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After planning a golf trip to Ireland for almost 18 months, Judy and I finally
got there this July (2004). Our conclusion: Ireland is a wonderful place
to visit, and golfing in Ireland is pretty incredible.
Home base was about 6 miles outside of Donegal Town in
County Donegal way up in the northwest of the island, on the Atlantic side. We
had set up a house swap with the owner of
a beautifully renovated Irish
"cottage" which just happens to be about two miles from Donegal Golf
Course.
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Donegal Cottage |
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Looking out the front door. |
The Irish have a much deserved reputation for being
unassuming, friendly and hospitable, and we certainly found this to be the
case everywhere we went. Not that we went very far. Why bother when the
Donegal area is just the sort of place we like best: as far away as possible
from the tourist attractions of the big cities, with an outstanding,
affordable golf course within a mile or two of our accommodation.
The golf course at Murvagh (Donegal Golf Club) is one of
the longest in Europe, at 7227 yards from the back tees. Add in the influence
of the ever-present hard-blowing Atlantic wind and you have a formidable
challenge on your hands.
The contrast with our placid North American courses
could not be greater. The landing surfaces are always hard and unpredictable.
And the wind almost always makes a simple 75 yard pitch an adventure. This is
the kind of pot shot we North Americans assume can be dialed in and dropped
within a few yards of our target (in theory at least).
But at a place like Donegal you soon learn why they
don't bother much with yardage markers. Into the wind my most successful 100
yard pitch was almost always a knock-down seven, eight or nine iron. Forget
about the wedges unless you want the ball to start coming back towards you.
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| Here I am on the deserted three or four mile long beach,
trying to figure out how to hit the ball straight into a thirty mile-an-hour
cross wind. This beach was about a mile from our cottage, and a half mile from
Donegal Golf Club. |
Then there is the ever-present rough -- not that "first
cut, second cut" stuff, but what we naively call "the fescue" over here in
North America. A shot from off the fairway can range from easy to impossible.
Some of the "rough" areas have thin, wispy fescue with
easy-to-get-your-club-on lies, and some have thick, almost impenetrable grass
where the ground is covered with three or four inches of matted grass where
you're lucky to find your ball. And the difficulty of the rough is magnified
several times when it becomes wet. This is where your wedge is important.
Don't be greedy. Open up the club face and get the ball out. But keep it
right, because that wet rough is going to grab your club face and close it
every time.
And don't forget to dress warmly with a water-resistant
jacket and a sturdy umbrella. When we were there (most of July) it rained just
about every day. Not much, and not for long, but I would say there was at
least a 75% chance we would get rained on when out on the course. A typical
rain only lasts for ten minutes or so. You get pretty wet, and the wet grass
makes the rough play that much harder. But a couple holes later you realize
the wind has almost completely dried things out again.
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| Looking back at # 8, my favourite hole at
Donegal. It is a long par 5 into the wind along the water. A blind 2nd shot.
The tricky green is protected by bunkers in front, and it slopes away towards
the back making the approach into the wind very unpredictable. It has it all. |
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| Approaching the green at 8. The beach is on the
right, and the wind is whipping across right to left. Watch out for the hook. |
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| Just a few undulations on 15 fairway. |
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| Donegal's most famous hole, #5, The Valley of
Tears. For me, could be anything from a six iron to 3 wood, depending on the
wind. |
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| Heading to #12 through the "tunnel" in the big
dune that dominates the centre of the course. |
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| We took a side trip to Enniscrone, an hour or
two south of Donegal. It is an outstanding course. Awesome dunes, beautiful
fairways and greens, less intimidating than Donegal. |
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| #15 green at Enniscrone. |
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| Looking back at #16 at Enniscrone. A great hole
with the beach on the left and massive dunes everywhere. |
We also played Rosapenna and Ballyliffin, both up near
the most northern point in Ireland. Unfortunately my camera stopped working.
Ballyliffin has an impressive club house (with the least expensive meals we
found anywhere). This was the course Nick Faldo called "The Royal Dornoch of
Ireland". He wanted to buy it back in the early nineties and turn it into a
super-destination course. We played the old "Tom Morris" course (there is a
newer 18 called Glashedy). It is a great layout, but there is only one Royal
Dornoch.
Ireland vs Scotland
A few people have asked me if I prefer Ireland to
Scotland (which we have visited a couple of times). It is hard to say. Ireland
feels more visitor-friendly, at least at first blush. The roads are easier to
navigate (Scottish road signs are pretty obscure until you get used to them),
and there seemed to be more North American style restaurants within easy
reach. Of course our trips to Scotland were both to pretty remote areas.
The landscape in Ireland is what I would describe as
more pastoral and "less harsh" than Scotland (the Highlands), although this is
not necessarily a good (or bad) thing. In the Scottish Highlands you get a
real taste of the unique countryside and the variations from small region to
small region by driving on some of those very remote one lane roads. We saw
some of this in Ireland, but there was a greater sense of isolation and
remoteness in Scotland -- miles and miles of winding road with nothing but
sheep to keep you company. In Ireland -- even up in the very most remote
northern part -- you were never far from other cars. And there were new houses
and (what we call) "subdivisions" going up almost everywhere. We saw almost
none of that in Scotland.
As far as the golf is concerned, I think Ireland is
probably further ahead in making the game more accessible to a wider spectrum
of golfers. I doubt if Ballybunion (which we did not go near) will ever
replace St. Andrews as the world's primary golf destination. And there are
probably as many, if not more, second tier big name courses in Ireland for the
serious golfing traveller -- you know the guys in the expensive rain gear and
the 8 man tour bus who want to cover off as many courses as they can in 10
days.
But I'm not sure there are too many courses in Scotland
in the mid-range of affordability to compare with Donegal or Enniscrone or
even Ballyliffin.
Part of the problem is the inflated value of the British
pound. When we were in Scotland in 2001 we played North Berwick, an historic
course just south of St. Andrews (North Berwick is also the home of the
original Redan par 3). It cost 45 pounds at that time, which converted to
roughly $110 Canadian. In comparison, Donegal -- arguably a "better" course
but lacking the history -- was 50 Euros full price (around $80 Canadian). And
we were able to negotiate a 50% reduction at Donegal based on our extended
stay. So that's roughly 1/3 the price of North Berwick. Nobody offered me a
50% reduction in Scotland.
The closest we came to this kind of "value" in Scotland
was at Brora (just north of Dornoch) (30 pounds/ approx $75cad), Macrahanish
(25 pounds/approx $60 cad), and the Struie Course at Dornoch (also 25 pounds).
These courses all have more unique charm (in my estimation), but less "polish"
than their closest Irish equivalents.
Having said all that, I have almost no desire to go play
the big names or even 2nd tier name courses in Ireland (Ballybunion, Royal
Portrush, Portmarnock, Royal County Down), but would gladly go back to play
Donegal, Sligo, Enniscrone, Ballyliffin, and many others I did not have the
chance to play this time around.
On the other hand, I really would like to play
some of the "name" courses in Scotland: The Old Course (of course), Carnoustie,
Turnberry, Prestwick, Royal Troon, Muirfield (yea, right!). And yes, I would
like to live in Dornoch for at least a year or two and play Royal Dornoch four
or five times a week.
Maybe next year.
— Rick Hendershot
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