Waterville v Ballybunion Which you prefer?

THEIRISHMOB

If you had 1 last round of golf to play.
Which of these two courses would you play and why?

Jul3s

Waterville, because it's better.

murphdogg11

It has to be Ballybunnion for me as it is without doubt the better of the 2 courses.

Jul3s

No Waterville is better!.

MaxPower89

Has to be Waterville for me, what a course(hometown bias but still).

Caddied it 100's of times and most Americans seem to perfer Waterville...could be just saying it of course..:pac:

chalkie 501

Waterville for me aswell,best greens ive ever played on

MaxPower89

Some fantastic holes at Waterville make it just that bit better.

The par 3's on the back(12th and 17th) are superb, as is the 11th(2nd shot just fits the eye), and the long 5th and 18th.

And of course the view from the back tees on the 17th on a nice summers day.

deko43

Played both a few times a couple of years back. They are both great but
I think Waterville is a more enjoyable course. The par 5 ( 11th I think)
called " Tranquility" is my favourite par 5 anywhere. Ballybunion is a little more quircky.

One of the reasons I would put Waterville ahead was the general atmosphere and the welcome. The folks in Waterville could'nt do enough for you while I found Ballybunion staff a bit upity .....

Also love the name of the first hole in Waterville. 400 yds plus with OB all down the right... its called "Last Easy" !!! Enjoy.

Matt Santos

Waterville is by far the superior course. It is "made" for golf. The views are stunning and if you are lucky to play it on a warm sunny day you actually look back on holes wondering when you will ever play them again!
Ballybunion is fine and a beautiful place to play also but it is a bit quirky and even though there is some stunning scenery the holes removed from that would be a little bland.
Waterville for me every day of the week and twice on a Sunday!:D

PhilipMarlowe

Have only ever played Waterville and it was one of the worst weather days I've ever played the game but I thought the place is so pure... magic. I can't wait to play it again sometime. Tranquility is my favourite par 5 that I have ever played.

Kevinmarkham

Some interesting answers... at least Matt Santos justifies why he thinks Waterville is better, although I disagree with his 'far the superior course' comment.

They're very different links courses and challenges, which makes it easy to prefer one over the other, but they're both brilliant in their own way. I can well believe that Americans prefer Waterville because it is the easier and gentler of the two... but that's not to say it is easy.

Waterville is so elegant, and it also has the better scenery. Each hole is picture-perfect and you get that buzz of happiness on every tee box.

Ballybunion requires greater patience and your punishment is far more severe (the par three 15th for example) if you miss even slightly. Big dunes mean climbing (back 9 especially) which means more tantalising shot-making. It has a genius back 9 and anything close to your handicap is a major victory.

Photos of Ballybunion (Old)
Photos of Waterville

My choice would be Ballybunion - I prefer the added challenge.

PhilipMarlowe

Great pictures of Waterville Kevin.
I remember taking a driver on the par 3 17th (front fringe) and a drive on 18th that the wind took half way to America... happy days.

THEIRISHMOB

looks like 8-2 in favour of Waterville so far.

nuts86

This is a tough one....

I played both these course's two years ago, Waterville first then Ballyb the day after...

Waterville.... We got a beautiful day with a testing breeze I remember walking off the course thinking "best course i ever played".. finished with 37 points and was delighted...

Ballybunion.... We got absolutely drenched for the first 9 and the back 9 was no sun holiday either but it was better, I walked off with 31 points and thinking to myself.... "best course i ever played"... Into the clubhouse we all went for grub and drinks and the discussion began on which was better,

It was funny even though the weather was poor and the score's weren't great people seemed to prefer ballyb, myself included... The back 9 in Ballybunion just won me over, i dont know will you ever get 3 better holes than the final 3 there

The day after we played Tralee and at the end of the three days the main debate was between Tralee and ballyb, I stuck with Ballybunion even though majority found Tralee to be their favourite.....

All in all you could do alot worse than either course for your last game of golf ever...

THEIRISHMOB

What about Dooks? not heard much about it but its there for over 100yrs

Jul3s

THEIRISHMOB wrote: »

What about Dooks? not heard much about it but its there for over 100yrs

What an odd question in a debate about two of the "greats".
How's the world cup coming on?

rednik

Waterville for me, it's the most magical place in the World. Great course and it is a true but fair test of golf. The changes made a few years ago have blended in so well. The amount of balls we hit into the pond at the old 7th.;)

Miley Byrne

MaxPower89 wrote: »

Has to be Waterville for me, what a course(hometown bias but still).

Caddied it 100's of times and most Americans seem to perfer Waterville...could be just saying it of course..:pac:

Sorry to go off topic but a friend of mine told me at the weekend that Waterville are having an Open Week this year some time in June. I played there about 4 years ago in an open singles but since then they seem to have an Invitational week as opposed to an "open" week. Could you shed any light on it MaxPower?

For what it's worth I've played Ballybunion 10 or 12 times but only played Waterville once & I reckon Waterville just shades it!

Doc Daneeka

denisoc, open week / invitation week is run over two weekends in Waterville from the Friday to Saturday. Weekend of the 10th to 12th and 17th to 19th of June.

mr.mickels

Waterville for me, our club used travel there every year when I used play golf back in the 90's. From my recollection most of the low handicap players prefered Waterville and the mid-handicappers prefered Ballybunion.

THEIRISHMOB

Waterville seems to be the most popular by a long way.

Hunter21

What kind of money is it to play Waterville?
On a normal weekday-
On a weekend-
And in an Open event-

Hope someone can answer it as I am very eager to play there

dog golf

its 50 euro for open week and between 75-120 during the week depending on your haggling ability:D:D

Hunter21

dog golf wrote: »

its 50 euro for open week and between 75-120 during the week depending on your haggling ability:D:D

Must get booking this open week, dont want to miss out on a piece of heaven as its said to be
Have played Ballybunion, it was in gale force winds and it was one of the most enjoyable days of my life. Fond memories

Jasonw

FYI JSC in Ballybunnion next sunday.

Hunter21

I sent an email to Waterville Golf Club yesterday, got a reply today.

I have been informed that they do not have open fixtures but have "Invitational days" some weekends in June

Miley Byrne

Hunter21 wrote: »

I sent an email to Waterville Golf Club yesterday, got a reply today.

I have been informed that they do not have open fixtures but have "Invitational days" some weekends in June

I'd say you missed the boat. I emailed them about 2 weeks ago inquiring about the open/invitational weekends. He got back to me with his mobile number to book in. There were only a handful of teetimes left though. Going out @ 4.30 on the 10th June.