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Dublin,

Why would you go to Ireland and then play an American course? Why not play Baltray (north of Ireland top 20 in Britain) or Portmarnock that are fantastic links courses.

The K club is a good golf course if you like that style but what is the point in going all the way to Ireland to play a course that si similar to anything in Florida?

One of the holes on the K course was built by creating a fake quarry. The rock face is concrete and was created by the guys from Disney. I forget how many truckloads of concrete were driven in to create it but it was something like trucks all day for a month!!

I think it cost something like £1 million just for that hole!!

Great course and great construction but give me a links course anyday.

Brian Phillips

By the way, Tiger Woods doesn't play at the K club to warm up for The Open, he plays at Waterville which is down in the south west corner of Ireland and he is a member there. It is a links course a makes more sense to warm up there than on a parkland course.

Hi Brian,

If Baltray is in the north of Ireland it is not where I am going... You see, I'm not only going to play golf. I am going to Dublin!!! Hence, I was looking for courses in that area.

I want to play the K Club for several reasons. It is the Ryder Cup Course for 2006 and I reckon it will be more fun watching it next year if I have played the course. Also, I DO like American courses, as I have lived there for several years. I don't mind it being 'artificial', as I am used to playing natural courses in Norway. To be honest, I don't care if the CEO of the Disney corporation built it himself ;o)

Also, I must have been misinformed about Tiger Woods then. I was told that he joins his good friend Mark O'Meara every now and then, as he (O'Meara) goes over there to fish and play golf every year. But that might be wrong.

Soooo, I will play the K Club, but are there any other courses in the DUBLIN-area that you or anyone else could recommend??

Had to do a quick search on the net, and it turns out that Woods is a regular visitor to the K Club. However, he may not warm up for the Open there. THAT I do not know... :o)

Baltray er litt nord for Dublin, muligens så mye som en time unna sentrum, ikke mer. Det er to år siden jeg var der, så det er mulig jeg husker feil ang avstanden. Banen er også kjent som County Louth Golf Club, forøvrig:

http://www.countylouthgolfclub.com/

Den bør absolutt spilles dersom du skal til Dublin-området.

Tiger does play a lot at the K club with O'Meara especially in the last few years as O'Meara has 'designed' a course at Carton House with EGD. He may pop in there before The Open but he definately warms up at Waterville as it is a links course.

K Club is supposed to be a superb course, I have the masterplan in my office at home and one of my best friends from Uni. worked on the course. I would honestly play Baltray (County Louth) if you have a car and I can also set you up with a member there if you want. He is an Irish Golf Course Architect and plays off 2. It is about an hours drive. Ranked higher than either of the courses at the K Club...;-)

The other to play is Portmarnock Old links, not the new one. There is also Royal Dublin designed by Harry Colt but it is not rated very highly by my architect friend but it is just a taxi ride out from the city centre.

Nice to hear someone actually admit they like 'American' style courses.

Have you played much links golf?

Let me know if you want to get on Baltray.

Brian Phillips

Thanks a lot Brian. Unfortunately, I don't plan to rent a car. However, I'll definitely keep Baltray in mind the next time I go over there. I might take you up on your offer then :o)

No, I haven't had the opportunity to play much links golf. I played a couple of 'links-like' courses on the coast of Oregon when I lived there, but I don't think those are half as good as the ones in the UK and Ireland. However, I am also planning a trip to Scotland in the not to distant future. Hopefully I'll get to play some then.

I like ALL kinds of courses... :D but obviously I am more used to American style courses after having lived in the US and Melbourne for several years. Not a lot of links in those areas...

Konklusjonen er at du bør gå for Portmarnock GK , Ernie, dersom du skal ha en topp (links) bane i taxi avstand fra Dublin. Den ligger ikke langt fra flyplassen og er toppranket i Europa (og dermed temmelig dyr). Enig med Brian i at Portmarnock Links ikke er samme klasse (og kanskje ikke så mye "linkstype"), men det er også en bra bane (dessverre også kostbar).

Ernie,

If you have lived in Melbourne this means you have lived next some of the greatest courses in the world!! Royal Melbourne (where the European Tour is this week) is supposed to be unbelievable. It is designed by Dr.MacKenzie the same guy that designed Augusta National.

The Sand Belt in Melbourne is famous for some really good courses.

Did you ever play Bandon Dunes or Pacific Dunes in Oregon? Two of the best courses in the US. Pacific Dunes is ranked 2nd and Bandon 3rd by Golfweek magazine in the US for Modern courses and both are great links courses.

Brian

Unfortunately, I never got the chance to play Bandon or Pacific. I played Ocean Dunes and Sandpines a couple of times, however. Both are fun courses (Ocean Dunes in particular), but I reckon they aren't quite as though as some of the links courses you find in the UK/Ireland.

I wanted to go down to Bandon to play those but I was rather busy with school and football at the time. However, I'm planning a trip to Oregon to visit my friends, and I'll make sure I get my ass down there from Portland. It's about a 3-3,5 hour drive, but I've heard it's worth it... :o)

...and yes, Melbourne is supposedly an amazing course. Unfortunately, never got to play that one either... I don't think they let green fee players on the course, and I didn't know any of the members.
I did have a look at it from the outside though...

I think Melbourne has something like 75 golf courses within the greater city limits. And if you include the ones within an hours drive from the city limit, i don't even know how many courses there are. One of the most fun courses is Anglesea down on Great Ocean Road. Not because the course itself is particularly good, but there are hundreds of kangaroos grassing all over the place. Great fun!!!