2008 Mayo & Sligo Tour: ENNISCRONE GC

[Sean_A]

Sean,

   15 and 18 have only modest dunes that provide a slight angle to play. These low dunes allow your mind's eye to visualize the landing area. You don't have 13 pictured and I can't call it to memory.13 is a very short hole that leaves a wedge to the green after a layup; why bother driving into oblivion?

Mayday

13 is a classic go for it hole especially with the inviting punchbowl like green.  It was easily reachable the day I played, but you have to be confident the shot can be pulled off.  Why does anybody have a go at a hole like this?  For fun!  Hell, I can see tryin to snap one around the corner of 12 just to see if it could be done.  These are the type holes which defy definition and should be built even if they aren't necessarily great holes.  What makes Prestwick's 17th or Lahinch's Dell hole so great?  Nothing, they are just pure fun. 

So far as #15, I was referring to the wee dune which blocks the view of the green.  It was probably built, but what a great idea. 

In general though, I agree with you, the land is a bit rambunctious for golf (much moreso than Lahinch or Ballybunion), but I think there is plenty at Ennsicrone to keep one smiling.  Plus, I can play two games at Enniscrone for the price of a game at Ballybunion and still have enough left over for a fine meal with good wine.  Ballybunion is great for sure (maybe the greatest course of all).  But it is the sort of place to play once or twice and then give it a rest or set up a BACS to pay for the green fee.  Enniscrone is a place that one one let grow on him because they don't charge the earth.   

Ciao

[mike_malone]

 All of this is subjective, but I found Portsalon and Narin/Portnoo to be more the kind of course I would want to play continuously versus Enniscrone and Carne.  The problem for me and Ballybunion is that the other courses in Kerry and south of that aren't as appealing as the ones from Sligo to the north.

   I had a sense that the travel industry infrastructure is well in place from Shannon to the south, but to the north it is not as developed. When I called Portsalon in Feb. for a June tee time they just said "we'll see you then". How refreshing.

[Sean_A]

All of this is subjective, but I found Portsalon and Narin/Portnoo to be more the kind of course I would want to play continuously versus Enniscrone and Carne.  The problem for me and Ballybunion is that the other courses in Kerry and south of that aren't as appealing as the ones from Sligo to the north.

   I had a sense that the travel industry infrastructure is well in place from Shannon to the south, but to the north it is not as developed. When I called Portsalon in Feb. for a June tee time they just said "we'll see you then". How refreshing.

Mayday

Of course its all subjective and I dare say a lot more than the golf effects our opinions. 

You know, thats the only general area in GB&I I have yet to see.  Not sure why, just because I spose.  Maybe in 2010.  Next year is N Ireland.  I recall Golspie being very relaxed about a tee time last year.  Its refreshing, but I have been caught out by this attitude when club diaries get altered after being set. 

Ciao

[Bill_McBride]

Sean, I have played in Northern Ireland, none yet in the Republic.  So questions..

How are apart are those courses?

What about the craic and the lodging?  Good choices?

Thanks,
Bill

[Bill Gayne]

My preferences are

Enniscrone

Rosses Point/Donegal
Carne
Strandhill


You will be hard pressed to find five links of such varying character and quality for the sort of money they ask anywhere in the world. 

Ciao

I've played these courses and  would concur with this ranking. However if money or value was not included in the equation, I would place the Northwest for a third trip to Ireland. I prefer the courses north of Dublin as far north as Portrush (I have not been to Castlerock, Portstewart, and Ballyliffin) and the Southwest (Lahinch to Old Head). However, one can not argue the value that the Northwest offers relative to other regions of Ireland.

[Sean_A]

Sean, I have played in Northern Ireland, none yet in the Republic.  So questions..

How are apart are those courses?

What about the craic and the lodging?  Good choices?

Thanks,
Bill

Bill

We split our lodging between Sligo & Belmullet.  Sligo is a decent enough town.  There are loads of pubs and no shortage of youngsters.  Plenty of choices for hotels with the Glasshouse being the newest right on the river.  Both Strandhill & Rosses Point are minutes out of town. Donegal is about 45 minutes north.

Belmullet is a backwater town.  Nothing much there, but they seem to get through the beer!  There is a new hotel on the edge of town - can't recall its name so no worries with lodging.  Carne is minutes out of town and Enniscrone is about halfway between Sligo & Belmullet.  The drive from Sligo to Belmullet is just under 2 hours.  For those such as yourself who are directionally challenged - give it 2.5 hours. 

Additionally, if you are travelling in a small party (we were 9) b&bs can be a better option, but they tend to be out of town which isn't clever for drink & drive.  We had excellent food the entire trip.  Ranging from Indian to fish to steak.  With wine count on 50 Euros a meal.  With the current poor exchange rates between the pound/dollar and the Euro - its a bit pricey.  Folks are friendly and things are laid back.  Plenty of folks use clubhouses (which often look more like restaurants in this part of the world) for drinking/eating without teeing it up. 

If I go back to the area I may consider staying in Enniscrone for the entire trip.  I didn't take a good look around, but it seems to be expanding for tourism etc from the last time I was there.  The one snag is its probably close to 2 hours drive to Donegal. 

Ciao

[Scott Whitley]

  10, well, just funk up the green a bit and as the French say Bob's yer uncle, job sorted etc etc. 

10 was a much better hole before the fairway was inexplicably flattened (it used to be a hogsback).  I believe this was done by the membership before the Steel renovation.

If anyone is interested, here is the new vs old routing:

New   Old
1   16
2    new hole
3    new hole
4    new hole
5   11 (with new green)
6    3
7    4
8    5
9    6
10    7
11    8
12    9
13   10
14   new hole
15   new hole
16   new hole
17   17
18   18

Hackett holes deleted:  1, 2, 12, 13, 14, 15

[Bill_McBride]

For those such as yourself who are directionally challenged - give it 2.5 hours. 

Which of the guys who played at Beau Desert ratted me out? 

[Sean_A]

For those such as yourself who are directionally challenged - give it 2.5 hours. 

Which of the guys who played at Beau Desert ratted me out? 

Bill

Ah, I think that was you!

Ciao

[Adrian_Stiff]

Lovely pics Sean, thanks. I was a tad unimpressed with Carne, but very impressed with Enniscrone.

[Thomas Dai]

This is an old thread but I'm bumping it having been prompted by a couple of nice sentences by Sean about Enniscrone in the County Sligo/Rosses Point thread (http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,56266.msg1388635.html#new) where he says -

"By quite some margin my favourite (in the area) remains Enniscrone. If the par 5s were more varied (rather than so many running wildly thru dunes) I think Enniscrone would be a great course."

Relatively little is posted herein about Enniscrone but I for one think the Championship course is terrific. Damn tough too and those dunes, say to the left of the 14th, arnt' just big, they're huge! Similar to the first-9 at Portstewart in some respects.

By the way, viewing the photos above the wee pot bunker short of the 17th green isn't there any longer.

A couple of other points -

a) locals told me that the best hole of all the 27-holes on the property is actually the 200 yd par-3 7th on the Scumore 9-hole course, which apparently used to be part of the main Championship course. Didn't play the hole myself. Wish I had. Will do one day.

b) another comment I heard, again from the locals, was that if they had the money they'd like to revise the Championship course such that after the current 11th hole the course would not cut north into the big dunes but instead would circle them by continuing westwards along the bank of the River Moy and then circling around near the end of the spit of links before re-joining the existing course at the 15th tee. An interesting proposition.

c) more from the locals. Bartragh Island, the huge sand island off the mouth of the River Moy, and visible to the west from Enniscrone, is apparently owned by Nick Faldo. Anyone know more about this?

atb

[Jack_Marr]

Yes, Faldo bought that Island with a view to developing a links course there. You can walk out to it when the tide is out. It was still in his plans a few years ago, but, needless to say, there are many obstacles. There was also a dispute, I think, when the island was originally sold over who owned it in the first place?

[Thomas Dai]

To pull up this old Enniscone thread seems appropriate in view of the just completed Buda visit.


I for one thoroughly enjoyed playing Enniscrone (again). I was a fan of the course from my previous visit and remain so now. Tough and challenging for sure, especially in the 3-4 club wind we seemed to have, but very satisfying to pull off some of the shots necessary.


Very good course conditioning. It was also very nice that the caterers stayed on later into the evening than normal to accommodate us (in many places wouldn't have done so).


The main change since my previous visit was to the 2nd green. This was prviously very table-top like and although a nice raised spot to take photographs from it was not the nicest of greens from the golfing perspective. Clyde Johnson has changed it now though and it plays far more at grade height and is alll the better for it. Well done Clyde and thanks for coming along and playing with the group.


The 12th and 13th holes remain as quirky as ever with the sometimes driveable by some 13th now having a traffic light with sensors system (was it working?). There's a strong finish from the 14th onwards including the photogenic from the rear 16th and the very hard to hit-and-hold tiny green 17th. Actually there are numerous hard to hit-and-hold greens at Enniscrone and thus numerous up-n-down challenges.


Overall I would suggest that Enniscrone is an underrated course in comparison to some others and is well worth a visit.


Atb

[Niall C]

Clearly I'm not as enthralled with the closing stretch along the water as some others. To much of a missed opportunity in my opinion with the biggest culprit being what Sean refers to as being the all word 15th. If they perhaps levelled the dune front left to provide a run on option then maybe you could do something with it, but as it stands a pop-up green mostly hidden behind a dune on a good length par 4 doesn't really strike me as good design.


Niall

[Thomas Dai]

The 15th normally plays downwind. It is also SI 1.


For a shorter hitting player or someone with a low ball flight it's most likely to be a 3 shots to get to and hold the green but it's SI 1 so the player gets a shot or maybe more.


For the longer high ball hitter however using a modern spinny ball and spinny grooved irons/wedges, the hole could be as little as a PW or thereabouts for the 2nd shot so a challenging table-top style green with a semi-blind approach could be argued as appropriate.


One aspect that maybe could do with some attention, perhaps some softening, are the severe internal contours - miss the green, which for higher handicappers and short hitters is pretty much a given thing, and an up-n-down is a tough proposition, and not just the pitch, but the putt as well. But then again it's SI 1 and shouldn't a hole that's SI 1 not be tough and challenging?


There are a few other severe greens at Enniscrone....for example, the 3rd, 4th, 11th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th of the newer holes but some of the earlier greens, like the 5th, 7th and 8th have quite a bit of internal movement. Even the 12th, which from a distance appears pretty shelf like flat, has a lot of movement.


Atb

[Niall C]

Dai


First off, you'd be lucky if the normal or prevailing wind blows the one way 60% of the time, so what happens the other 40% of the time when that very small percentage of golfers you refer to eg. long hitting, high balls with loads of spin etc, can't play it the way you envisage ? As you describe it the hole seems to have been primarily designed for one set of circumstances and one set of conditions. Basically there doesn't seem to be the scope for the shorter hitter to stretch their legs by hitting a longer club in there which I think is a great pity.


In other words shorter hitter has to lay up with perhaps a 5 wood but when the wind is behind he gets to lay up with a 5 iron. Yippee.


Not my kind of hole I'm afraid.


Niall

[Thomas Dai]

Niall,
Not sure how applicable 60-40 is but whatever the actual split the hole seems pretty much like just about every longer par-4, although at least in this instance it's SI 1.
Maybe it's a somewhat extreme example of the old quandry of better player vrs lessor player design? I like the hole though.....and I hit it short and low!
Atb