Going for Golf

Spoilt for choice in Ireland

Esker Hills

Esker Hills, in Offaly, shot to fame last year when its most talented member, Shane Lowry, achieved the incredible feat of capturing the Irish Open while still an amateur – and the course is just as incredible as its favourite son.

Designed by Christy O’Connor Junior, it is genuinely unique and unlike any you will have played before or will play in the future. Rising up spectacularly from the surrounding farmland, the stretch of land upon which it has been created is apparently glacial in origin, and the fascinating features have been cleverly strung together to produce a stunning stretch of golf holes. No two holes are the same, I was told. In fact, no two holes are remotely similar! Although the standard advice is to take a buggy, it can be walked and the reward is more time to take in the fine views.