A Path Less Travelled
We head to Ireland to discover some of the less-visited layouts in this country’s rich treasure trove of fabulous golf courses
ou stand on the 1st tee, bend down and slip the tee into firm turf, position your ball and stand up to eye the fairway ahead. This is a course you’ve never played before and such an adventure always evokes a sense of anticipation.
Playing somewhere new is always a thrill. Across the UK and Ireland there are approximately 3,000 golf courses, so there are many opportunities to renew that thrill time and again. Yes, you could visit the world-famous courses... or you could take a path less travelled and go in search of that needle in a haystack.
Ireland has over 400 courses, and while everybody has heard of Old Head, Ballybunion, The K Club and Portmarnock, few have ventured to the little-known names of Strandhill, Rathcore, Birr and North West. They don’t have the scale and reputation of their world-famous brethren, but golf at the following ten Irish courses is never less than exciting, never less than an adventure and always worth the voyage of discovery.
Into the heartland
One particular voyage is to the town of Tullamore, in Ireland’s heartland of Co. Offaly. It is a 75-minute drive from
Dublin airport and around it are three shining examples of the magical, undiscovered golf course.
Tullamore Golf Club is a gently rolling parkland of towering trees and a James Braid design. It is a perfectly conditioned beauty with beech, oak and chestnut trees throwing constant shadows across fairways. Holes curve left and right, asking golfers to shape shots constantly around trees and water. The course is renowned for its tricky greens and dramatic closing holes.
The nearby club of Esker Hills, just three miles from the town, gained a global profile when Shane Lowry won The Open at Royal Portrush. This is where Lowry learned his game and it couldn’t be more different to the traditional Tullamore. The course is explosive and unpredictable; a rollercoaster barrelling over eskers so tall that you can get lost in the valleys. The greens are similarly curvaceous. Designed by Christy O’connor Jr, this is unlike anything you’ve played before. The welcome is second to none.
Birr Golf Club lies 25 miles to the south-west of Tullamore and has its own helping of eskers. They may be less dramatic than at Esker Hills but they still give a flowing shape and rhythm to holes. Recent design work has given Birr more breathing room in the heart of the course, while woodland frames the perimeter and the wonderful stretch of holes from 10 to 15. The par 3s are particularly strong, with the 14th and 15th offering an attractive double whammy. It is also ridiculously good value.
“It is explosive and unpredictable; a rollercoaster barrelling over eskers so tall you can get lost in the valleys”
‘The St Andrews of Ireland’
Ireland’s excellent but lesser-known courses are scattered freely around the countryside and coastline. It is no surprise, therefore, that five links courses make this list.
Rosslare Golf Club lies in the bottom south-east corner of Ireland, in Co. Wexford, and is the only golf course of real strength for 50 miles. It is a fine second-tier links separated from the sea by a long dune that streaks all the way out to the tip of the Burrow Peninsula. The terrain may look low, but the subtle and endless curves and humps and hollows are what links golf is all about. The stretch of holes from 3 to 7 is outstanding.
Fifty miles north of Rosslare is the links of Arklow Golf Club, in Co.
Wicklow. It is not far from The European Club, but few outside Ireland have heard of it. Located adjacent to a quarry, holes ripple with easy confidence through low dunes to super green sites and putting surfaces of unexpected shape. The clubhouse and car park sit high above the course, showing off many holes with the sea beyond. A rebunkering programme has added teeth to a par 70 that possesses five particularly tricky par 3s.
On an island renowned for its links courses, discovering that one’s a municipal comes as a surprise. Corballis, north of Dublin city, may be a mere par 66 with seven par 3s and a lone par 5, but the short holes are electric and the course is laid out on the same land as The Island. Four new holes were added in 2008 to give the course more space, and these are among the highlights, especially with three greens right above the beach showing off the views. Creativity required, fun assured.
North West is 125 years old and one of the founding members of the GUI. It is a remote outpost on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co. Donegal, not far from Ballyliffin. Often dubbed ‘the St Andrews of Ireland’, it possesses low and subtle terrain where holes sweep over the bewitching folds in the land to perfect green sites. Most of the course is on show from the clubhouse balcony, next to Lough Swilly. Its exposed nature demands smart links strategy.
An enthralling mixture
Of all the links on this list, Strandhill is the most exuberant. It possesses an air of wild abandon, with sea squeezing the course on two sides and the dunes
rising up to a central point, from where everything is on show. This is a popular Co. Sligo destination, especially for surfers who are constantly visible from the fairways. There are holes here that you won’t believe and beg to be played twice. The 13th is one of Ireland’s greatest mysteries and you won’t find a crumpled fairway as hypnotic as the 5th. Play it. Twice.
If you are more interested in a parkland ‘track’, Gowran Park, in Co. Kilkenny, crosses a racetrack multiple times. On race days the course is closed: in a golfer vs. galloping horse face-off there can be only one winner. The course gets wonderfully lost in woodland as it races around the track’s outer rails, introducing some sweet changes in elevation and water hazards. Those water hazards continue inside the track, too, while two par 3s play over the racetrack itself in a unique flourish. The devilishly hard S-shaped par-4 4th is the signature hole.
It is not a question of saving the best till last, but if you’re looking for the most unsung of courses, Rathcore is it. Tucked away in the Co. Meath countryside, it is a neatly packaged layout with natural springs turned into charming ponds and a small central hill which is home to greens, tees and views of the course. A fairy fort is also to be found here and it gives the course a magical air. It is an entertaining mix of short par 4s, two of the best par 3s you will play and some seriously testing holes. Rathcore is also halfway between Dublin airport and the courses around Tullamore.