Destination Golf Ireland 2018 * | Page 9

Ardglass Golf Club (Pic: Ardglass) Emerald Isle Golfing Gems Text: Andrew Marshall and Photos: Paul Marshall unless otherwise indicated Ah...the joys, frustrations and vagaries of links golf, where a well-executed shot can get an unfortunate kick and end up in a bunker, or a mishit shot may get a lucky bounce and finish on the green. Links courses with their unique characteristics retain their allure as the game’s original and purest form and they come in no greater dramatic abundance than the Emerald Isle. Created by nature and dotted like gems around the coastline, these courses by the sea have all the quintessential ingredients - stunning ocean views, towering dunes, rumpled fairways, fast undulating greens, deep pot bunkers and ever- present winds. Not golf for the fainthearted, to-be-sure, to-be -sure, to-be-sure. 7