It has been a couple of years since the most recent photo tour of Ballyneal and I thought I'd do my best to present the golf course with a tour of my own. There are some spots where I am missing some pictures and I encourage any and all to add their own photos. Credit to Matt Bosela and Kyle Henderson as I have taken a few pictures from each of their tours in the name of completeness (I hope they don't mind).
Enjoy the pictures and I look forward to discussing one of the great golf courses of the world.
I had difficulty finding a good picture of the routing. The first picture is taken from the routing hanging in the clubhouse
This routing is from Google Earth. It appears as though all holes had been laid out, though only about half has been seeded.
P3 = Yellow
P4 = Blue
P5 = Pink
Hole 1: Par 4, 382 YardsApproach is much easier from the left, where you can see the green better and you are hitting away from trouble … but the left is a hard place to get to, especially from the back tee.
The tee shot on one is arguably the most difficult on the course. From the back tee, the fairway is at a diagonal - the ideal line is over the left fairway bunker, a carry of 210 yards. The Line of Charm is in full effect here as one can play safely to the right side of the fairway yet the temptation to challenge the left is overwhelming.
The forward tee, which is commonly used in afternoon rounds as it is literally right out the back-door of the restaurant, straightens out the hole and requires no forced carry.
From start of fairway
A fairly straightforward approach rewarding tee shots that find the fairway. The green is open in the front with bunkers short-left and long-left of the green and a shallow run-off to the right of the green.
Approach from centre:
Approach from left shows a bunker hidden from view from the tee some 75 yards short of the green. Not many will reach this bunker, but a fairway undulations can attract long tee balls into the swale short of the bunker leaving a blind approach. A penal feature on a very strategic golf course.
Bunker short-left of green
Oceans be damned, standing on the 1st green at Ballyneal you are treated to one of the truly great vistas in all of golf
1st Green from right