Contact & Links |
Irish Tee It's hardly an exaggeration to suggest that many a rental car could drive itself from Shannon airport to Ballybunion or Lahinch, so well-trodden is the path that carries golfers to the grandest of Ireland's links. So many hackers dream of making this pilgrimage before being called to that final tee time in the sky that an average summer afternoon might find more Americans strolling the fairways at Ballybunion than at Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx. This, of course, makes the entire experience rather like going to Mecca for a quiet weekend. Golfers who visit Northern Ireland - a smaller but by no means insignificant number - are equally unyielding in their ardor for the two gems in the region, Royal County Down and Royal Portrush. So much so that you might be forgiven for thinking that Northern Ireland has only two courses worthy of your time. The truth - like so much about Northern Ireland - is quite different. In fact, there are more wonderful courses off the beaten path than you can shake a putter at, and you will find it much easier to get a weekend tee time than at Bethpage Black, the public course on Long Island that hosted the U.S. Open last week.  Looking back to the Ardglass clubhouse from the first green. Galgorm Castle is so close to Belfast International Airport that diehards can be on the first tee less than an hour after touching down. Set in the grounds of Galgorm Castle, a Jacobean fort built in 1618, near the town of Ballymena, the course opened in 1997. It is a well-manicured parkland layout stretching to 6,736 yards, long enough to challenge low handicappers but eminently forgiving for those of us who still consider breaking 90 akin to the 4-minute mile. The short holes can either build your confidence or shatter it, like the 4th, a sneaky 323-yarder that demands absolute accuracy on every shot. Yet the back-to-back par 5s at the turn offer even average duffers a birdie opportunity. Unlike many courses in Ireland, Galgorm Castle has a driving range. This is no small matter since it is seldom fun tackling Irish courses without loosening up. After the round, the Pavillion restaurant is about the perfect place for a postmortem on your scorecard. Ardglass Golf Club is one of the best-kept secrets in Irish golf circles, which is surprising since it has been around since 1896 and occupies one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline along the Irish Sea, 30 miles southeast of Belfast. Your round here begins and ends at the clubhouse, an imposing castle that dates back to the 14th century. This is the first indication that Ardglass does not offer a golfing experience like, say, Myrtle Beach. Take the 6th hole, a short par 5 that requires you play your second shot over a stone wall that seems more suited to a postcard than a golf course. The 10th hole demands you aim your tee shot over the corner of a tiny whitewashed cottage to a narrow fairway. Mercifully, the cottage was unoccupied, or my ball would have rattled the windows of some frail grandmother. My personal favorite is the 11th hole, a short par 3 where hitting the ball too far might leave your nearest point of relief on the Isle of Man, which peaks over the distant horizon. Perhaps the only shortcoming at Ardglass is that there are too many short holes, leaving a feeling that the entire property is about 50 acres too small. There are currently three new holes under construction that will permit some routing changes, which ought to make for a more challenging experience. And hang around long enough and you might get to tee it up with club captain Gerry Kelly, Northern Ireland's answer to Johnny Carson. If the Valley Course at Royal Portrush was located anyplace else, it would be among the most in-demand venues in Ireland. Unfortunately, it rests literally in the shadow of Royal Portrush's famed Dunluce Links, the storied course that hosted the 1951 British Open. Yet even with this unfair comparison, the Valley Course more than holds its own. In numerous trips around the Dunluce Links I've hit more foul balls than Derek Jeter. At the Valley Course, we high handicappers face conditions that are much less punitive yet still retain the elements that make links golf so frustrating: wind, rough, uneven fairways and deep bunkers. To wit, on the very day I coasted round the Valley Course in 90 strokes, the Dunluce Links was hosting a senior event that featured most of the top amateurs in Europe. You could count on one hand the number of scores under 80 these highly skilled competitors had posted. "And the wind isn't even blowing," laughed Wilma Erskine, the longtime secretary of Royal Port- rush. The club was opened in 1888 and is located about an hour west of Belfast, near the spectacular Giant's Causeway. Golf in Ireland is mostly a year-round pursuit, with many playable days in winter (the country doesn't get much snow). While the aforementioned courses rarely see the crowds of a Ballybunion or Lahinch, the best time to visit is spring, when the links are comparatively deserted, by American standards. Even on a busy day, you won't face aching 5-hour rounds, most of which is spent waiting for the tortoise up ahead to putt for 10. The longest round you might reasonably expect is 3 1/ |
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