Tralee
Waterville
1. Royal Portrush 16th, 236/202/195 yards.
‘Calamity Corner’ played an important part in deciding
the winner of the 2019 Open Championship. With
the two new holes (7 and 8) it meant that the famous
14th became the famous and devastatingly dangerous
16th. From the back tees you have to take on a chasm
that stretches tee to green. From the forward tees the
chasm is less in your eye-line but it remains a serious
threat as that vacuum of space fills the right hand
side. This is one of the highest points on the Dunluce
links so the wind will be strongest as you hit towards
a green. Don’t be short, don’t be right, don’t be long…
all three options will see you trekking steeply down
a dune with a blind shot back up. Your only bail out
is front left and left… and even then it’s not easy. The
green has subtle slopes but Calamity Corner is not
about the green… it’s about putting the fear into your
swing as you tee off. Index 6.
2. Royal County Down 4th, 229/202/159 yards.
There’s no question that after three holes heading
straight out above the beach, the turn at the 4th tee is
one of Royal County Down’s most dramatic moments.
Now you are playing back towards the clubhouse,
the spire of the Slieve Donard Hotel and the mighty
Mourne Mountains beyond. If you’re lucky enough to
play here in late Spring/Summer you will have a sea
of fiery gorse all around you. And somewhere in all
that gorse and dunes is a perfect green. The farther
back you go, the higher the tees, the more you will
see of the green. The tees step up through the dunes
and, if you have the opportunity (the same applies
for Calamity Corner), walk to the back tees and take
a look. It offers a very different perspective from the
back, with the most noticeable revelation being some
room short of the green. There’s not much (maybe 7-8
yards) but it does give you an extra option… and added
hope. From the more forward tees you just won’t see
this. Wherever you play from, the putting surface looks
like it’s floating in the gorse. There are no tricks to the
green but the fall-offs curl around three sides.
4. Portmarnock 15th, 204/190/176 yards.
Set right above the beach you wouldn’t have to spend
long on the tee before seeing a golfer aiming out over
the sands and sea with the hope and expectation that
the wind returns the ball back towards the property
and onto the green. It is a daunting task and, after a
busy day, golf balls might litter the sand. From the tee
this is a beautiful hole. The green looks so shapely,
especially with the pot bunkers forcing it upwards
to present a tempting target. You must avoid the left
(or hope for the bunkers) as a steep run-off will drag
you 20 yards from the green and going long is also
a no-no. The bail out is to the right where a shallow,
narrow swale is second best only to finding the putting
surface. Index 8.
5. Tralee 16th, 199/179/138 yards.
The hole’s name – Shipwreck – tells golfers exactly
what is in store. It is another very tough hole and yet
a peach to play. It is, perhaps, too tough as there is
nowhere to seek refuge other than the green which
sits in the midst of the dunes, right on the edge of the
beach. The green is hardly generous in size, either, and
you will see all of this from a tee that is higher than the
putting surface. The best ‘miss’ may be to find one of
the three bunkers as going long will leave a recovery
shot from a bank above the green which slides back
down towards the bunkers and then off the front lip
into rough.
6. Waterville 12th, 200/164/144 yards.
The 12th or the 17th? That’s the dilemma of picking
Waterville’s most iconic par three. Named ‘Mass Hole’
the 12th has a telling history dating back to the 18th
century but what greets golfers today is a green
perched on a sharp dune with an amphitheatre of
dunes behind and a tapestry of the Caha Mountains
beyond. It is a stunning sight and when I last played
it a double rainbow descended next to the green. The
lone pot bunker (front right) looks almost forlorn…
until you land in it. Just as at Tralee, it is not a bad
place to be when you consider the alternatives.
3. Carne (Kilmore) 2nd, 165/147/131 metres.
There are so many good par threes at Carne (14 and
16 on Hackett, and 7 on the Kilmore) but this is one
of those holes you’ll play and then want to walk
straight back to the tee and try again. It’s a high tee
in the dunes, playing to a green below that is wedged
between two more heaving dunes. It feels almost
lunar. The green has big shapes but it is the blow-out
bunker that rises almost to the top of the right hand
dune that proves even more impressive… and you only
get a hint of it on the tee shot.
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