Recommend a Course

galwayllm

As the title suggests recommend a course you played that you think is worth playing.

I'll start;

Ballykisteen.

It's on the Limerick/Tipp border, €25 a round.

Played here last week and really enjoyed it. Water and blind shots to contend with.


PS. I'm don't think I'm good enough to rate a course out of ten.

callaway92

I'm from Cahir and play Ballykisteen a lot - Absolutely love it.

If we are talking about 'affordable' courses that exceed value, then that's a great shout.

Tipperary Golf Club (Tipp Town) is a good course too.

davegilly

Headfort New. Fabulous course. Up there with the top parklands in Ireland. Have an Open on Tuesdays for €25.

Benicetomonty

I can be quite critical of my own track at times but I have to say the greens in Lucan GC are absolutely immaculate at the moment. Well worth a visit if you want to see what 11 or 12 on the stimp plays like!

FixdePitchmark

I went through a few years of playing as many courses as possible .

The best approach I found was using Kevin Markham's Hooked.

If I was in a random county like Waterford I'd look up the book for the area and look at marks.

You'd get to a level where from marks you'd know what you were facing then price them up. I think I used to look for about 80 pts up.

If you want to play a course below that . That's fine once you know what to expect. It's a golf ball and a field. Still golf.
Some of the course below 80 we're good too . Below 70 a lower level.

To be honest was never sent wrong with this method and played courses I never even knew about.

In Ireland your always within 20 to 30 minutes off very good golf.

The top 100 courses are all well and good but there is excellent golf even above that.

There is a serious amount of golf to be played in the likes of Wicklow , Waterford, Laois, Tipperary , Kildare , Meath even little Carlow , louth .

It's incredible.

There is incredible golf out there outside the Marquee courses. And the top places have gone totally daft and a bit Americanized.

So not a plug . Just my own experience.

The going rate is probably higher now . The days of 20 quid are probably gone and rightly so in a way.

thewobbler

I’d agree with Fixd almost word for word.

Courses that came as a pleasant surprise to me, ie where preconceived expectations were more than exceeded: Massereene, Coollattiin, Strandhill, Mannan Castle, Luttelstown, the Island, Murvagh, Slieve Russell, Lisburn, Killeen Castle

Those that didn’t live up to expectations: Galgorm Castle, Druids Heath, Hollywood Lakes, Co Louth, Corballlis, Mount Wolsey.

tayto lover

Greenore, Co. Louth. Lovely course. Open competition every Tuesday 20 euro for visitors. Lovely views too.

plumber77

Portumna has to be up there for quality and value

galwayllm

plumber77 wrote: »

Portumna has to be up there for quality and value

I've never played here, but it's been said to me many time about how good it is...

slave1

Value for money courses that exceed.....any amounts of them, Beech Park, Portumna, Nenagh, Coollattin, Tullamore, Strandhill, Esker Hills, CastleWarden, North West, Macreddin

BoardsMember

+1 for Strandhill, super course.

Mantis Toboggan

Strandhill definitely my favourite course. Need to play it more. Dundrum in Tipp is great value as is Ballinrobe. Shout out to my own club Craddockstown which has improved a lot this year.

kieran.

Carlow GC, Slieve Russell

TitianGerm

I really enjoyed Tramore when I played it around 5 years ago. Keep meaning to go back.

Others I really like are McCreddin, Rathsallagh and Woodenbridge.

Enniscorthy is a nice course as well (during the summer as it holds water) and can be played for reasonable money.

BoardsMember

kieran. wrote: »

Carlow GC, Slieve Russell

Both really good.

I like Woodenbridge too, more for the surrounding countryside than the course itself.

Tralee is the most stunning course I have played from a scenery perspective.

frink

Rosslare, great links course and has an open fairly regularly

DuckSlice

Castlebar Golf Course, 5 new holes are in play and they are really nice. Very underrated parkland imo.

Hitch2222

I thought this thread might be able to help me out opposed to starting a new one.

I'm interested in joining a club in the Waterford area. I'm very close to Tramore but I have heard good things about Faithlegg, Waterford Castle and Waterford Golf Club.

I'm curious as a new member with little connection to the area where someone would recommend?

Tramore would be the most convenient but as a new member, other factors could trump that such as integration of new members etc?

Any thoughts?

billy3sheets

Hitch2222 wrote: »

other factors could TRUMP that...
Any thoughts?

OK. Are you Keith Barry?

Dero123

Gowran Park is very underrated also a big fan of Macreddin and Bunclody

Drifter50

Where not to go and defo not value for money..........

Farnham Estate outside Cavan Town

Although the site says €50 I ended up paying €45 and still about twice too much.

Very average course, the 1st and the 18th were up to the mark, everything else...........Mmm

mulranny and/or carne in west mayo for links

Euphoriasean

etxp wrote: »

Castlebar Golf Course, 5 new holes are in play and they are really nice. Very underrated parkland imo.

How does it compare to Ballinrobe? Played Ballinrobe a couple of time and thought it was a great track. Might try to get a round in Sat before the match.

fearruanua

galwayllm wrote: »

I've never played here, but it's been said to me many time about how good it is...

Its open week there next week. Beautiful course. €20
17th probably up there with the best holes in Ireland.

slave1

Hitch2222 wrote: »

I thought this thread might be able to help me out opposed to starting a new one.

I'm interested in joining a club in the Waterford area. I'm very close to Tramore but I have heard good things about Faithlegg, Waterford Castle and Waterford Golf Club.

I'm curious as a new member with little connection to the area where someone would recommend?

Tramore would be the most convenient but as a new member, other factors could trump that such as integration of new members etc?

Any thoughts?

Tramore is a super course and generally rated above the other three, if you joined Waterford Castle you'll have to flaff around getting a ferry every time, think it's a fiver a go

spacecoyote

slave1 wrote: »

Tramore is a super course and generally rated above the other three, if you joined Waterford Castle you'll have to flaff around getting a ferry every time, think it's a fiver a go

Also, Faithlegg could probably be classed as a resort course, so I'd speculate that you might have to do a bit of competing with hotel guests for tee times. I'm not 100% on that though, its a bit of an assumption.

Played the course once & it was a nice trek

blackwhite

slave1 wrote: »

Tramore is a super course and generally rated above the other three, if you joined Waterford Castle you'll have to flaff around getting a ferry every time, think it's a fiver a go

There's no charge on the ferry.

If you book a room in the hotel they add €5 to your bill for "Ferry Costs", but there's no cost per trip (and no charge if you aren't a hotel guest )

EDIT - they actually call it an "island and resort fee" - hotel guests only

JohnnyFlash

plumber77 wrote: »

Portumna has to be up there for quality and value

It’s an absolute gem. Won’t trouble the low handicapper too much, but the surroundings and some of the holes are fantastic. Great feed in the clubhouse bar afterwards as well

ChippingSodbury

Euphoriasean wrote: »

How does it compare to Ballinrobe? Played Ballinrobe a couple of time and thought it was a great track. Might try to get a round in Sat before the match.

Ballinrobe is excellent. It's hard to find fault with it. I don't like the 2nd to 18th hole. It's a bit mental where the tree is but having said that, there is a corridor of about 5m between semi/ fairway where you can land your drive and get on in 2. Also, the tier on the green on 15th is waaaaaaaay too severe but I'm nitpicking. If you don't finish with a smile on your face, don't blame the course!!

blackwhite

ChippingSodbury wrote: »

Ballinrobe is excellent. It's hard to find fault with it. I don't like the 2nd to 18th hole. It's a bit mental where the tree is but having said that, there is a corridor of about 5m between semi/ fairway where you can land your drive and get on in 2. Also, the tier on the green on 15th is waaaaaaaay too severe but I'm nitpicking. If you don't finish with a smile on your face, don't blame the course!!

TBF it's a par 5 - if that ash wasn't there then the 18th would most like be a long par 4.
That said, the tree is far enough back from the green that even with a 4/5 iron in your hand you should be able to go over it and still be on the back of the green (or else a power fade with a 3 wood around it! )

ChippingSodbury

blackwhite wrote: »

TBF it's a par 5 - if that ash wasn't there then the 18th would most like be a long par 4.
That said, the tree is far enough back from the green that even with a 4/5 iron in your hand you should be able to go over it and still be on the back of the green (or else a power fade with a 3 wood around it! )

Or in the bar!!! I still think it ruins the hole. It's a great tee shot from the back tees and might be better served as a par 4. We're nitpicking though. I wouldn't let it put me off the overall enjoyment of the course.

Mayomairt

Carne Links (Belmullet) is superb.

tayto lover

Mayomairt wrote: »

Carne Links (Belmullet) is superb.

An awful long trek to get there unfortunately.

JCDUB

Enniscrone has to get a mention.
Also Strandhill, a little beaut.
Agree with Ballinrobe, a great course, apart from the flies in summer!
Carne is great too, awesome setting but, as mentioned, a trip to the moon and back to get there.
Headfort too, two awesome courses with different parkland challenges.

tayto lover

I played Mullingar a few times and enjoyed it.
It’s always memorable though when you play well on a particular course.

DuckSlice

Euphoriasean wrote: »

How does it compare to Ballinrobe? Played Ballinrobe a couple of time and thought it was a great track. Might try to get a round in Sat before the match.

Sorry only seeing this now, I think ballinrobe is probably better than it still but castlebar has certainly closed the gap with the new holes. Will be interesting to see when it’s fully complete what it will be like.

mike12

Ballinrobe, Strandhill, Enniscrone and Carne are 4 excellent courses in the lesser known bracket.
Nairn and portnoo, Portsalon are super little links as well.

Struggling to think of many parkland maybe Bradford new

Ronney

tayto lover wrote: »

An awful long trek to get there unfortunately.

Think the roads just make it feel longer!

From Dublin its about the same Journey as Conemmara, Rosepenna or Ballylifin and is probably 45 mins closer than Waterville

DuckSlice

it really depends where you are coming from for Carne. If travelling to carne, I would take in enniscrone in the same day or the day after.
Its only an hour from me so I usually play it 4/5 times a year. love it.

ronnie3585

Another vote for Carne. I absolutely love playing it, the back 9 of the old course and new 9 are spectacular. Always worth the trip.

Galway Bay GC is an excellent track. Parkland but with a linksy feel, particularly the back 9.

galwayllm

I may have to make a trip to Carne!

What's green fees like up there?

DuckSlice

galwayllm wrote: »

I may have to make a trip to Carne!

What's green fees like up there?

I think the GUI is about 50/60 this time of year.

mike12

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Another vote for Carne. I absolutely love playing it, the back 9 of the old course and new 9 are spectacular. Always worth the trip.

Galway Bay GC is an excellent track. Parkland but with a linksy feel, particularly the back 9.

Are the new 9 fully in play?
Hoping to get out there next month.

techdiver

New Forest is in unbelievable condition at the moment. Just hosted the Irish Boys Amateur Open Championship last week.

Open every Friday for €25 or casual round for €35 (€20 with a member) any other time.

Junior Scratch Cup this weekend €30 entrance fee.

Skyfloater

I hadn't played here in over ten years,and have to admit I wasn't expecting much after it's change from the South County to the cheap end of the pay and play market. But, while the first impressions of the state of the clubhouse were are not great, the condition of the course was excellent considering the shoestring budget they must be on.
I paid the princely sum of €20 to play there, which is one of the golfing bargains of the year. This was a place that used to (just) get onto top 100 lists, and it's good to see that the greens keepers have not let their standards slip.

Mushy

Narin & Portnoo is well worth a visit. New tee boxes and some new greens so when saw it on Sunday it looked spectacular, more overlooking the beach (The best in Ireland imo). Can't wait to get back out there

thewobbler

Mushy wrote: »

Narin & Portnoo is well worth a visit. New tee boxes and some new greens so when saw it on Sunday it looked spectacular, more overlooking the beach (The best in Ireland imo). Can't wait to get back out there

Apart from a nondescript opener and an appalling par 3 towards the end, I thought Narin was a pure joy.

Mushy

thewobbler wrote: »

Apart from a nondescript opener and an appalling par 3 towards the end, I thought Narin was a pure joy.

Yeah first has changed, think green is to the left now, unsure in New features. Think it's 2/3 or 3/4 combined to one hole to make a new one elsewhere. Hopefully more of a joy next time out!

PARlance

I would go back just to stand on the 8th again.

Irish94

In the midlands the weekend after next, any good courses around that would be quiet enough to get a round in? I played Moate a few years back. What is it like now does anyone know? Or Athlone or Glasson?

JaimeLannister

Another shout for Castlebar from me. The new holes are excellent (with more to come i think?)

https://twitter.com/DARGolf_/status/1137079702554914816

And the greens are always in excellent nick anytime i've played there