Cobh Golf Club's new course to open today.

Jasonw

After many years of playing 9 hole golf, Cobh Golf club's brand new 18 hole course at Marino point opens today. I will be playing it later this afternoon and will report back.

Jasonw

After a scheduled 4:30 start we finally teed off at 5:10. There were 8 mins between tee times where I think 10 would be more appropiate. Understandably as it was opening day the time sheet was jammed and they wanted to get as many out as possible.

Having said that, waiting around on the first tee is not necessarily the worst thing in the world. As you stand there you are met with one of the most spectacular views in Irish golf. Even if the course needs a month or two more while they apply the finishing touches, it is still has the most magnificent views all the way through the course. It's location crossing over the brow of Great Island means there are views of Belvelly castle and Fota Island on one side and Passage west and the inner Harbour on the other.

Don't let the views distract you from your opening tee shot though because the next thing that strikes you is the rough, I mean we are talking Carnoustie type rough here and only 6 feet from the fairway. If you go into it your ball is as good as lost and even if you find it you need to be pretty strong to hack it out. The fairways though are wide enough so until the trees mature the course has to have some protection. I believe that they are going to cut it back or thin it out next week to give us some chance.

The first 2 holes are pretty straight forward par 4's. The course is pretty short off the white markers and a 5 wood and 9 iron had me comfortably on the first green. On the second the drive is protected by a number of bunkers but they were not in play yesterday as only about half of the bunkers on the course have been filled yet. you can lay up short of them though and only have a 9 iron into a raised green.

The third is a par 5 and my first bogey on the course due to finding the rough and having to hack it out with a sand wedge.

The 4th hole is a bit of a joke. It was originally designed to be a par 4 but was changed to a par 5. My second shot was a 5 iron as it had run into the semi-rough. If the tee shot had been a little straighter it would have been a 8 or 9 iron. In all I think a single figure handicapper would be dissapointed not to be level or under par for the first 4 holes provided he can keep it out of the rough.

The next 2 holes are genuinely tougher. A long par 4 uphill (from the blues a longer hole at 462 yards than the preceeding downhill par 5???) followed by a long par 3 at 195 yards from the whites. A hedge follows this hole all the way down the right. 2 more bogeys to bring me to 3 over after 6.

7 and 8 are straightforward if you can avoid the bunkers.

9 is a nice hole. you drive uphill but if you carry the fairway bunkers the fairway slopes away. hit that and it's a sand iron to the green. I had my first lost ball at this hole but pared the provisional for a 6 and 5 over par front 9.

The 10th is undoubtably the signature hole on the course. A par 3 with spectacular views of the harbour and an island green. It's not long from the whites 150yds. Downhill and with a slight tailwind I hit a 9 iron which pitched a foot behind the hole and sank the 10 foot putt back for my first Bird.

the 11th is another downhill par 5. At 470yds off the white and again with a slight wind behind a good drive left me with a 150 yd 9 iron to the green. In the designers defence I believe the prevailing wind is in the opposite direction. I was just off the green but chipped in for eagle.

The 12th is my personal favorite. A short par 3 but it has no bail out area water runs almost all the way from teebox to green then tight to the green on the left and around the back. on the left there is an old stone wall.

the 13th is an uphill par 5 . another bird here left me 4 under for the back 9 (so far) and 1 over overall.

the 14th is back down the hill. I don't know how they come up with indexes for new courses but index 2? really? A decent drive left me at the 100 yard mark and a bad choice of shot left me still of the green. dissapointing bogey.

15th is a nice par 3 in a walled garden short of the whites but should be a good hole off the blues where they have put the teebox outside the garden and it plays 179 from there. another bogey.

The 3 holes home are ok and with light fading fast we try to get through them quickly. another lost ball on the 17th puts an end to hopes of a good round. It's 10pm as tee off on the uphill par 5 last. with greens impossible to read in the failing light I finish with another bogey after missing a 5 footer for par. 37 points - could have been so much better.

Overall the pluses will be there forever while I think that some of the negative thing I found will be ironed out in the next month or two.

Pluses: Unbelievable views, true modern greens and 5 or 6 memorable holes with a couple of great holes.

minuses: slow to get around probably due to the unplayable rough, greens too slow (but will get better as they mature over the summer) Too short off the whites. Maybe that's just me? 6250 yards? 6618 from the blues and there are a few 'tiger tees' around the place which could make things interesting.

I would recomend you to play it but I would leave it until late July or August to do so. Also I'd say give it 5 or 10 years and it will be one of the best in the Cork area.