Going for Golf

Ireland’s pedigree enhances its appeal

Doonbeg

It would be a pity to travel all the way over to the wonderful west coast of Ireland without a visit to Doonbeg. If you like dunes and all things Irish, you cannot fail to fall in love with what many believe will come to be acknowledged as one of the greatest golf courses in the world.

Designed by Greg Norman – his only creation in the British Isles – and built by the people responsible for Kiawah Island in the USA, Doonbeg is a wild and wonderful track just a little further north up the Atlantic coast from Ballybunion.

The course measures 6,885 yards from the championship tees and, unusually, incorporates five par-three holes and five par-fives. The signature hole has to be the par-three 14th. Its 111 yards suggests nothing exceptional yet the view of the Atlantic beyond the plateau green and the changeable nature of the wind will do their best to confuse. One day you may be taking a three-quarter wedge and the next a full-blooded four-iron or its rescue club equivalent.

Doonbeg is an unashamedly upmarket resort that, like Ballybunion, attracts intelligent Americans who appreciate the better things in life. And for the golfer, there really is no greater thrill than taking on a tough links course on a breezy day.