Thanks for the photos Dave; looks like you got a better day than I did. I'm glad you enjoyed my home county.
I am very sorry to hear about your young superintendent; that is tragic news. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it?
I played Sandy Hills last July, as I was eager to find out if it was as tough as I had heard it was. To be honest it wasn't the brute I was braced for. I was fortunate to play it on a calm but wet morning. I played off the white tees, but some were a little forward, and were more like the yellows.
I hit my 3W about 220-240 yds and had no difficulty hitting the fairways. I did knock down drives at the 6th and 13th and pulled my drive at the 10th (instant lost ball). The only other fairway I missed was the 9th where I sliced it right into the hollow.
I found the fairways quite generous and was a little puzzled by all the criticism regarding toughness. There are no unreasonable carries off the tee, although the carry on the par three 11th is quite long. As with any course, if you play off the appropriate tees, you should have no real problems with the carries off the tee.
However, I can see where there might be a difficulty for shorter hitters. The fairways on the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th and 18th begin to narrow after the drive LZ and only widen again as you near the green. This is not always the case, but it's quite evident on many of the par fours. For example, I knocked down my drive at the 6th, and walked forward to see what faced me. The fairway was pinched from 130 yards out, all the way in to the green. I now needed to hit a dead-straight 3W and try to get within 70-80 yds of the green; I decided to lay up with a 5 iron and then play a 7 iron from about 140 yds. I felt the approach was too narrow, even though I really trust my 3W. I can now see how this hole could be a real ball buster for the shorter hitter, as the LZ for the second shot is at the narrowest part of the fairway. A similar situation occurs at the 18th.
I'd imagine the "crater" at the 9th would pose similar problems. The drive is a difficult one up the hill; one needs to hit it about 210 yds from the white tees, to make the crest of the hill. If you don't hit it that far, you then face an up hill shot of 150-160 yds to clear the crater. In this case, there is only a very narrow slither of fairway on either side. Things could get nasty if the wind is blowing.
In general, the greens do not contain any terrifying undulations, but many of them are slanted; mostly from back to front, and perhaps one or two from front to back (the 6th?). Most of the greens are "pushed-up" and this is what makes Sandy Hills difficult in my opinion. Many of the greenside bunkers are in sunken bowls, so while the bunker itself may only be 3 yds in radius, the catchment are is more like 6 yds radius.
The approach shots need to be precise and struck very well. Any approach shots landing short of the green, will stay short, as the fairway invariably slopes up to the green. Some of the greens are a little small; the 6th being only 21 yards deep; that's quite small for a 420 yds hole that is stroke index 1.
In many cases the carry from the tee looks more intimidating than it really is. For example, the green on the par three 7th appears from the tee, to be surrounded by think bent, but as you approach the green, a nice mown hollow lies before you.
I haven't played any other Pat Ruddy courses, but I wonder if this form of "visual intimidation" is something he incorporates in his designs. I walked back to the back tee at the 10th, and the visual intimidation is once again used here. Only a tiny patch of the fairway is visible from the tee; the rest is bent. Things are much clearer from the white tee.
I'd like to see a bunkering plan drawn up for the course. There are only two fairway bunkers on the course, and 21-22 in total (according to the strokesaver, there's a bunker short of the 1st green, but I didn't capture it in my pictures, and neither did you), so decision making on the tee is minimal. I pulled out my 3W each time and just hit it. I'd like to be asked a few more questions while standing on the tee. The problem with introducing more bunkers is that the critics would become even louder.
Regarding the old holes across the road, I recently started a thread on those;
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,51551.0.htmlStayed tuned for more updates.
Tony:
St. Patrick's 2012 looks just the same. I walked it on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and have loads of photographs of the Magheramagorgan course (Eddie Hackett). I'll get around some day to posting them. A local farmer (presumably employed by the bank that repossessed the property) with a tractor and gangmower cuts the fairways regularly. He was cutting them the day I played SH. The fairways need to be mowed to avoid any environmental obstacles if/when they re-open the course. The tees are overgrown and the greens are indistinguishable from the fairways. The sandy scar in your picture is on the Trá Mor course, so the Hackett layout is still intact.