting that wet, so are they!".  This was not true, but I understood the sentiment.

The green site at the par three 11th.

This is what you see when you get to the tee on the par five 12th.  A stunning view with the Inagh River to the left, and the ruins of the Dough Castle in the distance.

The view from behind the 12th green.

Looking back down the par four 13th, from behind the green.
The Dough Castle in the distance is next to the green on the second course here, the aptly named "Castle Course".  The Castle was built in 1306 and in 1654, Colonel Stubber, a Cromwellian Officer, saved the Castle from the “Commissioners for overthrowing and demolishing Castles in Connaught and Clare”.
It was described in 1675 as a tall battlemented tower with a two-storied dwelling house attached to one side.
The present ruin is the result of poor foundations (mainly sand) rather than the ravages of war. The building collapsed at various times, mainly during the nineteenth century.  Only one wall now remains of Dough Castle.

The great bunkering approaching the green on the par four 17th.

At the final hole you again see some more old school quirkiness.  The view here does not look like anything special, but it is the fact that you need to drive over both the 5th and 4th holes to get to the fairway, that makes it quite unique.  I love it.

I am glad I got back so that I could share some pictures.

Noeleen Hayres won our prize today.

Tuesday 20 August - Tralee

Tralee Golf Club.  Arnold Palmer's first golf course design in Europe.

Back in 1896 the Club had its first nine-hole course in Tralee, believed to be where the Sports field is now located. A year later, in 1897, it opened a nine-hole course in Fenit on the south-western side of Barrow Harbour. There were 120 members then (compared to today's 1,300) who paid a subscription of 10 shillings a year, with visitors having one week free play as introduction.

During the 'Troubles', in the 1920's, a Captain Lionel Hewson was hired to design a new course in Oakpark, Tralee. He was suspicious of the men who sat around on the demesne walls watching him while he measured and made notes. He wrote later that 'bullets used to fly in those days on little provocation. He had reason to cast a wary eye - a Major McKinnon in the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary was shot dead on the course in March, 1921, while playing golf.

The club opened its present Arnold Palmer-designed course for play at Barrow in October, 1984, after moving from its nine-hole course at Mounthawk near Tralee. It was a great achievement for the Club. Having decided to buy land at Barrow back in 1980, the members dream of seeing the Club attain world-wide status has been realized.

Not our mode of transportation, but just two of the three choppers parked at the club, owned by the nearby Hog's Head Golf Club, ferrying affluent American visitors to and from the course.

Whilst there are some nice holes on the front nine, it is the back nine where the links really shines.  It proves that land and topography is a crucial element, provided that it is dealt with in the right way.
Palmer is quoted as saying, "I may have designed the first nine, but surely God designed the back nine".

Much more dramatic dunes and natural undulations give the second nine a great deal of interest, and it is very impressive.

The view from atop the dune near the tee of the par four 15th hole.

The tee shot to the par three 16th hole.

The view from behind the green on the par three 16th hole.

One really disappointing element is the fact that the clubs down here at this time of the year are visitor factories.  None more so that Tralee today.  Using 12 minute tee intervals, we were over 20 minutes late to tee off at our scheduled 10.30am.
Five hours and forty five minutes later, we walked from the 18th green tired and frustrated.
Something like 170 golfers on course, mostly visitors.
I will let you work out the financials, but clearly the visitor experience is secondary to the almighty $$$.

Ronnie Dudfield was our winner today.

Monday 19 August - Ballybunion

Ballybunion.  This course held as much expectation for me as County Down had in the North.  It did not disappoint.  It is one serious golf course.

Again we were faced with a challenging onshore breeze, which wanted to push the ball right off the first tee.  It is literally dead over there.  You will finish in the local graveyard.

We were met at the coach by Head Professional Brian O'Callaghan, providing a warm welcome to the club, and an immediate sense that this would be a lot better than Waterville yesterday.

Part of the fun of old course like these are the quirks you get that would never happen in modern architecture.  On at least 4 occasions, you need to drive over the green of the preceding hole.
This is Katryna Economou preparing to fire her drive on the par five 4th, over the green of the 3rd hole. Brilliant!

The first layout of golf holes at Ballybunion took place in 1893.  The men involved were officers of The Black Watch Regiment - Capt. M. Westropp, Limerick City Artillery and Capt. E. W. Willington, The Prince of Wales Regiment (Royal Canadians) stationed at Maryboro’ (now known as Portlaoise) who were holidaying in Ballybunion at the time and were staying at the Castle Hotel where the first meeting of the first club took place on the 18th August 1893.  This original layout was for 12 greens.

In early 1897 an article in the Irish Times, headed The Golf Links of Kerry, dismissed Ballybunion Course with some contempt as “a rabbit warren below the village, where a golfer requires limitless patience and an inexhaustible supply of golf balls.” This provoked a tart rejoinder in the same paper in March 1897 from P McCarthy, General Manager, Listowel and Ballybunion Railway. The course, he claimed, was “quite first class and a sporting course, laid out by the professional who had laid out the links at Lahinch and Dollymount.” The Irish golfers guide of 1897 names this course designer as James McKenna, who did this work “at the instance of the Lartigue Railway Company.”

I agree with the fact that a golfer requires limitless patience, and an inexhaustable supply of balls.  But the course is no longer a "rabbit warren".

As time passed, the growing reputation of the links began to attracted players from all parts of the country, and by 1926 plans had been drawn up to extend the course to a full 18 holes. Work was completed within the following 12 months, but it wasn’t until 1932 that the new links were finally recognized at national level when Ballybunion was chosen as the venue for the Irish Ladies Championship.

Rob Dudfield preparing to extract himself from the bunker on the par three 8th.

Five years later it became the stage for the Irish Mens Close Amateur Championship. As part of the preparation for this prestigious event, the Committee appointed Tom Simpson, a leading golf architect of the time, to examine the course and make any necessary recommendations. Simpson was so delighted by what he saw that he suggested only a couple of major changes – altering the sites of the 7th and 13th holes – and some minor ones, which included the installation of a mid-fairway bunker on what is now the 1st hole. This bunker became known as “Mrs Simpson”.

The 1970's saw a huge challenge face the club.  Coastal erosion was becoming a huge problem, and bad winters in 1975 & 1977 saw the 7th hole under siege.  The club launched a "Save Ballybunion Golf Links Fund", which raised more than enough money to add significant retaining structures.

Tom Watson came here for the first time in 1981, en route to The Open at Royal St George's.  Watson fell in love with the place, and consulted on some course adjustments in 1995.  He was also the Club Captain in 2000.

One of the many quirks of the course, is the back to back par threes on the back nine, 14 & 15.  The 15th is pictured above.  A brute of a hole playing 200 plus yards to a two tiered green, and into the prevailing wind.  Good luck!

Elizabeth Knight preparing to drive on the par five 16th.

The view from the tee at the "Devils Elbow", the par four 17th.

The view from behind the green at the 17th.

The par four 18th will generally play down wind, and is a nice, more gentle way to finish.  A large sandbelt style Sahara bunker covers the corner of the dogleg.

I truly loved Ballybunion.  It is in my opinion what links golf should be.

Our winners today were Christine Cookes and Andy Melin.