|
YOU'LL need either an iron constitution or steely determination to undertake a golfing tour of Dublin and its precincts. The old place is fraught with more temptations than Old Nick himself could devise.
Anyone who's tried it and lived to tell the tale will aver that getting into Dublin is the easy bit; escaping is the problem.
Silver tongued barmen aside, the alluring capital has distractions most places haven't invented yet. For most of the time, especially after dark, the joint is six feet off the ground and swinging like a chandelier at an orgy. It helps if you have a thirst you could hang your hat on and you're fond of 12 hour debates.
For those with stamina there's upwards of 50 courses no more than an hour's drive from the city centre and another 30 not much further away.
But there's little respite there, either. Most have clubhouses where the barmen take no prisoners. Your best bet is to tell him your morning tee time as you pull up a stool and sip your first Guinness. Don't bank on breakfast, though.
All that aside, Dublin may be the ultimate golfing city and so let us assume that, like us, you're all abstemious devotees, early-nighters impervious to most off-course blandishments and eager to walk 36 holes a day for a week. If you fit that description, and have consummate self-discipline, then this is the place for you.
Now even a local priest would confess that Dublin's city centre traffic is an open invitation to blasphemy so it's best to bed down on the periphery where some first rate hotels are close to golf and those nocturnal attractions that aren't terminal.
Those who fly in could avoid the traffic entirely by heading for a golf hotel now listed among Ireland's finest. It lies on a peninsular to the north of the city and only 15 minutes or so from the airport.
It's the Portmarnock Links Hotel and if that name doesn't set your pulse racing you should see a doctor, promptly. Because since 1894 it has been the centrepiece of the grand old links that has a permanent listing in Ireland's Big Three.
The hotel was once the country home of the Jameson family who created the whiskey that fuels Ireland's pubs and golf clubs. It's been a de luxe hotel for a decade or two now and, like the product that bears its name, it's a byword for consistence of quality. This one is out of the top drawer. The golf is a glorious bonus.
Venerable, romantic, challenging and the epitome of all that's best in Irish golf, a round over the Old links is the stuff of dreams. Pray that you find a calm day, though: the wind hereabouts comes off Dublin Bay with lumps in it.
The Old links is not the only attraction, either. They've built another one next door, a lilting links orchestrated by Bernhard Langer. It opened eight or so years ago and is the perfect foil to its neighbour and no less of a red-blooded challenge, either. It offers a grand warm-up but bring your A game here, too.
In the unlikely event that you'll want to wander further afield, about a dozen other major courses lie on the city's northern outskirts, among them the pick of Ireland's great links, some new, most old.
Among them is The Island GC at Malahide, a gnarled but captivating links that is part of the history of Irish golf. Once it was accessible only by boat but now there's a new bridge from which a wriggling road leads to a warm welcome.
Of similar vintage is County Louth at Baltray, a links of consummate charm designed Tom Simpson and regarded by many as one of the world's unsung gems.
You'll want a day here to fully appreciate the ambience and for those on a budget there's a cosy Dormy House which offers inclusive packages at bargain rates.
Close to Baltray, sharing a boundary where both courses touch the beach, is the Seapoint course. Designed by Des Smyth, this is part links, part parkland, a sparkling combination that has already staged the Irish Matchplay Championship.
Try a round, too, at Royal Dublin, a frequent venue for the Irish Open and one which has its own chapter in Irish golfing history. You might even bump into Himself, Christy O'Connor, reckoned to be the finest golfer Ireland ever had, but there'll be a welcome no matter who greets you at this grand old club.
Then there's St Margaret's, twice the venue for the LPGA Irish Open, where a collection of classical holes adorn a landscape that's been transformed by Tom Craddock and Pat Ruddy, an architectural duo par excellence, responsible, too, for Druid's Glen.
There's another of similar quality nearby that's also new but also appears ancient, a mark of sound design.
Luttrellstown Castle Golf Club is set in a deer park where the castle is not the only memorable edifice: the new two storey clubhouse is thought to be the largest timber structure in Europe. If, as is likely, you find yourself trapped in the bar there are several most amenable bedroom suites in the courtyard. Don't miss this one.
Nor should you miss Headfort, at Kells, from your hotel about 40 minutes to the north west.
It is the longest drive you'll face on this trip, but the journey will bring rich rewards. The course is a touch less than 6,000 yards but one of the finest parkland lay-outs you'll play.
That lot should keep you occupied for a week and an indication of Dublin's riches is that we haven't mentioned Hermitage, Powerscourt, City West and the string of gems to the south of the city. Better stay for two weeks!
|
