Toughest Courses in Ireland?

jimjo · 28-03-2010 10:12pm #1

Spurring on from the favourite and than worst courses thread what would people say is the toughest course they’ve played….?

Last summer I played in a fourball team comp in the Headfort New and the place ruined two of the lads. They both found water on literally every bit of the course 3rd, 4th (twice), 7th, 9th, 10th (twice), off the back on the 12th green, 17th and 18th. And even on holes like the 8th and 11th they hit into the trees. By the 9th they had really given up and only played on because it was a team event. Totally demoralised they never want to play there again!

Although I’ve not played courses such as Rosapenna (Sandy Hills) or the European club, both of which I’m due to play this year, I heard there both crazy difficult courses….

DoctaDee · 28-03-2010 10:21pm

jimjo wrote: »

.............
Although I’ve not played courses such as Rosapenna (Sandy Hills) or the European club, both of which I’m due to play this year, I heard there both crazy difficult courses….

European gets my vote ... problem down there is the rough is not graded (semirough, rough, jungle)... it's either fairway or hay. Of course there's those that say if yer down the fairway you don't have to worry about rough, but 30 - 40 mh winds sort of take that out of yer hands. It's a fantastic course tho. and everyone should play it once (greens were a bit ropey 2 weeks ago). As for Headford New, yup now that is a great test of golf .. and all for 40 -€50 ?

heavyballs · 28-03-2010 10:26pm

think the european club is great but i think it's toghness comes from the weather more than anything,landing areas are much more forgiving than i had expected,it's hard to say what's the hardest as we rarely play off the back tees on most courses

copacetic · 28-03-2010 10:29pm

I found the Montgomerie at Carton to be a bit of a bitch, long and as above either fairway or 3 foot hay, that it's hard to get out of even with a sideways wedge.

thoscon · 28-03-2010 10:29pm

headfort new can be tough alright especially for the higher handicappers although ive always seem to do well there..i found kileen castle to be the hardest course ive played ,rough is a **** to play out of and some of the bunkers are impossible to play out of..didnt help that i played ****e the day i played it

jimjo · 28-03-2010 10:36pm

DoctaDee wrote: »

As for Headford New, yup now that is a great test of golf .. and all for 40 -€50 ?

For opens its like €25-30. Been cut there twice with 33 (CSS 32) & 34 (CSS 33) points last year, the CSS says it all really. Although a parkland, with all that water it can be very tough on you if your having an off day.

DoctaDee · 28-03-2010 10:48pm

jimjo wrote: »

For opens its like €25-30. Been cut there twice with 33 (CSS 32) & 34 (CSS 33) points last year, the CSS says it all really. Although a parkland, with all that water it can be very tough on you if your having an off day.

Yeah Jim agreed, it's as good a test of golf as there is out there, and relatively cheap. First time local society played there I was paired with a guy off 7 who lost 12 balls in 12 holes (12th hole is a par4 with teardrop green, water on right ?) .. anyways from utter despair he covers the last 6 in 3 under .. always one of my favs, must get up to an open there soon .. coz the society never returned .. preferrring the Old course instead.

f22 · 28-03-2010 10:50pm

Off the tips Royal Dublin can be a beast when the wind blows, 7300 yards!

The European is a real challenge too, miss fairways and be thanKful to find your ball.

DoctaDee · 28-03-2010 10:53pm

thoscon wrote: »

..........i found kileen castle to be the hardest course ive played ,rough is a **** to play out of and some of the bunkers are impossible to play out of..didnt help that i played ****e the day i played it

Played Killeen Castle last Nov, was in bunkers on 8 of the 9 holes on the front and got up and down 7 times ... turned 1 over ........ ehhhh didn't finish 1 over

Can I give an honourable mention to Concra Wood also ,,, again we played in tough conditions but thought it was smashing track

Punchbowl4 · 29-03-2010 12:27am

Rosapenna (Sany Hills) is savage, i think Ruddy doesnt try designing good courses, only savage ones. i'm a low handicapper a played it last year in decent conditions, and it was nearly impossible. wore a hole in my 2 and 3 irons into par fours, with greens the size of kitchen tables. respect the man, but he should visit courses like Baltray, Portmarnock etc to see how a links course can be brilliantly designed, but designed fairly. courses which rewards good shots.

curly from cork · 29-03-2010 8:51am

+ 1 for the european.. that being said coming up for more punishment in may.. loved it.

Benicetomonty · 29-03-2010 10:31am

+2 for the European, animal of a course and you can hardly even see the back tees from the oft-used whites! Great track though, worth the lost balls.

Johnny_Fontane · 29-03-2010 10:35am

+1 Sandy Hills.....yes its tough but not unfair (as long as you have a local guy with you!)

Murvagh (Donegal Golf Club) is very tough aswell

ShriekingSheet · 29-03-2010 10:51am

At Headfort Junior Scratch last year there were 4 and 5 handicap players shooting 90+ on the new course. I think it's tough, but I wouldn't find it as tough as the European. Then again, it's hard to think of a parkland as tough as H New.

f22 · 29-03-2010 11:06am

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

At Headfort Junior Scratch last year there were 4 and 5 handicap players shooting 90+ on the new course. I think it's tough, but I wouldn't find it as tough as the European. Then again, it's hard to think of a parkland as tough as H New.

Agree, as parklands go Headfort New off the back stakes is as tough as they come. If you don't have your game with you just go home!

ShriekingSheet · 29-03-2010 11:25am

Yeah. I'm struggling to even name another tough parkland...
Carlow? Although I've only played the u18 thing there and played shockin so maybe that was just me.

Kevinmarkham · 29-03-2010 11:36am

It's almost an impossible question! There's the whole links vs. parkland debate, and the back tees vs. normal tees situation.

Moyvalley and Dunmurry Springs, for example, add an extra 700 yards from the back tees, but most of us will never play from there. From the front tees they're both manageable. Druid's Heath is tough whichever tees you play and it's 7,400 yards from the back, 6,600 from the whites.

Headfort New is tough for sure, and beautiful too, but my toughest inland track would be Scrabo - for the simple reason that a good shot is not guaranteed to end up where you expect it to be, and once you're in the rough (gorse) you can kiss a good score goodbye. It's up and down some big slopes and there are a few holes that don't exist anywhere else. As anyone who has my book knows, it's also one of my favourites.

Carton House (Monty) is a brute. Bunkers above your head will fill most people with terror.

But I don't think any parkland is as hard as a links on a windy day. You're so exposed and the rough around the green will hurt your wrists when your ball fails to find the putting surface. Sandy Hills is tight, The European is lethal, and Tralee's back 9 is impossible, but Royal County Down throws in all those blind shots too, so RCD gets my vote, but only on a windy day!

Mister Sifter · 29-03-2010 11:37am

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

Yeah. I'm struggling to even name another tough parkland...
Carlow? Although I've only played the u18 thing there and played shockin so maybe that was just me.

Off the back sticks, Roganstown can be a beast. Junior Cup qualifying there last year (albeit on a wet and windy day) saw some horrific scores. The weather played a big part, but at 7k + yards, but i don't believe anyone broke 80.

Luttrellstown and the parkland formerly known as Pga National are also pretty stiff tests off the back sticks.

spacecoyote · 29-03-2010 1:09pm

Found Heritage to be a tough enough trek for a parkland. The wind was up the day we played and seemed to be pulling you towards water no matter what direction you were facing!

1united · 29-03-2010 1:49pm

Played European last year on a terrible day, wind blowing a gale throughout. It is as tough as they come but we enjoyed every minute, even though only one of our 4ball played anywhere near handicap. Played Murvagh last good friday and heading again this friday, can't wait, very tough back nine. PGA course at Belfry tougher but better than Brabazon imo.

stebed · 29-03-2010 1:50pm

What about Druids Heath? A ton of bunkers, water on the 2nd and 3rd and 17 elevated greens, I play it every week and the best I have managed is 34 points of 11! And all that of the green, there are still the whites and then the blacks!

Pot Noodle = · 29-03-2010 1:54pm

Carne in Mayo is a Mare of a course http://www.carnegolflinks.com/coursemap.html

DoctaDee · 29-03-2010 8:18pm

Just thought of another tough challenge from the back tips .. Knightsbrook in Trim

sweetswing · 29-03-2010 8:40pm

any links when the wind blows, and as said before the monty , for me it has no equal , its a monster.
i dont get headford new although i never played from the back sticks?
some courses suit your eye better than others i suppose.

thoscon · 29-03-2010 9:44pm

playing the monty in a few weeks in next society outing, not looking forward to it on hearing how tough it is

irish_man · 29-03-2010 9:51pm

belturbet is hard enough with the wind up!!
haha!!

Headford new is definitely the hardest I played.
any links course is difficult on a windy day..

jimjo · 29-03-2010 10:05pm

DoctaDee wrote: »

Just thought of another tough challenge from the back tips .. Knightsbrook in Trim

I got to disagree on this one Doc. Knightsbrook is undoubtedly a beast off the blues particularly when the wind is against. Its a course I would call long but not especially tough if you get me… It’s a course where you can lash the driver all day long and not really get punished for wayward shots off the tee. Headfort for example (apologies for keep using it as the example) but its long, tight and with the water thrown in, tough. Although I’ve only played knightsbrook once, I was hitting the ball fairly well and had a good score, admittedly off the whites, cant think if ever I’d play of the blues, are junior scratch cups of them? But by god that would be long.

thoscon · 29-03-2010 10:05pm

jimjo wrote: »

I got to disagree on this one Doc.

Knightsbrook is undoubtedly a beast off the blues particularly when the wind is against. Its a course I would call long but not especially tough if you get me… It’s a course where you can lash the driver all day long and not really get punished for it. Headfort for example (apologies for keep using is as an example) but its long, tight and with the water thrown in, tough. Although I’ve only played knightsbrook once, I was hitting the ball fairly well and had a good score, admittedly off the white, can think if ever I’d play of the blues, are junior scratch of them? But by god that would be long.

i would second that.knightsbrook is very forgiving but jaysus it wud be a monster off the back tees.if your not playing well in headfort it can destroy you

Swingguru · 29-03-2010 10:20pm

Sandy Hills in Donegal is without doubt the most difficult course in Ireland. I have played this course many times and it is nigh on impossible to shoot 30 points. The fairways are tight with narrow landing areas, miss them and the ball is lost. The greens are small and upside down! The course isn't massively long, but it is just soooo tight. Played it and the Old Tom Morris course in their scratch cup last year on the same day. 28 points on Sandy Hills and 38 on OTM. A new designer is needed to come in and revamp what Ruddy has delivered. It has the potential to be the best course in Ireland, but at the moment it is simply too unforgiving and not much fun!

Kristopherus · 29-03-2010 10:29pm

Pot wrote:

Carne in Mayo is a Mare of a course http://www.carnegolflinks.com/coursemap.html

+1 It surely is. I'll never forget the first time I played it. I'm still having nightmare flashes when I think about it.

DoctaDee · 29-03-2010 10:32pm

jimjo wrote: »

I got to disagree on this one Doc. Knightsbrook is undoubtedly a beast off the blues particularly when the wind is against. ...

Point taken Jim, it's not penal in that sense but if memory serves there was only one par 4 less than 400 yards, I seemed to be pulling out the hybrid, 4 or 5 iron on all the approach shots. The course really made you work for a score. Unfortunately I'm hearing some whispers as to its demise - think the pro shop and golf personnel are gone,pity because it was an enjoyable track. Cheers Dave

Toughest Courses in Ireland?

Comments