Going for Golf

Waterville

Before his tragic death, Waterville Golf Links in South Kerry had become the adopted home of the iconic American golfer Payne Stewart. The mystique of the place captured his heart. Stewart enjoyed the fishing and sing-a-longs in the pubs by day and golfing by night. The long summer evenings in this part of Ireland provide such delicious opportunities. 

When America’s outstanding living golf architect, Tom Fazio, was engaged to upgrade the Waterville Links a few years ago, it was already a seriously tough track. Fazio found new ways to make it stiffer as well as more aesthetically pleasing. One of the outstanding characteristics of Waterville is the way each hole relates to the previous one and the next one and how they all work together as a complete 18 holes. 

Take the first hole for instance, quixotically known as “the last easy!” – without changing the location of the teeing ground or green complex, a once wide-open hole now features an intimidating opening blow. The ubiquitous stream on the right remains untouched but by enhancing its visibility it has become a ball magnet, proving the theory that golf is primarily a mental game and that a golf hole should “look difficult but play easy – if you tackle it sensibly.”