Where the
Eight of the best
Sea scope: below left Enniscrone Co Sligo;
below the rugged Narin & Portnoo, Co Donegal
6
The K Club (Palmer Ryder Course)

(Co Kildare)
The legendary American Arnold Palmer was entrusted
with devising a lay-out on an old country estate by the
river Liffey and his creation – which played host to the
2006 Ryder Cup – has matured wonderfully, with a
terrifi c variety of holes. The risk and reward Par 5 16th,
with an approach over the river to a long and undulating
4
green, is the course’s signature hole but the most
Enniscrone
imposing tee shot is probably the one from the 17th
(Co Sligo)
where you must aim down the curling river’s edge to
If you’re looking for a seaside links with great character, reach the fairway.
then the one that has materialised amidst the towering
dunes of Enniscrone certainly meets such a criteria. A
marriage of two designers – Eddie Hackett and Donald 7
Narin and Portnoo

(Co Donegal)
Steel – the standard is set with an opening dogleg hole If you want links golf of the wild and rugged variety,
that plays uphill to a small green nestled in a sand hill nowhere – anywhere – comes close to matching this
and the journey from start to fi nish is one that will test gem hard by the Atlantic on Ireland’s north-western
and exhilarate. The biggest dune on the course runs coast. It is genuine links, raw and beautiful, where a
along the Par 5 14th and is known as Cnoc na gCorp player must keep the ball low in the omnipresent wind.
(‘The Hill of the Bodies’) because its reputed to contain The back nine runs amidst the sand hills along the coast
the bodies of invading Vikings of a bygone time. and features a number of quite scintillating holes,
5
among them a unique run of three successive Par 5s
The Island
from the 13th to the 15th.
(Co Dublin)
Its name is a misnomer, for this is not an island at all but
a jut of land that protrudes out along the Irish Sea from
Donabate towards Malahide just north of Dublin. It’s 8
Royal Portrush

(Co Antrim)
Who are we to argue with Harry Colt, who considered
proximity to Dublin airport has made this fabulous links the Dunluce course at Royal Portrush his masterpiece.
– with some towering dunes – a very popular stop-off for This is, indeed, a quite magnifi cent links course – the
golfi ng tourists and the course, always well conditioned, only one in Ireland to have staged the Open Championship
never fails to disappoint. The homeward run is especially (in 1951) – with a stunning location down the coast from
appealing, with greens set in high sand hills, and the the Giant’s Causeway and a variety of holes to have
18th – with little room for error off the tee – is a fi ne golfers salivating. The 14th is one of the world’s great
fi nishing hole before reaching the sanctuary of the 19th Par 3s, known as Calamity and with a tee shot that must
hole in the clubhouse. traverse a chasm to fi nd the green.

14
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PG 12-14 8 of the Best.indd 14 12/14/09 6:45:21 PM
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