Carton House

Dublin Spur

making my debut there tomorrow (O'Meara)

is it the better of the 2 courses ?

anything to be wary of ?

Cheers

not yet

Dublin Spur wrote: »

making my debut there tomorrow (O'Meara)

is it the better of the 2 courses ?

anything to be wary of ?

Cheers

No and No is the simple answer...

shabalala

O meara a way nicer course, the Monty is but a field with massive bunkers.

O meara has great variety and is much nicer place to be.

delboykelly

shabalala wrote: »

O meara a way nicer course, the Monty is but a field with massive bunkers.

O meara has great variety and is much nicer place to be.

Happened to play the O meara yesterday. Played both courses twice now. O Meara is better. Get a yardage book cause the GPS watch won't work there. I used a yardage book and Laser.
The course was in poor condition in my opinion. The balls were plugging and picking up a lot of mud if you missed the fairway. The greens showed a lot of old pitch marks and plenty were not repaired. Still could get a good roll on the ball but they looked poor. None of the bunkers had been raked in a while, Prob a week or two.

Dissapointed with the presentation of the course, expected more from Carton.

Let me know if you think same after you play it.

If you get a yardage book you won't have a problem knowing where to hit. Most holes there are standard.

I had 37 points off 13hcp, had 1 scratch on the 18th, I got blocked by the tree on the right side for my approach shot. Left a sour taste in the mouth.

Enjoy

slave1

GolfGraffix have a fee App for the course, check it out before you head out

TrapperChamonix

shabalala wrote: »

O meara a way nicer course, the Monty is but a field with massive bunkers.

O meara has great variety and is much nicer place to be.

Even Monty himself admits that he made a horses ass of Carton.

FixdePitchmark

TrapperChamonix wrote: »

Even Monty himself admits that he made a horses ass of Carton.

Held the Irish Open there all the same.

newport2

TrapperChamonix wrote: »

Even Monty himself admits that he made a horses ass of Carton.

I can't agree with Monty on anything! I like the course. Where/when did he admit that?

TrapperChamonix

newport2 wrote: »

I can't agree with Monty on anything! I like the course. Where/when did he admit that?

Fair enough. I expected to be called out and you're right he didn't really admit to anything like that. It was light hearted banter .

Monty arrived on the driving range and started slagging Walton in a high pitched voice. Walton responded with a quote to the effect "hows that balls up of yours in Carton" and Monty replied " fair call, it is isn't it".

All in jest but as it aligns to my views, I'm happy to mis quote to support my own twisted logic.

TrapperChamonix

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Held the Irish Open there all the same.

From Sports Illustrated in 2005

Scott Coan:
(from SI.COM)

MAYNOOTH, Ireland (AP) -- Padraig Harrington and Jose Maria Olazabal have returned to the European Tour from the U.S. this week -- just in time to tackle one of the toughest courses they may have ever seen.

Newly designed by Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, Carton House is likely to spark despair in the Irish Open field this week. So narrow are the fairways and so deep the bunkers, the 7,300-yard layout west of Dublin resembles a lunar landscape.

There are 139 bunkers allied to narrow landing areas that Harrington believes are unmatched globally.

Asked if they were the narrowest fairways in Europe, he replied: "Yes -- and you can add the word 'world' to that."

Harrington, who won the Honda Classic in Florida in March, said: "These fairways are at least 50 percent narrower that anything you would see in the States."

Olazabal said the fairway at the second was just 16 yards wide.

By way of comparison, Harrington pointed out that the toughest hole in the U.S., the 18th at Sawgrass, is about 30 yards wide.

"This is extreme to say the least," he said. "I would say I've never seen a golf course as severe off the tee. There are doglegs and cross winds, a lot of bunkers and you can't reach the greens."

shabalala

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Held the Irish Open there all the same.

And the pros completely hated it, really affected the open after with trying to get players to play. Miserable place unless its a nice day.

DiegoWorst

O'Meara has come along nicely in the last few years. I actually much preferred the Monty course originally, but O'Meara has grown on me.
I find the greens are much better on Monty - at least I can hole putts over there.

O'Meara is all in front of you, a few tough and lengthy holes, not many hidden surprises, unlike its counterpart. But it is manageable, and will offer up some birdie opportunities.

FixdePitchmark

shabalala wrote: »

And the pros completely hated it, really affected the open after with trying to get players to play. Miserable place unless its a nice day.

Look I'm not a fan of it being played there as a course. Any quotes on how it was hated ?

But - it was held there in 2013 - won by a high profile golfer and had excellent attendance, very very good viewing locations. Great parking access and near motorway.

The facilities and logisitcs are very high up there for an event.

It should be on a links - but most links, are not great to watch golf or to get to.

fullstop

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Held the Irish Open there all the same.

That means nothing really. They would have declared their interest, there may or may not have been other courses that did the same and if there were it would have come down to money and willingness to set the place up as the tour wanted. I was at it the last time it was there and thought it was really poor place to watch a tournament. O'Meara the better course IMO.

neckedit

Played both Monty and O Meara, about 10/12 times each.....good buddy is a member there....When he calls I always hope he's gonna say O Meara..... Monty Course is dull and tedious in my opinion. A real ego driven course. I feel the O Meara is more playable and enjoyable.

BigChap1759

Have to disagree with the majority here - the O'Meara is just a big standard Americam style parkland, pretty dull. The monty involves a lot more thought to how you play the holes, especially off the tee - and what is an ego driven course??

Some anti Monty bias colouring a few views here methinks;)

Barnaboy

Personally prefer the Monty but 14, 15 and 16 on the O'Meara are pretty special. Like both courses to be honest.

redzerdrog

Never played the o meara so can't compare but I have played the Monty a couple of times and loved the place.

FixdePitchmark

I played Monty once and liked it.

I'd rather play a real links - but as some of these inland links go - I enjoyed playing it.
It is different. Even has some fine trees, water and great variety of shape and slight undulations .

Greens exceptional and condition of fairways very good.

I'd say many people don't like it, as it is, very very hard. Bunkers unbelievable and deep.

Back to original point.
Regards, to access,
Hotel,
facilities,
GUI academy,
Two courses,
Course condition and variety,
Challenge,

I don't think it is a great spectacle of Irish golf -but it is hard to debate the positive aspects of the golf complex. I don't think there are too many places at the same level in the country.

K- Club maybe.
Fota maybe
Druids glen

whizbang

K- Club maybe.
Fota maybe
Druids glen

No, No and No. Unfortunate they are on the same planet, never mind the same country.

The only other 2 course club that comes to mind is Headfort. If I played 50 days straight I would still spend 49 of them in Headfort.

FixdePitchmark

whizbang wrote: »

No, No and No. Unfortunate they are on the same planet, never mind the same country.

The only other 2 course club that comes to mind is Headfort. If I played 50 days straight I would still spend 49 of them in Headfort.

Don't know about that. But yes subjective.

The majority out there, would take a weekend away in 2 of them and 2 rounds.

serious options there.

Druids glen / resort a great set up.

whizbang

Cant think why I missed Druids, a long drive from my house would make the 5th fairway.

neckedit

BigChap1759 wrote:

Some anti Monty bias colouring a few views here methinks

no Big Fan of Monty as a player..not so much as a designer....that been said only played one of his designs. ....
By Ego Driven I mean alot of people feel a course needs to be long and designed for Tounament Play to be a great golf course, just an opinion, not selling any facts.

FixdePitchmark

Would agree, that no one should play outside the greens at monty

http://www.cartonhousegolf.com/files/hotel/downloads/Montgomerie-Score-Card_2.pdf

But the greens are very reasonable.

neckedit

neckedit wrote:

no Big Fan of Monty as a player..not so much as a designer....that been said only played one of his designs. .... By Ego Driven I mean alot of people feel a course needs to be long and designed for Tounament Play to be a great golf course, just an opinion, not selling any facts.

I should have put a coma after "No"....... I have always liked Monty as a player.

newport2

whizbang wrote: »

No, No and No. Unfortunate they are on the same planet, never mind the same country.

The only other 2 course club that comes to mind is Headfort. If I played 50 days straight I would still spend 49 of them in Headfort.

+1 Headfort is great.

Powerscourt too

BigChap1759

neckedit wrote: »

no Big Fan of Monty as a player..not so much as a designer....that been said only played one of his designs. ....
By Ego Driven I mean alot of people feel a course needs to be long and designed for Tounament Play to be a great golf course, just an opinion, not selling any facts.

I guess that depends on the brief he was given when he was pickd to design the course surely??

The owners must have wanted a course capable of hosting big events like the Irish open and these types of courses need to be of a certain length and standard