Bunclody Review & Photographs

Kevinmarkham

I played Bunclody over the long weekend. Not the brightest of days but perfect for reviewing purposes. It's a great track.

The review is HERE, with some photos

Or all the photos are HERE on Flickr

Gailf

Super stuff as ever Kevin.

14 looks sensational...

jimjo

Great photos Kevin. Its one of the courses I really want to play before the end of the year (along with Concra Wood and the Farnham Estate, back 9 opening next week) but time running out it’ll be difficult and seeing those photos is just annoying me at this stage being stuck in work!

Mister Sifter

jimjo wrote: »

Great photos Kevin. Its one of the courses I really want to play before the end of the year (along with Concra Wood and the Farnham Estate, back 9 opening next week) but time running out it’ll be difficult and seeing those photos is just annoying me at this stage being stuck in work!

Only just noticed on their site that they had open stablefords on sat and sun too! Would have been nice.

MiniGolf

Great pics and a very fair review, Kevin.
I see you got the good weather I did when I visited a few months ago. The fairways look even better now!

Trekker09

Nice one Kevin. Looking forward to playing there in the not too distant fuure. BTW, what are the green fees?

1967

Its a course i cant praise highly enough and would recommend it to everyone as has been said you will go a long way to play a better finishing straight 14-18.Favourite hole is 16th although i birdied the last for a birdie and 36pts.Check the website for green fees but they are reasonable.

Obni

Great course, particularly the 15th with the giant magnetic tree in the middle of the fairway. Our fourball hit two slices, a draw and one arrow straight ball off the tee. All four found the tree.

ShriekingSheet

Yeah heading down in November - can't wait.

george67

Obni wrote: »

Great course, particularly the 15th with the giant magnetic tree in the middle of the fairway. Our fourball hit two slices, a draw and one arrow straight ball off the tee. All four found the tree.

I decided to aim at the tree with a little draw , hit my drive perfect , hit it right in the middle of the trunk, bounced back about 20 yards , still got my par .:D
A cracking hole, great course

Kevinmarkham

george67 wrote: »

I decided to aim at the tree with a little draw , hit my drive perfect , hit it right in the middle of the trunk, bounced back about 20 yards , still got my par .:D
A cracking hole, great course

I took the easy option and played off the whites (as opposed to the shorter green tees) - it took the top part of the tree out of play, otherwise I'd have been in it. A great hole, and one that will get better

copacetic

Your reviews are always welcome Kevin, however please post them, not link to them.

The_Kew_Tour

Kevin thanks for photos first class as always

ShriekingSheet

A gang of us headed down at the weekend and I have to say, the whole set-up is great.

€135 got us a round of golf and dinner, bed and breakfast in the really nice hotel accross the road. Okay, it's not for nothing, but given the standard of the course and hotel, I thought it was decent value. Certainly came away feeling that it was well worth it.

The off-course set up is impressive. The locker rooms are top notch, and club house is really nice, without being ridiculously sized, a-la new Dunlaoighre. Great pro shop and well shaped bar that's big, long, narrow and curved so even with only a handful of people there's a bit of atmosphere.

Excellent practice facilities with a good driving range, and really nice short game area with two big greens and plenty of room for pitching from various distances off tight fairway lies.

The course is a fun challenge. Like nearly every course, it has a couple of bland, nothing holes (eg: 1 & 10), but the good ones are absolutely out of this world. 15 & 16 in particular stood out for me.

15 has a carbon copy of the tee-shot from the 13th in Naas, though there's a tree in the middle of the fairway which makes it tricky. The green sits among some bunkers and a stream. For a short hole, it's a tough one. 16 is index 1, a crescent shaped hole along the main river. Longer hitters must draw the ball from the tee, and the water continues all the way up the left to the green.

As I said, 1 is a mediocre opening par 5, but 2 & 3 quickly grab your attention. After a simple tee shot, the second green is flanked by water and rough mounds. You're taking a long-ish club in, and it's gotta be a good one. 3 is a great par 5, curving around trees with more water on the opposite side.

The only let down was the bunkers, which need some serious work (there was tarmac in one!) and some of the wilder terrain that's very in play, such as left of the 9th and in and around the bunkers on 6. It's all still quite gravelly. Sure, it's a hazard, but aesthetically it's too much like wasteland.

Anyway, all in all, it's a class spot. Highly reccomended.

Kevinmarkham

Hey Sheet,
great to hear you got to play it, and 135 is a good deal - assuming you got decent weather.

Agree with you about 1 and 10, a bit weak, but loved the roughness of the bunkers around 6 - thought that was an intriguing touch

ShriekingSheet

Kevinmarkham wrote: »

Hey Sheet,
great to hear you got to play it, and 135 is a good deal - assuming you got decent weather.

Agree with you about 1 and 10, a bit weak, but loved the roughness of the bunkers around 6 - thought that was an intriguing touch

Yeah, I'd agree with you, but I'd say between your visit and mine, they'd been let slip from intriguingly rough, to nasty and unmaintained. To be fair, it is off-season and there has been a lot of rain so I'm sure there'll be a re-sand and a trim over the winter for next season, which is all that's required.

PhilipMarlowe

Played Bunclody yesterday for the first time and I was hugely impressed.
I was looking forward to playing it for a long time because I've only heard good things about it from anyone who has played there...
I agree that there are a couple of nondescript holes but there are loads of very memorable ones. The greens, the aprons around the greens... everything was peachy. The greens themselves 'looked' fast but in fact were quite slow. They were very true alright but I expected them to be much quicker.
Playing again there on Friday in a Mixed Foursomes match