01 June 08

Features

Take the rough with the smooth

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Golf, especially links golf, comes in no greater, dramatic abundance than on the Emerald Isle. Spectacular courses trace the coastline like a necklace – with towering dunes, tumbling fairways, howling winds and the taste of salt in the sea air. Some courses are old classics laid out by legendary designers like Old Tom Morris, while other more recent creations look like they’ve been part of the landscape for centuries.

Finding your way there is all part of the adventure, travelling through a wild landscape of mountains, peat moors and gurgling streams – past ancient castles perched atop windswept headlands. You may make a few wrong turns, be stuck behind a tractor, or have to wait for a flock of sheep to cross the road, but it is time well spent in anticipation.

Carne Golf Links

When you phone Carne Golf Links to book a tee time, you’re guaranteed a warm welcome in Gaelic – the traditional language that is preserved in these parts. “The remote location doesn’t seem to stop people coming. We even had Hugh Grant play here recently,” says Mary Tallott, who takes bookings at the club.

But that’s the special charm of Carne – you enjoy a feeling of isolation because of the distinctly divided fairways that twist and turn through the hilly landscape. It really feels like you have the whole golf course to yourself. And it’s all set against the backdrop of Ireland’s rugged Atlantic Coast.

Another special feature is the way the greens reveal themselves at the very last minute, sitting like emerald islands nestling among the dunes. Carne’s signature hole is the 168-yard, par-three 16th, which drops steeply from an elevated tee to a green encircled by dunes. The tough duo – 435-yard, par-four 17th, and the 540-yard, par-five 18th – are a memorable finale to this wild and rugged layout that makes a lasting impression on all who play it. Be sure to make the pilgrimage.
TEL: +353 (0)978 2292,WWW.CARNEGOLFLINKS.COM MIDWEEK, €65 (PER DAY). WEEKEND, €65 (PER ROUND).

Doonbeg

Standing on the elevated tee of the 567-yard, par-five first hole, eyes are drawn down a fairway that bucks and plunges like a raging river towards a large green complex protected on three sides by soaring dunes. It signifies the feel of the entire course. Although only open since July 2002, Doonbeg looks and plays like it’s been part of the landscape for the past 100 years.

Two-time British Open champion and course architect, Greg Norman, together with his team, has achieved his goal of “least disturbance” to the existing sand hills by letting the terrain dictate the routing – avoiding long climbs across the highest dunes by using them as backdrops for many greens. Indeed, most fairways were simply mowed to play the natural contours, which pitch and roll with every ridge and rumple of earth. Holes play up, down, beside, around, and seemingly into the towering sentinels. Bunkers are dug by hand, some edged by tall layers of stacked sod, others by shaggy tufts of native grass. At just under 6,900 yards from the tips, it’s a short course by contemporary standards, but Norman’s design places a premium on accuracy, not distance. Doonbeg’s bagmen will give the time-honoured advice: “Keep it on the fairway and out of the thick stuff.” Depending on the ocean breezes, a caddie may advise you to use anything from a four-iron to a sand wedge for Doonbeg’s signature hole. The spectacular 98-yard, par-three 14th – arguably the best one-shotter in Irish golf – is a truly memorable hole that requires the most careful strategy. At the par-four 15th, there’s the best second shot on the course, played to a green set amid the dunes.
TEL: +353 (0)65 905 5602, WWW.DOONBEGGOLFCLUB.COM MON—THU, €200 PER PERSON. FRI—SUN, €210.