West Point
Raw, lean and mean on the Dingle Peninsular
The most westerly facility is Dingle Golf Links, Ceann Sibéal, at Ballyferriter, Dingle, Co. Kerry in Ireland at coordinates 52°10’ N 10°26’ W. Mean annual rainfall is 1600mm. The average air temperature in January is 5°C and, in August, 23°C
NESTLED on the edge of Ireland’s dramatic southwest coastline, Dingle Golf Links is a very special place to visit. For many it is the truly special people of the Dingle Peninsula that make their time here so memorable. For others it is the quite breathtaking scenery of the peninsula revealing, as it does, its hidden bays, small fishing villages, glorious mountains and the Blasket Islands. The course is billed as “a golfing sanctuary where the Atlantic Ocean meets the worlds most beautiful
landscape and golfers wonder why they ever have to leave”.
Ceann Sibéal was founded in 1924.
The great Irish architect, Eddie Hackett, who passed away in 1996 at the age of 86, is credited as the architect. He also designed other favourites such as Carne, Connemara, Enniscrone and Waterville Golf Links. Ireland’s beloved Ryder Cup hero, Christy O’Connor Jr., oversaw a modern- day update in the 1990s. The course is managed by Jerry Mulvihill, who has spent his whole life involved in the game, having started his association with golf when, at the tender age of seven, he caddied at the famous Ballybunion Golf Club and, some years later, went on to work there in a greenkeeping capacity. Since then Jerry has worked at several courses, both at home and abroad, which included spells in Germany and America. He follows the methods of Jim Arthur when it comes to maintaining the course - raw, lean and mean. Jerry has now been at the Dingle for eight years. His brief was to revert the course to a true links course. He is beginning to win the war on Poa with his programmes of starving turf of fertiliser and water. Constant aeration, overseeding and topdressing, combined with the specific use of chemicals, is gradually eradicating poa and rye grasses.
The Dingle Links is now getting back to a true links style course with fescues bents and Marram. The course could not be described as manicured, and Jerry believes it is as natural and raw as any fine links course in Ireland. Heights of cut are: Greens from 4.5mm - 5.5mm Tees from 7mm-12mm Fairways from 7mm-12mm Semi roughs from 25mm-75mm
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Overseeding starts in February on a monthly basis through to September coupled with constant aeration and topdressing using very little irrigation and fungicides.
During the first three to four years of
Jerry’s tenure the only disease that appeared was red thread, a sign of nutrient deficiency. If fusarium comes in he leaves it to kill the Poa and then reseeds with fescues.
Being on the coast the course suffers
from high winds and heavy rainfall which, in the past, have affected grass growth. Rootmass is everything. During Jerry’s time at Dingle it has gone from having no grass and little rootmass to a healthy sward with roots to 150-220mm (6”-8”). He never really worries about his greens even if it is blowing a hurricane or if there is a drought. His greens are healthy and strong and look after themselves in these tough conditions.
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