Patrick -
My round was the second week of July, last year. I agree I would put Lahinch pretty much in the same class as Royal County Down and Ballybunion. I haven't seen Muirfield, so I can't make that comparison. I thought the turf was perfect when I played, and I loved the opportunity to use the ground game. The ground there has such wonderful movement.
Greg -
The drive at the 4th is pretty narrow, as evidenced in the pictures. It was one of those deals where I didn't know how tough that drive was until after I played it, and that was a good thing. Had I known how narrow the landing area is, I probably would have blown it up into the dunes. However, on the rest of the holes, I felt like I had some room to operate, especially on the back nine, which has more holes playing inland. Lahinch isn't wide open, you've got to strike the ball well, but I felt it was a very fair balance in terms of width. Patrick, who lives in Lahinch, could speak more to this point than I can.