Going for Golf

Malone

Malone’s secluded parkland course in undulating countryside on the outskirts of Belfast is a joy and the Ballydrain site is the club’s fourth home since it was founded in 1895. Boasting 27 holes in three fairly distinct nines – Drumbridge, Ballydrain and Edenderry – it is one of the most picturesque inland lay-outs set in 330 acres of wooded parkland. The centrepiece of the course is a 27-acre natural trout lake which first comes into play on the 13th, a cracking 428-yard par-four where you will need a very good drive up the left half of the fairway to get any sort of decent view of the well-bunkered green. But before that there’s the 487-yard, par-four seventh, well deserving of its stroke-one rating and beware the 14th – the second hardest hole on the course – and 15 where the tee shot is over water to a tricky green. The 18th is also daunting, as anything right of the green is likely to be wet.

The Ballydrain nine is dominated by the lake and the par-threes are a challenge while the Edenderry nine, named after the village across the river, is the hilliest of the three tracks.