Bright Castle, Northern Ireland?

[Ran Morrissett]

That may not be the correct spelling but a course by a similar name is near Royal County Down, and provides thrilling views over RCD. It is inland in nature, is comparable in length with RCD (perhaps it's modern?), and comes highly recommended as being good in its own right but also at 14 pounds, as a genuine bargain.

Anyone know much about it?

Also, while on the subject of Ulster, a visitor to this site told me that he liked playing the Valley Course at Portrush as much as the main course these days because it relies far less on thick rough as part of its challenge and is more interesting around the greens. In fact, he went so far as to say he wondered if Colt might not have divided his attention evenly between the two courses. I haven't played The Valley course; is it perhaps Colt's most underrated effort?

[John_D._Bernhardt]

I have not played the Valley course but I did hear the same thing. I wanted to play it but heavy rain for a couple days to away the opportunity.

[Johnny B]

Ran,
I know Bright Castle quite well.  It is about 15 miles from where I live. It is indeed at the top of a hill with great views and is very well drained.  It has the dubious fame of having the longest par 5 in Ireland - it was recently lengthened to well over 600 yards.  It was built by a farmer on his land and is very much a do it yourself type of course, not particularly good but has a lot of potential.  If a good architect had been employed it could have been an outstanding course - but how many other courses could you say the same of?
The Valley is a fine course and much easier than Dunluce, but still not really in the same league.  The Dunluce is suffering a little because the rough (I think mainly due to several wet seasons) is very long and the course becomes too difficult.  However it is still a joy to play.

Happy New Year to yourself and all your family from Northern Ireland and if any other GCA readers are coming to N Ireland let me know and I will see what I can do to help.

Finally there are a few changes going on at Royal County Down - I remain a little sceptical but will report later.

Johnny Browne