Hush now, here’s a secret: the Irish didn’t invent golf. No, it just seems that way. For, since adopting
the game as their own, Ireland – north and south, east and west – has made golf the sport of the
people, one played over a variety of landscapes. Philip Reid of the Irish Times reveals all…
I
n Ireland, you see, golf is played There’s even a direct flight from Abu Dhabi. And of course
amidst towering dunes with the sea there are the ferry services from Wales (Holyhead &
so close you can taste the spray’s Pembroke) as well as England (Birkenhead & Liverpool),
salt on your lips; or it could be atop a cliff to the Scotland (Stranraer) and even France (Le Havre, Cherbourg
sound of sea waves crashing off rocks acting as an and Roscoff).
accompaniment to the sound of a chrome-played iron This is a land like no other, with history part and
being played off a bone hard fairway; or it could be by the parcel of every step you take.
side of a lough or a river, or, for that matter, on a tree- Where else, pray tell, can you put your hand through a
lined course on an old country estate with an ‘Stone of Accord’ – a remnant of medieval times where
architectural treasure as its heartbeat. couples and tradesmen traditionally linked fingers to seal
In Ireland, you follow in the footsteps of legends. You a contract – as you do close by the first tee at the Old
play on courses – seaside links and parkland – that are Head of Kinsale in Co. Cork?
accessible to everyone; a variety of golf that has no equal Where else but Ireland would you have a graveyard with
anywhere on this earth. There’s something special about a myriad of Celtic Crosses in play off the first tee, as you
golfing in Ireland, where golf courses – over 440 of them do at the famed Old Course in Ballybunion in Co. Kerry.
Facing: A Celtic cross, – dot the countryside like emerald gems. Great golf. And where else would you be reminded of the past in
grown in flowers, marks the
Great value. Treasured memories. such a manner as at Enniscrone in Co. Sligo, a place
approach to the 3rd Hole at
Druid’s Glen.
And thankfully you no longer have to travel stowage where a towering sand hill by the 14th fairway is known as
on a Viking long ship to get to Ireland. Modern transport Cnoc na gCorp – the ‘Hill of the Corpses’ – because it is
Above: The waves lap along
the shoreline near the green
links mean that there are flights from New York, Atlanta, reputed that the bodies of invading Vikings are buried
at Lahinch Golf Club. Chicago and Washington as well as most European capitals. beneath its sandy soil and marram grasses.
PG 6-10 Good Value Golf.indd 7 12/17/09 3:20:33 PM
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