GOLF


Ballyclare Golf Club Lockdown over ...


If you have just dusted off the clubs after no golfing action for the past few months and fancy a few rounds on an idyllic well- maintained course, then add Ballyclare Golf Club to the wish list. Chris McCullough paid the venue a visit just as it reopened to see the efforts to which the greenkeepers, under Head Greenkeeper John Beggs, had gone to keep the course in such good shape


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lthough initially only open to its members observing recommended social distancing, the 18 hole course at Ballyclare Golf Club must be


a dream venue for the discerning golfer to play.


As they finished their first rounds of golf in months, the members remarked on how good the course was looking and paid tribute to the team of greenkeepers who have meticulously nursed it through the virus era lockdown.


Ballyclare Golf Club is situated in the Antrim Hills just 1.5 miles north of the historic market town of Ballyclare, which is only a twenty minute drive from Belfast. Dating back to 1923, Ballyclare Golf Club has since established itself as one of the foremost golf courses in Northern Ireland. Starting off as a nine hole course, the reputation of this excellent golfing facility


PC August/September 2020


excelled and it became an 18 hole venue around forty years ago. A beautifully matured course, Ballyclare is a challenging and entertaining par 71, 6373 yard, 18 hole parkland course. The course is dominated by tree lined fairways, well placed sand traps and a strategic use of natural water hazards, which can test the best of players at times.


The signature hole is the demanding par 4 third hole called Orpinsmill where players are faced with a breathtaking tee shot. Out of bounds lies in wait on the left, opposite two lakes on the right, which lead to a tree- protected green, proving just how entertaining the tumbling parkland of Ballyclare can be.


Players are often tested by the Ilsekelly River that snakes through the course setting up water hazards between the third and seventh fairways and at the eleventh hole. Not only is there a superb course to play,


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