Royal County Down, which hosts the DP World Tour’s Irish Open this week, has frequently been ranked the perfect golf course on this planet.
Golf Digest put it within the prime spot.
So did Golf World.
And so, too, did At the moment’s Golfer.
Rory McIlroy is a giant fan, too. Again in 2014 he mentioned it was his first selection for 18 holes when he went residence to Northern Eire to play along with his buddies.
The enchantment is clear. It’s a rugged, dune-laden structure that runs alongside a sprawling seashore, overlooking the Irish Sea, with the Mourne Mountains providing a dramatic backdrop.
It’s not simple, although. When McIlroy first performed the Irish Open there in 2015 he carded an 80 and situations had been so robust within the closing spherical that the winner Soren Kjeldsen might afford to take 76 and nonetheless win.
How, then, would a 14-handicapper address the Royal County Down check?
Matt Cooper headed there to search out out.
The entrance 9
Initially designed by the good Outdated Tom Morris and tweaked by the likes of Harry Vardon and Harry Colt, the course’s brutal magnificence is instantly evident on arrival.
The wind is whipping off these darkish mountains and hurtling up the primary fairway in the direction of the imposing dunes.
We’re taking part in off the yellow tees and the primary fairway stretches out in entrance of us, a ribbon of inexperienced between the dunes. The waves are crashing into the seashore to our proper, however we are able to’t hear them as a result of the wind is whistling in our ears.
“Pop your drive within the air and let the wind do its job,” I say to myself and, considerably to my shock, do exactly that as a taking part in accomplice’s trolley takes a solo, wind-assisted journey in the direction of the ocean and throughout my line. I repeat my “pop it within the air” plan with a 5-wood second and am delighted to search out myself 15-feet from the flag on a par-5 in situations that make preserving the bag on my again extraordinarily troublesome.
The putt lips out however I’m 1-under and stroll to the second tee in a daze whereupon I burst out laughing. The tee field is perched on the beach-side dunes giving a view of the ocean and a glimpse of the golf green hidden between a couple of sand banks of them. It’s so terrific we virtually neglect to hit our tee pictures.
https://www.royalcountydown.org/championship_2
I make a bogey-5, want I might play the outlet once more and roughly have that want granted as a result of the third is a really related expertise. However I’m so in awe of my environment I make double bogey-6 this time.
The fourth is a 202-yard par-3 performed again in the direction of the clubhouse and into the gale. I believe the blow is past me and am proved proper however I scramble for a bogey-4.
There may be virtually no margin of error from the tee however I’ve by no means felt so crushed up and so joyful. The drive on the fifth hits in the direction of the ocean, to an angled fairway however the strategy is essentially the most open of the day and helps me safe one other bogey.
No such luck on the sixth. We’re again down wind however at a excessive level and standing is difficult by no means thoughts discovering brief grass. Double bogey.
Then it’s time to show round once more and the par-3 seventh is brief (125 yards), even larger than the sixth and scary with lengthy grass and bunkers threatening any errant ball. I miss the inexperienced however fluke brief grass and scramble a par.
The great vibes don’t final. Thick grass gobbles my ball on the eighth and a double bogey-6 feels lucky.
The ninth tee is, just like the second tee, a time to chuckle. The mountains loom, the crimson brick turret behind the clubhouse vaguely resembles a lighthouse guiding golfers residence, the golf green is within the far distance past a saddle of dunes. Strolling down that saddle in the direction of the inexperienced feels a bit of like we’re mountaineers descending the foothills after a troublesome climb.
https://www.royalcountydown.org/championship_9
The again 9
After one other bogey and a cup of tea, we flip round to play the fantastic brief tenth. It’s performed to a inexperienced nestled amongst dunes and bunkers. My tee shot takes a slope on the greens, not precisely on function, and leaves a 15-foot birdie putt which by no means appears like moving into however one other par places a smile on my face.
Earlier within the spherical, hitting into the wind, my 3-handicap taking part in accomplice smashed a driver and calculated that it went 160-yards. Now, on the 430 yard par-4 eleventh his second shot is performed with a putter. Admittedly from 50 yards however it was nonetheless an enormous drive and the longest lag putt I’ve ever seen provides him 12-feet for birdie and he makes it. I make bogey and add a bogey-6 on the lengthy twelfth the place I study that having a wind at your tail doesn’t assist if you happen to miss the golf green.
The thirteenth introduces the important thing function of the following 5 holes: the gorse.
Inexperienced, dense and prickly, no-one really goes in it however the holes are lined by it and the menace feels actual.
I hit a surprising drive at 13 however play a blinder with my strategy. Fairly actually, in truth. I used to be utterly blind once I hit it and had no concept I had discovered the inexperienced till yards from the placing floor however a two-putt ensured one other par.
The 14th is the ultimate par-3 and simply in case we thought the wind was troublesome sufficient, the rain now throws itself at us from each course. It’s like taking part in golf in a washer. One other bogey.
The fifteenth and seventeenth play proper again into the wind. And the rain. Exhaustion can be taking part in a component. Each par-4s stretching past 400 yards I really feel fortunate to scrape a double bogey-6 on the former and a triple-bogey-7 on the latter, tacking throughout the fairways like a dinghy in a storm.
In-between the shorter par-4 sixteenth presents respite with a bogey courtesy of an excellent chip after three pictures performed (not on function) beneath the wind.
The 18th is lengthy. Very lengthy. 528 yards lengthy. And within the wind it feels a minimum of twice that. There are a number of bunkers too. Heaps and plenty of them. No-one likes to shut a spherical with a double-bogey 7 however it might simply have been worse.
Describe Royal County Down in a sentence ✍️#AmgenIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/UJb9dDzl7i
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 10, 2024
So, 90 blows on the par-71 and, regardless of limping residence (actually and metaphorically), I’ve hardly ever felt happier. Royal County Down is all the pieces you’ve been advised.
The Sport of Thrones is filmed on the Northern Irish coast and the course appears like golf on that type of scale.
The mountains are offended, the seashore is widescreen, the dunes are wild, the wind is livid, the tee bins, fairways and greens are like stage units – all the expertise is nothing in need of epic.
* You’ll be able to e-book to play the course (on any day bar Wednesday or Saturday) however you’ll must e-book lengthy earlier than you play. It’s dear however there are offers all through the winter.
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