Played Dooks a few weeks ago on a family holiday to the Dingle Peninsula in SW Ireland. My numerous loyal fans will know that I also played at Dingle Links and Castlegregory during the trip. I stayed at Inch Beach across the bay from Dooks, albeit a 40 minute drive away - Dooks is on the Ring of Kerry tourist trap.
I'd played Dooks before. However, this was in 1999 and I was very keen to get back as the course had been extensively modified by Martin Hawtree & Co. around 2005-6. I had 4 memories of Dooks, 2 general and 2 specific, and was keen to see how and if these had been affected. My memories were:
General:
- The course is without a doubt the most scenically beautiful course I’d ever played
- There was a very pleasant, off the beaten track, natural feel to Dooks. Charming and fun were 2 words that sprung to mind when describing Dooks.
Specific
- The 13th Green was one of the wildest and most memorable I had ever played.
- The blind approach to the 18th Green – almost a mini Klondyke
I’ve waited a while to post pictures of Dooks as I had a memorably bad experience and I wanted to try and be objective. You will notice from the photos the regular appearance of ground staff on both fairways and greens. I booked for 7.30 as I was on my own. There was no-one there which was no hardship. However, from the first hole until I skipped the 16th and 17th due to being so annoyed, there were greenstaff on every single hole. Dooks have sent me an apology and “courtesy of the course” next time I visit which is much appreciated but it did sour my experience greatly.
With regard to my memories from before, the scenery is obviously unchanged. I did feel that it had lost some of its charm and natural feel. The greens had been extensively modified and built up and they seemed to have lost the lay of the land appeal. The changes were clearly made to attract more of the tour bus crowd and there were 2 buses there when I left at 10am. At 90 euros it was comfortably more expensive than Dingle or Castlegregory, and much closer in price to the likes of Tralee and Waterville than I remember of old.
With regard to the specifics, someone should be prosecuted for the changes made to the 13th green – more on that later. The “mini Klondyke” had been retained but softened – there was a much bigger dip so that you could basically see the pin from anywhere on the fairway. Both changes made the holes “fairer” but I’ve never seen a description of pre changes Dooks that doesn’t mention 13th green. No-one will remember it now.
I’m being too harsh on Dooks, however, and concentrating on the negatives. It is a good course in amazing scenery.
For a few of the holes below I’ve added some old photos for golfarchitecturepictures.com which were taken before the changes to illustrate the difference.
The first hole is a short par 4 with a reasonably tight drive. The old hole really opened up around the very flat green. The new hole is dramatically tighter and the green now very tricky and attractive.
Old approach
The 2nd is another shortish par 4, uphill to a green with a steep slope in front and to the sides.
2nd tee box
The 3rd is a mid length 4 doglegging to the right up and over a steepish rise. The approach goes downhill to a slightly raised green. Apologies for the slightly blurry photos.
The 4th is a mid length par 3 that is a completely new hole and much improved. Anyone playing the old hole would have looked left from the tee at the dunes and wondered why there wasn’t a hole there. Well, there now is and it is a very nice downhill par 3. One criticism I have of Dooks is the similarity in length of the par 3s. I hit 7 iron on all 4 holes.
Old hole
More to follow shortly