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.