3/4 standout courses to play this year

MorganIRL

Hi guys, looking for suggestions for venues to play within Ireland (pandemic permitting). I'm a 18 HC, but I believe I'm lower I just haven't had opportunity to play to get lower. But I would like to play some courses that are marquee venues within my abilities. Im a member of Enniscrone GC, and have played most around Mayo & Sligo. So looking further a field. Lahinch and Portmarnock are on it. All thoughts welcome. TIA

FixdePitchmark

Over this side of Ireland

Druids glen
The Island
Baltray

European as well but too bard.

Louis Friend

I’d say the three best are Portmarnock, Royal County Down, and Royal Portrush. If you want to throw a parkland into the mix, I think Mount Juliet is the best in the country. And for scenery and overall experience, it’s hard to beat the Old Head.

MorganIRL

Not tied to any type, Lough Erne appeals to me prob cause of distance.. I'd say cost of a rd on the big courses will probably deter me unless I can get an offer..

thewobbler

Head to Donegal. Rosapenna x 2 (soon to be 3), Portsalon, Narin, Ballyliffin x 2 and Murvagh.

Trust me you’ve no need to go any further.

MorganIRL

thewobbler wrote: »

Head to Donegal. Rosapenna x 2 (soon to be 3), Portsalon, Narin, Ballyliffin x 2 and Murvagh.

Trust me you’ve no need to go any further.

That wud be an idea.. I'd have 1 mate that wud defo go, and wud ye believe it's golf we only wanna play, not interested in a big piss up away from the wives..

bailey99

In terms of prices:

Mount wolseley
Macreddin
Esker Hills
Tulfarris
Bunclody
Druids heath (I thought it was super last year)
Connemara
Carne
Knightsbrook
Dooks

slave1

Don’t ignore the highly underrated Slieve Russell, the front 9 are sublime.
Concra Woods close by but don’t touch it at this time of the year as too wet.
Personally though I’d go straight North to Donegal, all great courses...

faffingaround

If you're in the west get down to Portumna GC! Green fees are more than reasonable too!

Arnold54321

slave1 wrote: »

Don’t ignore the highly underrated Slieve Russell, the front 9 are sublime.
Concra Woods close by but don’t touch it at this time of the year as too wet.
Personally though I’d go straight North to Donegal, all great courses...

Slieve Russell probably the most underrated parkland in Ireland. Played Mount Juliet in the summer and honestly would rate SR above it. Much better setting and better maintained. MT had grass cuttings on fairways which I couldn’t get over while isn’t manicured to the level you would expect a top 5 parkland to be.
Honourable mention to Headfort New. It does get very wet and wouldn’t be maintained to the same degree as SR but an unbelievable layout and extremely challenging.

Links wise undoubtedly the most underrated that few mention is County Sligo/Rosses Point. Head and shoulders above Strandhill and I rate better and more playable than Enniscrone. However it doesn’t get any better than Rosses Point, Strandhill & Enniscrone over three days.

Would rate County Sligo over the likes of Royal Dublin and Murvagh. Best in the West by a country mile.

Louis Friend

They’re good alright, but the OP seems to be based in Sligo, plays those courses all the time, and is specifically looking to play other courses!

Arnold54321

Louis Friend wrote: »

They’re good alright, but the OP seems to be based in Sligo, plays those courses all the time, and is specifically looking to play other courses!

Apologies, I only read the recent message and was referring to underrated courses.

Slieve Russell (regularly hold opens for €35-40)
Druids Glen (€55 & €60 on Monday & Tuesday opens)
Baltray but will cost around €100 in an open.
North Donegal you’ve got any amount as in Ballyliffin x 2, Rosapenna x 2. I’ve heard great things about the new layout down the road at Nairn & Portnoo.

Lough Erne is a good shout and a very tough test.

Another idea could be to base yourself in the South East for a few days and play Arklow, Carlow, Bunclody & Rosslare. Nice options and again some of these are highly underrated.

MorganIRL

Alot of good suggestions, I think I'm gonna look into Donegal, and try and include Lough Erne. I'm in Mayo and a member of Enniscrone, so I've played most in Sligo also.

bailey99

What about Carne?

MorganIRL

bailey99 wrote: »

What about Carne?

ya play it, played it on the 27/12. Very good course. Play it a few times a year

bailey99

Good condition? How are the kilmore nine condition wise?

FixdePitchmark

bailey99 wrote: »

In terms of prices:

Mount wolseley
Macreddin
Esker Hills
Tulfarris
Bunclody
Druids heath (I thought it was super last year)
Connemara
Carne
Knightsbrook
Dooks

if you are ever going to be in Druids Glen or Heath - play both over two days.

Stay in hotel - one of best hotels in the country.

bailey99

B

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

if you are ever going to be in Druids Glen or Heath - play both over two days.

Stay in hotel - one of best hotels in the country.

We did this. I only heard bad things about druids heath but the four of us all thought it was superb. Some fantastic holes on it. Very enjoyable.

FixdePitchmark

bailey99 wrote: »

B

We did this. I only heard bad things about druids heath but the four of us all thought it was superb. Some fantastic holes on it. Very enjoyable.

Look is very very harsh - but well worth playing if there.

You would never go there and not play the glen .

MorganIRL

bailey99 wrote: »

Good condition? How are the kilmore nine condition wise?

Haven't played the 9, played the 18. Condition was good considering the rain we had the previous week. Greens in great nick.

Kiith

Carne is fantastic. Played the 27 back in September, and absolutely loved it.

searay

If you're planning a trip to play a "standout course", it's a good idea to play it twice so you know where you should hit the ball etc.

We did it last year in Co. Louth and there were at least 3/4 holes where I was able to improve by say, picking a different club off the tee, knowing anything left is in trouble and avoiding it or learning from how my playing partners played the hole.

Your own course, Eniscrone is a great example of a course where you learn from playing it. I still haven't figured out how to play the 3rd hole!

If I was going to Donegal, I'd love to play the 2 Ballyliffin courses twice on one trip rather than try and play 4 different courses.

MorganIRL

Kiith wrote: »

Carne is fantastic. Played the 27 back in September, and absolutely loved it.

The welcome is always good in Carne, course isn't as hard as Enniscrone I feel. Rough isn't as long and u have a chance to recover..

Whiplash85

Went away with 2 brothers around Christmas and played 2 separate open competitions in successive days. 1 in Rosslare and 1 in Mount Juliet. All 3 of us were in no doubt as to which was more enjoyable - Rosslare. But during the summer I'm sure MJ would come into its own. Frustration of lost well hit drives would have played a big part too.

willabur

MorganIRL wrote: »

The welcome is always good in Carne, course isn't as hard as Enniscrone I feel. Rough isn't as long and u have a chance to recover..

I played both course back to back last summer. I played with an absolute gent who knew enniscrone very well, he was giving me great advice all the way around and bar one hole where i topped a drive I was playing great stuff and was able to do what he was telling me to do for the most part. Without him I think my experience would have been completely different

gypsy79

Arnold54321 wrote: »

Baltray but will cost around €100 in an open.

Baltray was €50 in open last time I played

Kiith

willabur wrote: »

Without him I think my experience would have been completely different

Considering i got completely lost on the first fairway (was actually the 12th iirc), i would well believe it :P

JCDUB

willabur wrote: »

I played both course back to back last summer. I played with an absolute gent who knew enniscrone very well, he was giving me great advice all the way around and bar one hole where i topped a drive I was playing great stuff and was able to do what he was telling me to do for the most part. Without him I think my experience would have been completely different

Think that gent may have been me!

Mid August? Both of us down on holidays? Played with an older couple from Cork?
I recall you saying you were heading for Carne the next day.
40pts off about mid teens handicap if I recall correctly?

If not, ignore me, I'm clearly going mad.

gypsy79

JCDUB wrote: »

Think that gent may have been me!

Mid August? Both of us down on holidays? Played with an older couple from Cork?
I recall you saying you were heading for Carne the next day.
40pts off about mid teens handicap if I recall correctly?

If not, ignore me, I'm clearly going mad.

This how man love starts!!

willabur

JCDUB wrote: »

Think that gent may have been me!

Mid August? Both of us down on holidays? Played with an older couple from Cork?
I recall you saying you were heading for Carne the next day.
40pts off about mid teens handicap if I recall correctly?

If not, ignore me, I'm clearly going mad.

Hah, yes!! Thanks again. 40 pts of 12 which was good enough for 3rd on the day. It was a very enjoyable start to a great trip down west

Followed your tip on the fishing trip out to bartragh island. Brilliant day

JCDUB

willabur wrote: »

Hah, yes!! Thanks again. 40 pts of 12 which was good enough for 3rd on the day. It was a very enjoyable start to a great trip down west

Followed your tip on the fishing trip out to bartragh island. Brilliant day

Ah super! Delighted you got a prize that day. Glad I could be of assistance.
It really is a course where a bit of previous knowledge goes a long way.
Great to hear you did the boat trip too, one of the highlights of our holiday, apart from the golf, obviously.

Hopefully we'll catch up on the course again some time.

chef89

bailey99 wrote: »

B

We did this. I only heard bad things about druids heath but the four of us all thought it was superb. Some fantastic holes on it. Very enjoyable.

I played Druids Heath for the first time last summer and hated it. I hit the ball very well but didn't score well. Playing it a second time would maybe be more enjoyable but I don't know if I could do it. The first few holes on the B9 are bananas. I remember hitting PW off the tee then 8 iron over water on a par 4. Mad.

Kerry & Donegal on the list for 2021, craving links golf.

Three courses I played in 2020 that are serious value for money.
> Rosslare
> Enniscorthy
> Lee Valley (Excellent greens)

bailey99

I played rosslare for first time fifteen years ago in an intermediate scratch cup. I was fairly hungover truth be told but played some superb golf.

I arrived at the 15th tee to be told by my playing partners that I was 3 over and in with a great chance of winning.

Two doubles and two bogeys last four holes. I thanked him for mentioning that on the 15th. I probably sobered up on the 15th and the enormity of what I was so close to came to my head..

Went back there three times since and it's a super little links track in fairness. Great grub in clubhouse too and they are friendly out.

Seve OB

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Over this side of Ireland

Druids glen
The Island
Baltray

European as well but too bard.

I’m surprised you didn’t pick these 3 courses as ones to play this year.


Portrush
Portstewart
Ballyliffen glashedy

pinkdoubleeagle

Ardglass for me. Anyone on here ever play it?

PARlance

pinkdoubleeagle wrote: »

Ardglass for me. Anyone on here ever play it?

Yes but would love to give it another go in somewhat playable conditions. Absolutely stunning first tee shot to get you underway. The four of us had to hit driver on the par 3 second. Probably hit my drive as good as I could and ended up with a 10 footer for birdie, the best 160 yard drive of my life.

The conditions really were horrendous and gave us a right battering but there are some great holes along the way. Some not so memorable ones as well but we were just longing to get back to the Clubhouse and out of the weather at times.

We stayed just outside Ardglass in an Airbnb and played RCD while up there. Nice little spot but not an awful lot going on. A decent watering hole near the entrance to the club helped raise our spirits afterwards.

thewobbler

Ardglass is good, an enjoyable round. Outstanding views, some exceptionally memorable holes, and a good, welcoming clubhouse vibe.

But a bit like Greenore, there’s something missing from the mix. It just doesn’t leave you purring like a pure links course.

It’s hard to put a finger on what if is. But I’d guess the weaker holes just balance out the stronger holes a little too much. In both courses the weaker holes just seem to “end in the middle” rather than enjoy any strategy.

Please don’t let me put you off by the way. You will enjoy it, and holes 1-4 and 10-12 are heart tingling good.