Must Play

The tremendous layout at County Louth in Ireland

County Louth, also known as Baltray, is one of those rare courses that somehow belies its constant presence as a Top 100 UK&I course. It tends to fly under the radar, and this is a shame as it is a first-rate links that discerning golfers from all over the world greatly enjoy.

There is a rather unusual flow to the routing, with just two par 4s in the first seven holes before you then get seven in a row. But this is of little significance, because the individual hole designs are consistently strong and varied and the routing constantly changes direction.

HISTORY

Although the club dates back to 1892, it is the work of architect Tom Simpson in the late 1930s that has defined the course. Other than changes a while back by Donald Steel and Tom Mackenzie, little has changed since. Indeed, little has needed to!

The course can stretch to over 7,000 yards and is a genuine championship test that has hosted two Irish Opens. The first of these was back in 2004, but the more notable one was five years later when a 23-year-old Shane Lowry took the title as an amateur, thereby forgoing a whopping €500,000 payday.

Situated an hour to the north of Dublin and bordering the mouth of the River Boyne, the course has been the constant home of the East of Ireland Amateur Championship since it began in 1941, with Open Champion and 2016 Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke the winner in 1989. Former Ryder Cup golfer Des Smyth is an