Heading to Carnoustie next month. Booked in to play Burnside and Buddon but finding it hard to justify paying £320 for a round on the Championship course.
Yeah, it's stunning. Played a strokes event during open week a couple years ago. Unreal course. Best conditioned course I've ever played, the tee boxes were better than most greens I've ever played on.
I did a couple of years ago.
Has anyone played Royal County Down through the Mourne Golf Club open week?
very few of the top courses have a GI rate anymore
Not really Like for Like - USGA Members don't get a USGA rate like the GUI rate… No discrimination against 'international visitors'
Dunluce is £600 per 4-ball in 2024, but this can only be secured at the reduced rate within 28 days from date of play. So it all depends if they have any slots available in the next 28 days from your enquiry.
Thought they have the place closed to the public till the Open
I know that's what it states on their website, as i say good luck getting it!
Yea recall them, think it was an "Open Experience " with Sundays open pins and a gift bag included
Royal Portrush Golf Club | Visitors
During COVID they done some opens at 150 pounds a pop. Can't see that happening too often in future.
Can't see that end well..
Good luck getting a GUI rate out of Portrush!
Any idea what the golf Ireland rate is for both courses in Portrush?
Could have included a caddy too. I'd imagine the tour operators pay less and charge more than the the rack rate
Pu
Punchy enough, Rack Rate in OH and BB are €450/€350 or approx. $900
No. He was on a separate trip and the rounds of golf were extra
Transport and accomidation included?
I have an American cousin that played Ballybunion and The Old Head this year. Think he said he paid $1000 or $1100 for the two rounds which would have been through a tour operator
Played Carne, Rosapenna and Ballyliffin recently and would go back to Carne tomorrow.
For me, it was the combination of a great course with excellent welcome in the shop, great food and service in the clubhouse and the general manager Gerry chatting to us as if we were regulars. (Previously Played 2021 and 2009). Played both courses and told we could play an extra 9 if we wanted. (We did)
Rosapenna good too, but clubhouse food shuts at 6 which is crazy, bar shuts at 7. Staff pleasant but you feel you are just a number. St Patricks very challenging around the greens, Sandy hills enjoyable, but old tom Morris my favourite - 93 off a 23 handicap and birdie on index 1 probably has something to do with it. Harbour bar is where to go especially if you like good whiskey at very good prices (yellow spot €11, Middleton €22)
Americans in front and behind us all 3 days!
Ballyliffin - only played the old course. Really nice, but if you hit a wayward shot the ball was not going to be found. Good team in the shop and bar and good value.
But Carne was the highlight in terms of enjoyment all round and will go back soon
Bit of a stretch to compare The Island or European Club to Sawgrass… Most Americans have heard of Ballybunion, Portrush, and maybe Lahinch. None I know would know of the Island or European Club. And…. more to the point - Sawgrass charges Americans the same as it charges you…
I'd be amazed if the tour operators are paying the rack rate for those they put on the courses. I'm sure there's hassle in a club for maintaining a timesheet - but with a tour operator they're probably booking an hour or two each time and handling the golfers questions. They're probably more likely to be there on time. More likely to buy merch which I would say is extremely lucrative for the clubs. More likely to eat en masse in the club after. And I'd say some of the clubs even need them to fill their timesheets.
I assume those on the tours just pay a fee for the tour and don't know what each course costs. It probably makes them decent enough value too - if they're getting deals in the clubs and the hotels and restaurants, even after their markup the golfers probably aren't being fleeced.
Are Americans really paying these prices?
I accept that solo travelers probably are but a lot of visitors come on package deals where they pay one overall price for golf/transfers/accommodation. I would think the tour operators are getting some discount for bringing the business. A lot of course websites even have a link for tour operators to book.
If the Visitor looks up the course and sees a €300+ rack rate suddenly the €'000 they are paying for the whole trip might seam like good value.
Agree about lists and the pricing structure. It all comes down to demand. Its not only Americans that are getting charged them prices @ExPaddy its all tourists. But its the same in opposite direction. If I'm going to America I want to play at least 1 of the top courses! I have played TPC Sawgrass bucket list stuff to me. Probably the way The Island or The European is to our tourists. As to me its my favourite course in the World and that was before I even played it but again the green fee this year for Sawgrass was $800+ So it kinda of is like for like..
Have played a few links over the summer so will summarise thoughts below
RCD
Stunning course with the Mourne mountains as a backdrop, the condition was incredible but very difficult (for me). Lot's of blind shots and i didn't have a course planner or caddie so lost a lot of balls when i had no idea where they went. The gap between hitting fairway and lost ball (heavy gorse) was pretty narrow so did not score well at all. But on the other hand it was a fantastic course and really enjoyed it, front 9 was better than the back 9 but still very good. Would love to play it again now i know a bit more about the holes but will see if i get the chance again. Will be interesting to see how the pros fare when the Irish Open rolls in a few weeks time.
County Louth/ Baltray
Found this a lot easier than RCD, if you hit in the rough you could find the ball and it was quite thin so could actually hit some good shots out of it. The holes were pretty much all very good, only one perhaps not so good was the 17th. The guy i was playing it with described it as 'fair' which i think is an accurate description, very possible to get a good score. Condition was excellent as well really enjoyed it, maybe a slight negative is doesn't quite have the spectacular views you sometimes get on a links but still a super day out and course i'd be delighted to play again.
Carne
Wow, played this with my dad over the weekend and i think we were both blown away by it. Incredible views and my idea of golfing heaven with the huge sand dunes and valleys. Can't remember there being an uninteresting hole on the course, we also played in bright blue skies and sunshine so and absolute treat of a day. Condition was not as good as any of the others but still OK/ good & who cares when you've landscapes like that to enjoy !
Enniscrone
Strong start to the course, with hole 2 a beaut. Thought it got a little lacklustre in the middle but some challenging fun greens to keep it interesting (for example hole 7 with it's tiny green to aim at) . Some really fun holes on i think 12 and 13 with some doglegs and some great holes down the closing stretch. Another very good course and the condition was good.
Anyhow an excellent collection of courses and all really enjoyable, feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to play them and wouldn't hesitate to play any of them again. A good day out on an Irish links is very tough to beat !
ridiculous comment- I’ve played plenty of 60/70/50 (and below) links and parklands over past few years that were far from dog tracks
Ah no, they don't. There are plenty of non US visited courses around the country in perfect condition with just members and green fees/whatever, links in some ways have less ongoing maintenance with no flowerbeds, walls, artificial paths, drainage issues etc
This is relevant to courses in general and not just links courses, but I think golf courses are too well maintained nowadays. I listened to a podcast a little while ago and the guy they had on (a golf course architect) was talking about The Augusta affect - where people's image of golf is basically Augusta. And Augusta is perfect - there are no blemishes on the course. And that's what members want their clubs to strive for. But there are problems with that - sometimes the course will benefit from leaving the greens grass grow a little longer. And the overuse of chemicals to get courses in great shape for as much of the year as possible. And obviously the cost of it all.
We expect greens to be fast all summer long. I'd love if they left them slightly longer (which would apparently make maintenance easier) and then targeted a few weekends each year to have them fast, like the captains or scratch cups. For me, it would make more of an event of these days.
And as regards the links courses becoming inaccessible to the Irish golfers - it certainly is a shame. I would like Golf Ireland to bring in a stipulation of holding say 2 opens a year at 50% of your green fee rate as a condition of membership, but demanding Golf Ireland rates doesn't make any sense to me. Right now, you'll still get great deals from Donegal down until you meet Clare, but as tour operators get better and better at running tours there they'll surely join Dublin and Kerry and the rest in just offering green fees for very high prices. With the volume of top links courses there will always be some deals on offer if you look out for them, but the days of booking a trip to Donegal whenever suits you and choosing which courses to play and getting great rates will surely disappear.
On the other hand, if you don't limit yourself to links golf, Ireland will still have exceptional value and accessibility on offer. You can probably play about 70% of the courses in Ireland for €70 or less. That's some selection for very reasonable rates.
Is this in any way reflective of reality.
I played most of the courses before the Americans came - and they were members' clubs in good to great condition.
Fair enough the very top tier always had Americans - but that 2nd tier of links courses , were member run courses, of varying quality.
The idea that the 2nd tier courses will be dog tracks if they don't have American dollar , doesn't make sense. They were not before. Personally prefer a community based sustainable model. Ireland a far more wealthy nation now - and the idea we need to beg for cash from Americans - is a tad ridiculous.
Anyway a model based on flying people from all over the world to play a golf course - is not really aligned with any sort of sustainable goals we have as a nation - and is not really a sustainability model that golf should go after.
