Mount Juliet Golf Club ****

Thomastown, County Kilkenny

Nearest main town: Kilkenny

 

Mount Juliet is blessed with some of the finest natural scenery Ireland has to offer the outcroppings of the Kilkenny countryside, ancient trees, gullies, copses and the furious rushing of the River Nore, which is rich in salmon and trout. It is one of the best parkland courses in the country and was designed by none other than Jack Nicklaus.

That's not to say that it has been without criticism. Many say you could transplant this course to any country in the world and it would not look out of place. They claim the excessive moulding, shifting and manipulation of the landscape is completely out of place with the feel and look of this corner of Ireland - in short, that Mount Juliet is an artificial course with no soul.

Whether you take this view or not, you cannot fault its condition. One journalist noted that the fairways are made from the same material as the carpets laid down when Prince Charles attends movie premieres; and that, even in the dead of winter, is hard to argue with. There are regiments of maintenance workers grooming the course and you can see golfers almost embarrassed to take a divot out of the fairways.

It is also very fair; some might say easy. Off the tee there is little trouble with wide, generous fairways and even the greens are large. The majestic oak and lime trees that pepper the landscape rarely affect the line of shots into the greens. Nicklaus designs have become more lenient, but it seems there has been a policy that Mount Juliet should be fun and you should not walk off the course hanging your head like a tired dog.

Water is the main form of defence at Mount Juliet, fronting the par-3 3rd and the par-4 13th. It also protects the 18th, a climactic finish that sums up everything about this modern course.

 

Secretary: Mr S. O'Neill (Golf Manager)

Tel: 056 7773064 Fax: 056 777 3078

Professional: Mr S. Cotter

Tel: 056 777 3071 Fax: 056 777 3078

Playing: Midweek: round €115 (Apr), €140 (May-Sept); day n/a. Weekend: round €125 (Fri-Sun, Apr), €155 (Fri-Sun, May-Sept); day n/a.

Facilities: Bar: 1 0.30am-11 pm. Food: Breakfast, lunch and dinner from 9am-9pm. Bar snacks.

Comments: What every golf course should aspire to... Best park­land course in Europe...One of the best new courses in Ireland...A Nicklaus cracker....Doesn't necessarily fit into the landscape but good nonetheless...Vast contoured greens...One of Jack's best... Didn't want to go home... Basic Nicklaus fare, very unnatural... Cracking par-3 3rd.

 

Portmarnock Golf Club (Old) *****

Portmarnock, County Dublin

Nearest main town: Dublin

 

Few courses are blessed with the natural magnificence of Portmarnock. Set on a long tongue of links land between the Irish Sea and an inland tidal bay, Portmarnock is magnificently cut off from the world, a private playground for golfers in search of hidden delights. The holes run through dune grasses and are completely at the mercy of the wind, which rushes in from the sea, quickly changing the moods and tough­ness of the challenge.

Portmarnock is relatively flat and devoid of any blind shots, but that does not mean the course is monotonous or boring. Instead, you will find a collection of holes that are very exciting, ranging from short holes that require great thought and clever execution of shots, to long holes where brute strength and a daredevil game plan will pay dividends.

Never is this more clearly evident than at the 6th, one of the best holes on the front nine but long at 586 yards. Along its dimpled fair­ways and valleys, it can be three woods to reach the green, so big hitters are at an advantage. But immediately, at the 7th, the emphasis changes with a short hole played into a dell, where you really need to get a feel for the shot.

This delicate balance continues around the turn with more good examples at the 14th, a shortish par-4 with a second shot to a long plateau green among the dunes, and the 15th, a brutish par-3 where, depending on the wind, you will have to set the ball off over the out-of­bounds line and bring it back in on the wind. From there, it is a cracking finish, with the 17th, a penal par-4 where you'll do well to stay out of the bunkers, and the 18th, a fine hole, although it has lost some of its eccentricity since the home green was moved from hard by the club­house.

On a fine day there are few better places in Ireland to play golf than at Portmarnock. And with Portmarnock Links nearby, you don't need much more encouragement.

 

Secretary: Mr J. Quigley

Tel: 01 8462968 Fax: 01 846 2601

Professional: Mr J. Purcell                         

Tel: 01 8462634

Playing: Midweek: round €165; day n/a. Weekend: round €190; day n/a.

Facilities: Bar: 10.30am-11 pm. Food: Lunch and dinner from 11 am-9pm. Bar snacks.

Comments: Brilliant course and an outstanding pro shop... Classic links that does not suffer fools gladly. .. Not a patch on County Down or Sligo ... Fair links unlike many of the heralded ones in Ireland... Had the time of my life. . .Who could criticize this outstanding piece of natural golfing terrain? ... Expected a lot but nothing prepared me for this. . . Quite simply the best course in the British Isles.