Baltray, last Friday, was my first ever game of Irish golf. A 5am alarm saw me on the move for the next seven and a half hours getting from my front door to the first tee, but it was worth the tube/bus/plane/car trip!!
The thing that stood out for me was the greensites. Many of them flowed really beautifully and, just as importantly, naturally off the sides of the dunes and just looked so perfect in their setting.
Pat Ruddy was right to note that it was a masterstroke by Tom Simpson that the greens look so charming but are a major challenge to play to. I'd class the best four or five as being as fun to play as the greens at TOC, and that's saying something!
The third green is the first to really wow you, though the three gentle tiers of the second green are a highlight of that hole. The entire green complex at the third is hidden from view until you're 30 yards short, with a rough-covered dune short left dominating the view on approach. At the green the land falls strongly to the left, where a steep side slope channels balls away to a closely-shaved chipping area, and gentle slopes on the side of the hill mean the chip is no straightforward recovery.
The fourth hole would probably get more talk were the 14th not such a cracking short par four. Bunkerless, the fairway from 70 yards out right up to the green is a rollercoaster ride, with a main channel running diagonally to the left catching aggressive te shots that end up in "no man's land", forcing a tough 30-50 yard pitch and run to a green that, camouflaged by the more dramatic slopes around it, looks much flatter than it is. There's a speed slot on the right edge of the green that will help the ball on, but that requires a dangerous carry over long rough.
The fifth is the first par three, and probably the best one-shotter on the course. The green slopes hard from right to left, and the slope at the front doesn't mess around either, depositing anything short either into the bunker (from where almost any pin is likely to be cut on land sloping away from you, forcing you to play right and use the contours) or back down the hill 30 yards short, leaving a chip/pitch up the hill reminiscent of the 6th at Deal, but to a far more treacherous green.
If you're not in golfing Nirvana by the time you putt out on the 6th, you have no soul
. The drive on this par five is over the right edge of a fairway trap, leaving a tempting second. The green falls away on all sides, and with a bunker right, I over-compensated and missed left, leaving a tough chip onto a green that does all it can to shrug balls played from that side into a collection area behind the bunker. Again, it just looks so natural atop the dune, and some closely-mown grass and subtle green contours provide the challenge.
The 7th is a mid to short-iron to an angled green, and though missing short doesn't look that great from the tee, this slope at the back right is infinitely more demanding, with a strong back-to-front slope encouraging a recovery struck to firmly to accelerate back down the front. These two par threes mentioned so far and the really enjoyable 15th (which reminded me of #6 at Sandwich - pic further down) are perhaps the best links par threes I have played behind Rye, and just in front of Sandwich, Trevose and North Berwick. Pity the 17th is a bit of a dog.
So that's five scintillating greens in a row, turning holes of reasonably comfortable length into tough pars.
From there you come to a bit of quiet time as far as the greens are concerned, with 8 and 11 offering some subtle and even slopes and 9/10 being pretty flat, then comes the 12th, which, with its flag just visible beyond rolling "sea swell" dunes, has more than a hint of the 3rd at Deal about it (I know, enough with the Deal comparisons...). What a fun long iron shot, running the ball the last 30 yards or so over the dip and onto the green, with that great couple of minutes afterwards waiting to see how it turned out! I never tire of that feeling. I also liked that there was plenty of space used in conjunction with the blindness, much the same as 13 at Rye.
The 14th green was so devilish that, at 322 yards, it may well be the shortest par 4.5 hole I have played. I was faced with a pin cut at the front, and saw first-hand that any putt from the top tier was nigh on improssible to stop near the hole. Add in the steep greenfront slopes and it's one of those greens you would take decades to master, if you ever did.
The 16th green demands to be approached from the left, where an opening in the dunes gives you a look right up the green, and brings the running approach into play. Anything driven right, which is tempting from the elevated tee, leaves a second shot over a tall dune that blocks your vision completely and requires that the ball be flown onto the green.
