Westport Open Week

Kevinmarkham

From Saturday 30th July to Sunday 7th August.

€20 entry. A great course... the best 15th hole in Ireland... and the best scone in the history of scones!

http://www.westportgolfclub.com/

ThunderCat

Kevinmarkham wrote: »

A great course... the best 15th hole in Ireland...

Bold statement Kevo - 15th at the Island would get my vote. Westport is a fine course though.:)

deko43

Very bold statement. My Ma's scones have been fed to US presidents...

Kevinmarkham

ThunderCat wrote: »

Bold statement Kevo - 15th at the Island would get my vote. Westport is a fine course though.:)

Um yea, and it didn't get onto my 'back-up' list which is definitely wrong. A class hole - as are 13 and 14!

The Island 15th

Kevinmarkham

deko43 wrote: »

Very bold statement. My Ma's scones have been fed to US presidents...

I'll be sending you my address so - a box-full would be nice!

The_Architect

15th at Westport is an excellent hole but could be better.

My top five 15th holes:

The Island
Portmarnock
Ballybunion
Carne
Enniscrone

twounderpar

Had a look at the Westport Open Week.There are 8 singles stableford competitions and 1 mixed foursomes. No 4ball or team events. Strange format for an open week.

zztop

Picturesque....yes, driving over sea and ending up under Croagh Partick.
After a few times it loses its appeal.

Dr_Colossus

twounderpar wrote: »

Had a look at the Westport Open Week.There are 8 singles stableford competitions and 1 mixed foursomes. No 4ball or team events. Strange format for an open week.

That's a good format I think, most people prefer to play single competitions. They facilitate handicap adjustments both up and down and allow individuals to put their name down on the time sheet with random golfers and play their own game. Can't understand why you'd want foursomes or mixed foursomes in an open week though, you only play half a game. Four balls can be good fun but require more organisation in terms of arranging a playing partner and play is limited to groups going out in 4s

Galway Golf Club open week begins Mon and play each day is singles apart from the last day which is a fourball I think.

G1032

Kevinmarkham wrote: »

From Saturday 30th July to Sunday 7th August.

€20 entry. A great course... the best 15th hole in Ireland... and the best scone in the history of scones!

http://www.westportgolfclub.com/

Don't know if it can be classed as a great course since first 5 holes are all very weak holes.
It's too much of a block of weak holes IMO.

From the 6th on it's a fantastic course, but them first 5 holes are just pathetic.

Far too much made of Westport IMO. There are better courses in Mayo.

ThunderCat

The_Architect wrote: »

15th at Westport is an excellent hole but could be better.

My top five 15th holes:

The Island
Portmarnock
Ballybunion
Carne
Enniscrone

Excellent par 4. Must be down the right hand side of the fairway to get any sort of a look at the green. Find the left side of the fairway or left rough and you are blocked out by the mound fronting the green and par is only a dream. Part of a great stretch of holes on a great course. Pity about the caravans behind the 17th. Spoils it a bit I rekon.

Kevinmarkham

G1032 wrote: »

Don't know if it can be classed as a great course since first 5 holes are all very weak holes.
It's too much of a block of weak holes IMO.

From the 6th on it's a fantastic course, but them first 5 holes are just pathetic.

Far too much made of Westport IMO. There are better courses in Mayo.

I don't disagree - the opening holes are very standard fare, but once you hit the 7th it's great. And, personally, I'd prefer it that way round than ending with weak holes - as is the case at Portstewart.

Kevinmarkham

ThunderCat wrote: »

Excellent par 4. Must be down the right hand side of the fairway to get any sort of a look at the green. Find the left side of the fairway or left rough and you are blocked out by the mound fronting the green and par is only a dream. Part of a great stretch of holes on a great course. Pity about the caravans behind the 17th. Spoils it a bit I rekon.

It's Index 1 for a reason, that's for sure, with the green tucked away into the left.
Tee shot
Approach

The_Architect

G1032 wrote: »

Don't know if it can be classed as a great course since first 5 holes are all very weak holes.
It's too much of a block of weak holes IMO.

From the 6th on it's a fantastic course, but them first 5 holes are just pathetic.

Far too much made of Westport IMO. There are better courses in Mayo.

2nd hole is a little cracker. First is weak. Three, four and five are just OK.

Sandwlch

Wesport is a good course certainly, but no way a great one, and is over rated for some bizarre reason.

The early holes are weak as agreed, the 3rd especially is a complete non-event (the 2nd could be good but its dimension are wrong: correct tee position for the drive makes the 2nd shot too short, correct tee for a good length second shot means a badly designed landing area).

But the weakest aspect of the course is the 'spinney', used on it throughout and it spoils it - an old fashioned element that was never a great idea and characteristic of 'basic' featureless course design once upon a time. Even the 15th, which is a good hole nonetheless has them along its right hand side. The Westport terrain is fundamentally too good that it shouldnt be spoilt by such a low grade element. Many holes are also a bit too wide open for the drive : and some corrective attempts at this only made matters worse like the false out of bounds on both sides of the 7th.

The_Architect

Sandwlch wrote: »

Wesport is a good course certainly, but no way a great one, and is over rated for some bizarre reason.

The early holes are weak as agreed, the 3rd especially is a complete non-event (the 2nd could be good but its dimension are wrong: correct tee position for the drive makes the 2nd shot too short, correct tee for a good length second shot means a badly designed landing area).

But the weakest aspect of the course is the 'spinney', used on it throughout and it spoils it - an old fashioned element that was never a great idea and characteristic of 'basic' featureless course design once upon a time. Even the 15th, which is a good hole nonetheless has them along its right hand side. The Westport terrain is fundamentally too good that it shouldnt be spoilt by such a low grade element. Many holes are also a bit too wide open for the drive : and some corrective attempts at this only made matters worse like the false out of bounds on both sides of the 7th.

Re- The 2nd, I presume by "badly designed landing area", you mean one that isn't flat and receptive. I would take the opposite view. The tee moved back would improve the hole in one area only i.e. bringing that dip back in to play for the tee-shot.

The green is designed for a short approach and a good green design it is - perhaps the best on the course. The main weakness for the hole is that running out on the tee-shot actually gives you a better angle. This could be easily rectified.

The first 6 would work better without the stands of trees, a little different bunkering and some long native grasses.

The 15th would work better with better bunkering on the tee-shot and more penalty for bailing out right on the 2nd shot.