antrim/down courses

samdeman

any good value to be had in these counties in next few weeks? what are the best courses in these counties?

dwayned

Hi samdeman,

I have just recently got back into golf after a break of about 7/8 years and have just joined a society.

I have only played Blackwood http://www.blackwoodgolfcentre.com/ in Bangor so far which was a nice challenging course and in very good condition when I played there last Thursday. They have 2 courses (Hamilton & Temple) the latter of which is a Par 3 course.

I am playing Carnalea http://carnaleagolfclub.com/index.php Golf Club (again just outside Bangor) on Sunday which I am looking forward to as it is right on the coast and has nice views over Belfast Lough.

A couple of the other courses in the area that I would like to get around to playing are:
Spa, Ballynahinch - http://www.spagolfclub.net/
Scrabo, Newtownards - http://www.scrabo-golf-club.org
Balmoral, Belfast - http://www.balmoralgolf.com/

I am not too sure on special offers but all look like good value

dwayne

redhill

samdeman wrote: »

any good value to be had in these counties in next few weeks? what are the best courses in these counties?

good courses? Antrim and Down span quite a large area, for a start u have got the 2 giants Royal Co. Down and Royal Portrush, the fantastic Portstewart only 3 miles from Portrush(though technically in another county), other good links courses include Ardglass and the Valley course at Portrush.

For parkland the top ones are Belvoir Park and Malone in Belfast, Lisburn, Clandeboye,Galgorm Castle, Shandon Park, Knock, Rockmount, Dunmurry.

Apart from the top notch ones you can get good deals all around, check their websites,despite their published rates if you go onto their online booking some have 2 for 1 deals etc... we played the Valley Portrush for £35 including a meal last week, and recently Ardglass for £28, Belvoir for £32, Galgorm £25 (with a fry ), all these courses are ranked in Irelands top 100.

veetwin

Also Ballycastle is a great links course up near Portrush and Portstewart. I played it in an open recently for £12. Great views of the North Antrim coast esp on the back nine.

SM746

samdeman wrote: »

any good value to be had in these counties in next few weeks? what are the best courses in these counties?

As someone said above try the Valley links at Portrush. Excellent course I must say. Never played the Dunluce or Royal County Down but they are meant to be on a different level to what else is on this island

SM746

Bumping an old thread here to save me starting a new one. Playing Royal County Down next Thursday. The fulfillment of a long held ambition and please god the weather is half way decent. Just wondering if anyone has played it and if so any tips? Anything at all will be appreciated as we are absolutely clueless between the three of us on what to expect

stockdam

SM746 wrote: »

Bumping an old thread here to save me starting a new one. Playing Royal County Down next Thursday. The fulfillment of a long held ambition and please god the weather is half way decent. Just wondering if anyone has played it and if so any tips? Anything at all will be appreciated as we are absolutely clueless between the three of us on what to expect

Yes I've played it but I don't know if I can give you any tips. Keep the ball on the fairway; look for the safe side of the green that gives you the easiest chip on if you miss.....????

It depends a lot on the wind but there's nothing magical that will help. I'd spend 15 minutes on the putting green just to get used to the pace of the greens.

But most of all just enjoy it.

SM746

stockdam wrote: »

Yes I've played it but I don't know if I can give you any tips. Keep the ball on the fairway; look for the safe side of the green that gives you the easiest chip on if you miss.....????

It depends a lot on the wind but there's nothing magical that will help. I'd spend 15 minutes on the putting green just to get used to the pace of the greens.

But most of all just enjoy it.

I certainly plan to. I just hope we get a nice enough day and not a typical Irish one! We are out early enough in the morning so will have to get there extra early to get 20mins or so on the putting green. Not hitting enough greens on my last 4/5 rounds so I could imagine I will have a tough morning!

mike12

Lots of blind shots and the stone markers are for lines off the tee from the back tees so adjust for that. Great course enjoy.

mcdermott

Mount Ober in Belfast. Well kept course and on a Monday they do a round for £10 (August and September)

thewobbler

McDermott, I'd suggest that Mount Ober wouldn't be value for money if they paid you to play it.

There's something like 95 courses in the North (most of them in Antrim and Down), and I'd harbour as guess that 85 of them are better.

mcdermott

How many of those 85 can you play a full round for a tenner?

thewobbler

It's about value, not price McDermott.

Take an Open Fairways card with you, or have a look online for special offers, and you'll play most parklands in NI for £20 or less midweek. You'll even get nearly all the better ones for £30 or less.

stockdam

mcdermott wrote: »

Mount Ober in Belfast. Well kept course and on a Monday they do a round for £10 (August and September)

If you can't afford anything else then it's ok but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It's not my idea of fun playing it.

mcdermott

stockdam wrote: »

If you can't afford anything else then it's ok but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It's not my idea of fun playing it.

Why not?

Jaysoose

I have recently played Downpatrick and can say its one of the best kept i have ever played on, greens are superb and its quite a mature course. £20 blippers for 18 holes would reccomend it to anybody.

ThunderCat

SM746 wrote: »

Bumping an old thread here to save me starting a new one. Playing Royal County Down next Thursday. The fulfillment of a long held ambition and please god the weather is half way decent. Just wondering if anyone has played it and if so any tips? Anything at all will be appreciated as we are absolutely clueless between the three of us on what to expect

Greatest course I've ever played or ever will play. Nomatter what you play like you will have a fantastic time and will remember it forever. There are a few blind tee shots and approaches so get a strokesaver but the genius of the place is the fact that any approaches that appear blind are only blind because you are not in the correct position in the fairway (holes 2 and 3 spring to mind). Great advice that someone already gave about the stone markers.
It doesnt matter how much you have hyped the place up in your head, you'll still be blown away. I defy you to stand on the hill at number 9 and tell me there isnt any where else on earth you would rather be.
Have a great time - it's impossible not to.

SM746

Just to give an update on Royal County Down and I hope I do not get lynched for this post

The best word I would use to describe the round is interesting! I did not find the round very enjoyable but there is numerous reasons for this that I hope I will change on my 2nd visit.
I found the course difficult today. Simple as. I drove horrendously and hit 4/5 fairways which ruined any enjoyment for me. We all played the front tees (chickens I know) but I am now happy I did as I could have ended up having to walk back to the car / leave the course if we had played harder tees. I had 18 balls in my bag and returned with 7 which has to be a new record for me and would have surely increased from tougher tees. And it is not as if I have been playing bad golf recently as I have not hit under 28 points (i think) this summer on my home course, an extremely tough links course.

As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, the 9th was absolutely amazing, as was the 1st, 4th, 11th, 18th and a few others that I could mention. Its just hard to get maximum enjoyment out of them, especially the 1st when I hit the type of drive that continued all day.

To sum it up I think its a very hard course although I have no doubt that many higher handicappers have played the course and done much better than I did today. That said, my playing partners loved the place and played very good golf hitting in the low 30s.

I really need a look at the course again as I will now have a better idea of what to expect so we booked again for the end of October. That trip I hope to change my perceptions of the course as I never fathomed that I would walk away without saying this place was the best course I have ever played.

Next time a big improvement needed in driving, distance control (thinking back probably the worst part of the day) and hitting greens. The only good thing was the putting so cheers to the lad who said to spend 20 mins on the putting green as that actually helped. A caddy would have been a smart investment and that will happen next time. So hopefully I can change it around and not take the frustration out on the course for my awful golf.

thewobbler

I played Lisburn last week and it was an absolute treat. An immaculate and interesting course.