Mark - I agree, 5 has some flavour as well, and it is fun to watch putts trying to get over back and left ridges on 15 also.
- So why do people say glad "there is only one green like this" - "you can only have one green like this on a course"
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Brett,
Simple variety, and variety of demand.
Ballyneal would be an interesting creature to have a look at - If all - most? - of the greens have so many rolling contours, wouldn't that get a little tired?
As much as I defend the 3rd and 9th greens at St Andrews Beach, one of each of them is enough. It's as much fun trying to conquer greens like the 4th, 5th or 8th there, or the 3rd and 6th at B Dunes.
Ballyneal has a handful of "knarly" greens.
The 6th is small and approached from a longs ways out, yet still features some big internal undulations and falls away drastically at the front and flanks.
The 7th, with its famous “E” shape, is sloped considerably from left to right (spine to fingers), with the rear finger much higher than the front.
The 8th is also tiered and has a hump that must be traversed between the short left and long right sections. Anything off line can easily feed off of the green.
The 12th is split into four sections, each of which gathers shot to the respective hole locations, if one makes a decent attempt. Poor attempts will often find the player putting again from nearly as far as their first putt.
Finally, the 15th green is cambered heavily from right to left, with lots of internal ripples.
Barnbougle’s greens are more “tame” overall, but an excellent balance of challenge and forgiveness can be found on both courses.
For the record, Ballyneal is still my favorite course, and Barnbougle Dunes is nearly as good.