Golfing Heaven - Royal County Down

[Ally Mcintosh]

When I was doing the Golf Digest Ireland Top-100 for 5 years, I always said that I could argue any of those 5 in any order on any given day.

Niall, where each course stands out above the others for me:

RCD: Beauty, vegetation, conditioning (especially in green surround transitions)

Portrush: Elegance, green complexes, flow, ground contours

Portmarnock: Scale, routing scheme, strategy, conditioning

Lahinch: Variety, quirk, fun, ground contours

Ballybunion: Approach shots, unusual flow, unususual dune structures and hole orientation, the unexpected.

[Sean_A]

I love Royal County Down.

But I think I'd take Portrush and Lahinch ahead of it and Portmarnock and Ballybunion around the same.

Those are my clear big 5.

County Down wins just about every contest on aesthetics and beauty though.

Great tour, Bryan

I am slightly at odds with you Ally...just considering quality....


1. Lahinch...superb mix of quirk, modern, difficulty, playability and beauty...Ireland's North Berwick


2. Ballybunion...wonderful routing, simply has more top notch holes than the other 4, but the rough drags it down to #2


3. Co Down...very pretty, but vegetation is double edge sword with lost ball fest on the blind holes from shots which should be accomodated...would be a much better course with 10-15 added yards of width...possibly #1 


4. The Island....unusual course, perhaps a bit too much between big dunes, but the rough and ready conditioning and several fun holes wins out for me...its proper links


5. Portrush....best greens of the five, lovely land movement, perhaps a bit overbearing with crosswind drives for the handicap player


Bryan


Enjoying the tour. 


Ciao

[Bryan Izatt]

The 7th turns back into the wind and along with the 8th and 9th takes you back to the clubhouse in a challenging close to the front nine.  It is a short par 3 by any measure and has appropriate features to protect such a short hole.




From the tee, the punishment for being short is obvious - another one of those hairy bunkers blocking the way.  The rest of the trouble around the green is not obvious at all.  The yardage guide describes what you can't see, but it also plays with your mind about the size of the target and the hazards awaiting if you miss by a bit.  And, of course it's all complicated by the strong breeze in your face.







A close up look at the fronting bunker (with my ball in it).  I played an extra 20 yards of club for the wind, but it obviously wasn't enough.  Took one more club and got to the front left corner of the green.  It's hard to pull a 155 yard club for such a short hole.  Perhaps the first shot was a subconscious desire to try out one of the bunkers.

As a minor complaint, I did not care for the sand in the bunkers.  It was very heavy and sticky - tough to get the club through.  I was spoiled the day before at Donegal where the sand was much more granular and easy to get the club through.  The RCD sand would require a little getting used to.




Here is a view of the green from the front.  You can see my second ball just off the front left corner of the green, giving lie to the yardage guide warning that balls moving left will go down the slope into the bunker.  Or, maybe I just got lucky.  Weather still looks good over the mountain - but just wait until the next hole.




And finally, view from the back of the green with a pretty severe runoff for those who manage to go long.  Oh, and a little puddle of standing water.  Strange given that the ground was fairly firm.

[Bryan Izatt]

The 8th is another long par 4 that plays longer into the wind on this day.  Another glorious view from the tee.





The hole plays down from the tee and then up to the green.  The landing zone seems adequately generous with the fairway being pinched by two bunkers that are out of range for all but the longest bombers.  For me they were more of a concern for the second shot into the wind.  Like a number of other holes they are positioned well short of the green and play with ones depth perception.  You'll notice it's looking a little misty on the mountains, although the fairway is still in sunshine.




In fact, it's looking a lot misty all of a sudden and it's coming this way.




Now it looks like a wall of rain and it's coming fast.




After a five minute drenching, it's gone as fast as it came.


The long second shot (a 3 wood for me) has to clear the two flanking bunkers and then thread the channel between two relatively small dunes on either side.  Hitting a low screaming draw into the wind was not enough to reach the green after getting caught up near the bottom of the left dune.  Turns out that that was a good thing.  The green surrounds are very penal for a longish par 4.


Not to get too far ahead, but you'll notice the group ahead teeing off on the 9th, and if you look closely you can see two caddies on the skyline next to the steeple.  It seems common practice to send a couple of caddies ahead on the blind holes to spot the drives.




Up on the flat in front of the green there are some hints that there are drop offs to either side of the green and that this green too is just laid on the ground.


And, rain, what rain?  Just blue skies again.




Looking back up the fairway from behind the green you can see the drop offs to the left side of the picture and in the foreground.  The drop off to the right of the picture is not so clear, but it is close by and is a steep drop into lost ball cabbage.  I did lose a ball down there on a second try shot from the fairway short of the cross bunkers. 


The green complex seemed particularly penal given how long the hole plays into the wind.  A tough and potentially card wrecking hole.  Better played in match play or Stableford I think.

[Bryan Izatt]

Immediately behind the 8th green are the normal golfer 9th tees with beautiful views of Dundrum Bay, the mountains and Newcastle.  This is a daunting, long into the wind closing to the front nine.  Take a look at the position of the championship blue tees and their length.  Into the wind, this hole would challenge even the best.  To me it would make a more iconic 18th than the current 18th.





From the tee there looks like a benign fairway sloping to the left and then disappearing over the dune ridge.  If you were paying attention when you were getting ready to tee off on number 1, you'd know that the drop off is precipitous.  Although it would appear that a line down the centre of the fairway would be good, in fact the aiming post is in the right rough.  The bottom fairway is displaced to the right of the upper fairway.


I hit a low slinging hook into the wind that started the aiming post and disappeared a bit to the left of it.  I walked to the edge of the precipice entirely chuffed with the drive with thoughts of a par and an outward 39 dancing in my brain.  Sadly, not to be.  This is one tough hole to par.








Two pictures from the upper fairway showing the lower fairway and the green, and the bell to ring when the fairway is clear.  Disturbingly my excellent drive is not visible in the fairway?  I did find it, at the bottom of the hill in the longer rough just short of the fairway. I managed to pound my excellent drive all of 180 yards into the wind.  The wind was perhaps somewhat stronger than I thought!  Nothing to do but lay it out short of the cross bunkers








A picture from behind the green looking back up the hole gives some sense of the scale of the dune.  Clearly the players at the top had not managed to clear the ridge and reach the lower fairway.




A closer look at the green where you can see the channel between the dunes and the blocking cross bunker (this one without eyelashes).  The blocking bunker and pinched fairway seems to be part of a consistent design ethos - or maybe it's just getting repetitive.




From the front of the green the drop off to the left is evident.  There is also a drop off to the right.  The green is fairly undulating.  Recovery from around the green is supposed to be difficult, but one wonders how many players are actually going to reach the green or its surrounds in regulation Playing a third shot from 50 to 75 yards short of the green and blocking bunker probably takes the green surrounds out of play.

[MCirba]

Bryan,

This is awesome. Thank you very much for taking the time and energy to do this.

[Thomas Dai]

...."one wonders how many players are actually going to reach the green or its surrounds in regulation"

I reckon in just 17 words Bryan has summed up RCD.

Atb

[Jon Wiggett]

Great looking course and excellent tour by Bryan. I am somewhat surprised that the eighth appeared to be the only hole on the front that did not narrow so much or have some other hazard in the middle as to not require a forced carry. Seemed a bit of a repetitive theme for such a well renowned club so I wonder if it is really so or just appears such but plays differently when on the ground?


Jon

[Bryan Izatt]

Sean,


I don't recall feeling that there needed to be additional width on any of the holes.  There were a couple of demanding driving holes, but by and large I felt the landing areas were generous enough given where I was hitting the ball.  The first cut of rough also seemed reasonably playable.  Admittedly I was having a good day with the driver.  When you lost balls on the blind shots, was it because you didn't make the carry or because you were too far off the recommended line?




Jon,


The narrowing and cross hazards seemed to be more of a front nine feature.  I don't recall any on the back nine.  When I was playing it didn't cross my mind that this was a recurring feature on the front nine.  The forced carry over the cross bunkers is easily achieved by almost anyone I would think and they are far enough from the green for the most part so that you can carry them and still run a shot into the greens.

[Bryan Izatt]

The 10th sits behind the clubhouse and heads back north with the wind.  At 180 yards it is just long enough to get your attention for what seems like an innocuous par 3 after the drama of the 9th and anticipation of more drama at the Matterhorn 11th.




Although the guide suggests the hole is of "great character", I thought it looked fairly benign with the green sitting in a pretty dell surrounded by dunes that weren't too close to be discomforting.  In retrospect, it seems to me it is a breather hole.




There are bunkers with the usual dense marram rough around them on the left and right that encroach on the the front opening a bit.  From experience, you do not want to be just into the rough edges.  It took a left handed toe down recovery shot to get out of the edge of the rough around the left front bunker.  Easy bogey on the breather hole.




From right of the green, the green looks relatively flat and morphs seamlessly into the surrounds.




Looking back from behind the green to the tee and the clubhouse.  From this angle the green has some tilt to the left side of the picture (right side of the green).

[Bryan Izatt]

A short walk up the dune to the right of the 10th green takes you to the elevated 11th tee.  The 11th is a longer par 4 that plays downwind.





This drive is the mother of all blind drives as it requires you to go up and over the Matterhorn dune that you descended on the 9th hole.  The dune side leading up looks very dense and must eat a lot of tee balls.  A confident drive is required over the aiming pole.







When you crest the ridge, take a pause and look back to the tee, the 10th hole, the clubhouse, the Slieve Donard spire and mountain in the background - another wonderful view.




Looking forward to the hole, you can see it sweeps away to the right.  The good news is that this provides a wide landing area for the blind drive.  The rough left and right is fairly light and playable if you get off line.  The bad news is the fairway is canted left so it's possible to go through the fairway left, leaving you further from the green.  And ideal tee shot would be a power fade.







The green is flanked by the usual nasty bunkers, but the front is open to a running approach shot with interesting humps and bumps to deal with.  The bunker in the foreground left looks like it would do a good job of collecting any shots that are in the neighbourhood.  In retrospect, although there are a lot of bunkers on the course, I only found three on the day and those on badly played shots.  Maybe they aren't as much of a threat as you might expect given their number.  Or, maybe I just had a lucky day.




From right of the green you can see some of the contour on the green - this one more difficult than most.  Looking across the green to the farm land in the distance you can see the links land petering out.  The last few holes coming in are on less interesting land than the first 14 holes going out.

[Bryan Izatt]

The 12th is a short par 5 that is played down wind and a bit down hill.  Thoughts of birdies will surely be going through most players' heads.  I'm a little surprised that they don't make it an extra long par 4 to maintain an image of a tough course.  However, for the average player it must be a hole to look forward to where a good score relative to par is a real possibility.





Unlike many holes out here, the green is in view from the tee, although there is a fair expanse of rough and heather to carry to get to the fairway - a straight forward drive.




From the undulating fairway the green is sitting there invitingly.  A tricky stance might be involved and the rough on either side is wispy but can still muddle up the shot.




From closer in you can see the bunkers and hairy knobs that can cause grief if you get off line going for the green.  I hit a poor poped-up hybrid from the right rough and came up online but a little short.




Two tries and two mediocre chips and missed putts and a disappointing par.  The green is a bit crowned but not too difficult. 




Looking back up the fairway, the opening to the green looks more narrow, but just the same, leaving this green without a birdie will disappoint most I think - another breather hole.  From here in it gets tougher again.

[Sean_A]

Sean,

I don't recall feeling that there needed to be additional width on any of the holes.  There were a couple of demanding driving holes, but by and large I felt the landing areas were generous enough given where I was hitting the ball.  The first cut of rough also seemed reasonably playable.  Admittedly I was having a good day with the driver.  When you lost balls on the blind shots, was it because you didn't make the carry or because you were too far off the recommended line?

Jon,

The narrowing and cross hazards seemed to be more of a front nine feature.  I don't recall any on the back nine.  When I was playing it didn't cross my mind that this was a recurring feature on the front nine.  The forced carry over the cross bunkers is easily achieved by almost anyone I would think and they are far enough from the green for the most part so that you can carry them and still run a shot into the greens.

Bryan


I didn't have any more difficulty than the usual open course...fairways too tight without question, but thats what we have these days...stupid set-ups.  I was thinking more of my playing partners...total lost ball fest in June rough...very long day getting red necks. 


Ciao

[Bryan Izatt]

A short walk to to the right of 12 green on a pathway through a gorse forest takes you to the 13th hole, another long par 4 over 400 yards but playing down wind still.





After walking through the gorse forest, the 13th tee is in an amphitheater surrounded by dunes.  Golfers on the surrounding dunes are on the Annesley Links course.  That course appears to share some of the good links land on which the Championship course resides.




The player is confronted by what I think might be the most exacting drive on the course.  From the guide you can see that the fairway snakes around the right side dunes, which are much higher than the picture depicts.  The dune on the left side descends precipitously to the edge of the fairway and is covered in impenetrable gunch.  My sense on the tee and walking down the fairway was of playing down a walled-in channel.  As the guide suggests the best place to drive the ball is down the left edge, near the dangerous dune side, to open up a view of the green.




This shot looking back down the hole from the elevated 14 tee gives a better sense of the fairway snaking between the dunes, but then expanding enormously after the right side dunes.




From the right side of the fairway, the green is completely blind.  From the centre of the fairway some of the green is visible and part is hidden behind one of the hairy bunkers.  There is no sense of the expansive area of fairway and approach out to the right behind the dune.




From further to the left, where I drove the ball there's a good view of the green, but still no sense of the space to the right.  Being cautious of the unseen right approach, I pulled one a bit to the left and ended up in the bunker.  A second try out to the right showed that there is a large kick plate out there that will help trundle the ball onto the green (and in my case, through to the back fringe).  In retrospect, I think the a second shot over to the right and running onto the green is the best approach.  The blind shot from the right side of the fairway seems more possible knowing that there is a large safe area over the dune.  There is a bunker and gorse over there but there is also plenty of room to run the ball in if you can get a good line.




From short left you start to get a sense of how much room there is around this green.




A picture looking back across the green.  The contouring of the green is not obvious in the pictures but it is there and this is a large green.  Approaches from around the green can be accomplished with a putter as the green blends seamlessly into the surrounds.


This hole appealed to me a lot.  Perhaps it was the exacting tee shot, or the mystery of the green surrounds, or that the second shot was more playable than might be imagined, or that the green site surrounded by gorse covered dunes is very tranquil (it must be beautiful in the spring when the gorse is in bloom).

[Bryan Izatt]

The 15th is a longish par 3 playing a bit down hill from an elevated tee and as we're still going north, it's still downwind.




From the tee, there is a lot going on.  Bunkers left and right, rough covered knobs, even a small yellow staked water hazard to the left, and an open front that will allow a running shot all vie for your attention.  Worrying about hooking it into the water hazard I, of course, blocked it into the largest of the right bunkers.  The dense pine forest behind provides a nice backdrop and also hides a rather large caravan park.  A great links course can't be great without a caravan park nearby.




Zoomed in a bit the myriad hazards are more clear.  It's also clear that the green is almost Redanesque running from front to back and right to left.







Looking back across the green to the tee up on the dune.  This is not an easy hole.

[Bryan Izatt]

A few steps from the 14th green is the 15th tee.  It's so close I imagine it must be a distraction having players teeing off on the 15th while the following players are teeing off on the 14th.  The 15th is a beastly long par 4 at more than 450 yards let alone being played into the wind as we turn towards home.





Befitting a long par 4, the fairway width is quite generous.  This might well qualify as another blind tee shot although I can't imagine many players getting over the dune ridge into the wind.




Over the ridge the green is a bit off to the right and there are rough covered moguls crossing the left part of the fairway.  The moguls may be a consideration off the tee for very long hitters.




From the area of the moguls you can see the bunkers left and right.  There is plenty of room to run a ball between them, but they are deceptive as they are 60 to 70 yards short of the green.  The second shot is brutally long and most often, I would expect, from an uphill lie in the fairway when you really want to hit a low running shot under the wind.




From closer in you can see that the green is crowned with steep runoffs to the right and left.  The right side is more problematic as the gorse is in close proximity.  This looks like the quintessential par 4.5 hole.  Perhaps it is the payback for the short par 5 12th hole.  You might easily end up with even par for the two holes by going birdie/bogey.

[Niall C]

Bryan

Wonderful tour. What strikes me is the gentle sideways tilt of the fairways and greens which I like a lot. Doesn't look too tight to my eye. It is a big boys course after all and not really intended for the wild slasher.

Niall

[David_Tepper]

Bryan -

Thanks for this wonderful tour. Hard to believe it is well over 30 years since I played RCD.

I probably did not break 90 the day I played there, but I got around the course without losing a ball and I am still proud of that.

DT
 

[Alex Miller]

Playing downwind it appears to me the 14th could clearly be classified as a redan.


And to my eye it is one of the most appealing I've ever seen! This thread is vaulting RCD to the top of my must-play list and I'm thinking a trip to Northern Ireland is in order...


I must ask - are politics the sole reason it has not hosted an Open? Seems more than worthy in both challenge and quality of the course.

[Thomas Dai]

The 15th with it's pretty severe uphill tee shot can be a particularly awkward hole.

Into a strong wind, even if you get your tee shot up towards the top of the hill near the white marker, it's a surprisingly good thump, and quite likely played from an uphill lie with your longest fairway club, to safely carry your next shot over the wide expanse of hollows and gunch and bunkers that are in themselves well short of the green. And if you can't carry the hollows and gunch and bunkers and decide to lay-up instead, well it's then 150+ Yds into the wind to the centre of the green for your third shot.


Tough hole. Good luck!


Atb

[Hunter Rigsby]

I took a look at the scorecard online - the ladies tees are 6249!

I was fortunate to spend two nights at the Slieve Donard and have a wonderful 36-hole day there last August...


Regarding the yardages, I played the morning match with my moderns and the afternoon with my hickories.  With hickories, at ~6,200 yards, the course is a stern test.  I remember playing the morning match and taking note of where the forward tees were along the way - wondering how I was going to hit some of the shots required (specifically some of the forced carries) and navigating my way around the links making every attempt to avoid the bunkers.


I will say one of my favorite parts of our 10-day trip were the hickory matches we had at Ballybunion Old, Royal County Down, Dooks, Royal Portrush and Portmarnock - especially the look and reaction from the caddies and starters when we pulled up to the first tee...

Not relevant to the topic, but I think I may have caddied for your group during one of those rounds!


As far as RCD, it is truly a surreal golfing experience.  It's hard to put a finger on what makes it so, but it just feels different than anywhere else I've played.  I would say the same about Lahinch (just with a different, indescribable aura about it). 

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Alex,


No, it's nothing to do with politics. Like Ballybunion an its high dunes, RCD is just not capable of hosting something as large as the Open. I think there was a crowd limit for last year's Irish Open. Here are some highlights that show what a tough course it can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q9_OQZxQuM

[Bryan Izatt]

Another short walk around some gorse gets you to the 16th tee, a short par 4 but still into the wind.  It's not often these days to see a routing where there are so many short walks from greens to tees.  It helps to make the course very walkable apart from a couple of climbs over large dunes.





There's some temptation to call this a driveable par 4 given it's only (!) 300 yards.  Certainly for me, and most golfers, it's not reachable, especially into the wind.  With a following wind and firm fast conditions it would be fun to have a go at it though.  It's struck me as strange that the overall yardage of the course is so long for a par 71 when there are 3 relatively short par 5's and this very short par 4.  I guess the nine par 4's over 400 yards do the trick.  The wind certainly makes the long par 4's play quite different.  I never had the feeling that it was a long slog.


From the tee, the 16th is out there in front of you.  You can see the bunkers to avoid and where the fairway is.  I suppose if most of us were managing our games we'd drive it 200 yards to take the first set of bunkers out of play and leave ourselves a wedge shot in to the green.  It looks like a fade would be a good shot shape.


Given the wind I played driver knowing that even a good hit wouldn't reach the bunkers.




From the right side of the fairway near the first right bunker, the wedge shot to the green looks fairly straight forward.




Of course, my drive wasn't straight, so I ended up in the depression short and right of the first bunker.  Over here the lie is luck of the draw - either a tight hardpan lie or heather or wispy fescue rough.




From short right of the green you can see some of the contours of the green.  The guide suggests that the green slopes from front to back, but if it does, it's was subtle to my eye.




Looking over from near the 17th tee it looks like the green is again crowned with tightly mown runoffs. 

In any event, most will expect to at least par this hole. 

[Chris_Hufnagel]

I took a look at the scorecard online - the ladies tees are 6249!

I was fortunate to spend two nights at the Slieve Donard and have a wonderful 36-hole day there last August...


Regarding the yardages, I played the morning match with my moderns and the afternoon with my hickories.  With hickories, at ~6,200 yards, the course is a stern test.  I remember playing the morning match and taking note of where the forward tees were along the way - wondering how I was going to hit some of the shots required (specifically some of the forced carries) and navigating my way around the links making every attempt to avoid the bunkers.


I will say one of my favorite parts of our 10-day trip were the hickory matches we had at Ballybunion Old, Royal County Down, Dooks, Royal Portrush and Portmarnock - especially the look and reaction from the caddies and starters when we pulled up to the first tee...

Not relevant to the topic, but I think I may have caddied for your group during one of those rounds!


As far as RCD, it is truly a surreal golfing experience.  It's hard to put a finger on what makes it so, but it just feels different than anywhere else I've played.  I would say the same about Lahinch (just with a different, indescribable aura about it).

Hunter, small world.


My group concluded that the best caddies we had the entire trip were at Royal County Down and Portrush.  It's been said too many times to count that a good caddie (especially in Ireland and Scotland) makes the experience so much better and I couldn't agree more.

[Bryan Izatt]

After exiting the 16th green to the right you are approaching the property boundary line on the inland side and it becomes apparent that you are moving away from the good linksland toward the housing of Newcastle. The 17th is another longish par 4 where it will take two good strikes of your long clubs to reach the green in regulation.





The green is visible in the distance from the tee and the fairway is laid out in front of you descending a bit from the tee and rising toward the green.  There is a bail out pocket on the right side short of the bunkers for shorter hitters (which included me on this day).  Compared to the previous 16 holes the topography is a lot less compelling.




Smack dab in the middle of the fairway, but out of sight if the tee, is a small pond around 280 - 310 from the tees.  It struck me as the most jarring unnatural feature on a course where otherwise the setting and features are just about perfect for links golf.  It's perfect rectangular shape is at odds with the naturalness of the rest of the course.  I wonder if it is a naturally occurring spring that couldn't be removed.  I suppose routing around it to the left or right couldn't be accommodated because the Annesley course runs fairly close by on either side of this hole.


Into the wind, it seems oddly placed as only the very longest hitters would need to think about it off the tee, while it well infront of the green so as to be easy to carry with a second shot.  In all honesty though, I must admit to smothering a hooked 3 wood second shot into it on one of my two tries at hitting a low screaming hook into the wind to try to try to reach the green in regulation.  The other try was much more successful.




From the front of the green you can see that this one has more movement to it with a couple of ridges crossing the green. 

All-in-all this hole was a bit of a disappointment for me.  Too bad it's so close to the end of the round.  Too bad there isn't some way to cross over and use the 8th and 9th as the closing two holes, but they are too far away.  Oh well, exit straight back off the green over the ridge to the 18th.