I’m sure it will look far more natural when the grasses blend back, Mark.
I hope so, Ally. It looks quite jarring now. Do you know if they have used a different grass for the greens than what was there previously?
That said, I’m struggling a little with understanding that 8th green myself. The motivation is clearly to eradicate the crossover from the 9th tee but looking at all those videos, I hope they haven’t underestimated the west of Ireland wind.
My memories of the old green were that there was a desirable approach angle, but the incorrect one meant the second shot was more difficult, but could still be done with some creativity. The new one looks like if you are on the wrong side of the fairway, it is a chip to the front and then putt or chip on.
Maybe there is more room between dune, green and sea than it looks, but you couldn't possibly hit at that green from the right?
Either way, I’m positive the result will be spectacular.
I must be one of the only people who enjoyed the first few holes. I loved the greens on all of them, and the 3rd was an undiscovered, clever delight as far as par threes go.
I can see the rationale for attempting to maybe make some of the lesser holes such as 12 and 13, as well as perhaps 14, more interesting, but I thought the course had a great balance as a whole. The flatter/lesser holes made you appreciate the great ones, and the great land, more. That stretch from 5-10 is, or rather, was, one of the best in Ireland.
The location of the ‘new’ Hanse 8th green is a bit of a puzzle. As mentioned above, I recall looking across at the now Hanse location and seeing the outline of a semi-existing green on the ground. Which does beg the question that if the green was indeed previously there why was it subsequently relocated?
Seaspsray? There were 2 or 3 holes that had plastic shelter from various directions presumably to stop that when I was there in 2012, and that 8th hole location is a lot closer to water than the others were.
Good point about the visitor price by Mark. It does seem quite a bit for such a remote location but then again greenfee prices generally for non-GUI visitors in the Republic seem to have rocketed in the last couple of years.
I paid €35 Euro in November 2012, Thomas, which was an outrageous bargain. Out of season is now €60, which is still okay. When I was there, the summer fee was still only about €60, so €120 is a significant rise. That's now $191 Australian, which is perilously close to skip it territory.