FANTASY GOLF: The pefect parkland course:OLD AGAINST new? New against old? The challenge for any course designer is to make a player think on the tee . . . and then on every shot thereafter. It has always been so, and whether the onus is on the drive or the approach shot or in the short game around the green, what we know is that Irish parkland courses can be compared with the best anywhere, writes PHILIP REID8th Hole - Headfort (New)
In coming up with our front nine – one that you can be sure won’t be favoured by everyone, featuring as it does seven par fours, one par five and one par three – the challenge was to come up with a variety that incorporates the Irish landscape. And, so it is that we have holes woven through woodlands and gorse and others manufactured by clever course architects who were required to use earthmoving machinery to complement the surrounding natural elements.
As we discovered, the variety of parkland holes on offer north, south, east and west is a bewildering array of the very best to be found in golf. What we’ve done – with input from readers – is to create a front nine journey that will test and tease and exasperate. But which will also offer enjoyment and fun, for the challenge is one that makes a player think from the very first shot.
1st Carton House (Monty) 456 yards, par 4
Should the first hole offer a gentle challenge? Or should it set the standard for the examination that lies ahead? On this front, the opening hole at the Montgomerie Course throws the player straight into the test. The drive is over the river Rye, to a fairway with rough down the right and strategically placed bunkers down the left. The approach shot is to a green again guarded by bunkers, with water awaiting any shot pushed right. And the undulating green is more reminiscent of those on a links.
Close call:Carlow.
2nd Mount Juliet
429 yards, par 4
The first task is to clear a stream, which runs across the front of the fairway and winds its way up the right, with your drive while there are trees lurking down the left for any pulled tee-shot. The task doesn’t get any easier, with an approach to a green – with the trees left still in play – protected by bunkers.
Close call:Adare Manor.
3rd Killarney (Killeen)
183 yards, par 3
The aesthetics alone as you stand on the tee box, situated in the lake with the imposing Macgillicuddy Reeks as a backdrop, make this a picture postcard setting. The hole itself lives up to the billing. The tee-shot must be played across water to a green that juts out into the lake with only a small bail-out area.
Close call:Headfort (New).
4th Clandeboye(Dufferin)
403 yards, par 4
Golf as it should be, with the onus on an accurate tee-shot to a rolling fairway guarded by trees, gorse, heather and rough. Accuracy rather than length is the key, as it is critical to find the fairway before a downhill approach shot through a corridor of trees and over gorse to an elevated green with clever run-offs which will test your shot game to the utmost should you fail to find the putting surface.
Close call:New Forest.
5th Adare Manor
421 yards, par 4
A real challenge, as the hole plays uphill and more than its yardage and more often than not into the prevailing wind. The big hitter will be inclined to take on the large fairway bunker down the right while any pushed shot could find water down the right. The second shot is one of the best to be found anywhere, uphill to an elevated green – with only the top of the flag visible – which is guarded by large bunkers.
Close call:The K Club (Palmer).
6th Rathsallagh
502 yards, par 5
The drive asks the hard question from the start, with a burn down the right – which criss-crosses the fairway further on – and tall trees down the left obstructing the player’s view to the fairway. Most players will opt to lay up with their second, as a concealed stream runs across the fairway while the green is guarded by a large pond hidden from view by yucca trees.
Close call:Slieve Russell
7th The K Club(Palmer)
430 yards, par 4
This is a hole that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and cause some wobbly knees. It is a great hole, with the drive to the fairway – more generous than it appears off the tee – made difficult due to out-of-bounds down the right and tall trees down the left. Finding the fairway is only part one of the equation, getting to the green is the next. The approach is played over a pond to a wide green with further trouble awaiting overhit shots.
Close call:Carlow.
8th Headfort(New)
422 yards, par 4
The player faces an extremely challenging tee shot to a narrow fairway lined by trees right and left. The shot requires accuracy and length, leaving an approach up to a small green protected by bunkers with yet more trees in play for any wayward shots.
Close call:Druids Glen.
9th The Heritage
421 yards, par 4
An ingeniously designed par 4, demonstrating how land can be utilised to its maximum. The tee shot to a narrow fairway must be precise and long, avoiding the strategically placed fairway bunkers down the left and the water on the right. The approach is played over yet more water to a green that slopes towards the lake.
Close call:Cork (Little Island).
OUT:3,667 yards, par 36
