Atlantic Coast Challenge 2015 Begins

Here are three photographs of what the beautiful Irish golf courses at Carne, Rosses Point, and Enniscrone look like. I'm putting these up now, the morning the Atlantic Coast Challenge begins, because I may not get a chance to take a single photo over the next three days. The weather forecast predicts rain, rain and more rain.

The par three 4th on Carne's Kilmore nine.

Views back down the 17th at County Sligo.

Views over the 2nd green at Enniscrone, to Killala Bay.

If I do manage to get any shots, I'll add something here as soon as I'm out of my wet gear.

County Sligo Golf Club Gets a Face Lift

The par four 10th - sea and Benbulbin slipping alongside

Do you dare play with perfection?

Do you take a beautiful woman and inject some botox? Do you take the Mona Lisa and add a fresh lick of paint?

And, if so, then the question is 'why?'

County Sligo is one of the finest links courses in Ireland... perhaps anywhere... but now change is afoot.

Atlantic Coast Challenge 2013 - Day One (Rosses Point)

Practice putting green and the grand old clubhouse

The last few days have been building up to this. The courses of Tuam, Claremorris, Castle Dargan and Castlebar - not to mention the mad 5am dash around Westport - were appetisers before the main event of this trip. The Atlantic Coast Challenge has drawn me to the north west since it started in 2011. And with three of my favourite courses why wouldn't it.

County Sligo Golf Club (Rosses Point), Carne and Enniscrone are worth anybody's time.

Atlantic Coast Challenge 2013 - 12 days left...

Teeing off on Enniscrone's 4th

There are 12 days left to enter one of Irish golf's great challenges. So why not make this the year to give it a lash. There are plenty of challenges to choose from, but this one has three of the most adventurous links courses to tempt you:

• Carne
• Enniscrone
• Rosses Point

Inside The Ropes - Carne

The Atlantic Coast Challenge enjoyed its second year in 2012, and a very successful one it was too. Leading up to it, I asked the organisers to donate a free threeball as a prize – which they did. The winner was Denis, and I asked him and his companions to fill in an ‘Inside the Ropes’ questionnaire when they played Carne Golf Links on July 3rd.

Carne opened in 1995. It is one of the remotest golf courses on the island (along with Ceann Sibeal and Narin and Portnoo), in the far north west corner of Co. Mayo, in Belmullet. It’s a beautiful spot and, if golf is your drug, then you’ll be wanting to play it at least twice. I played on consecutive days with my father in 2006: on day one, the par three 14th was a wedge; on day two it was a four iron that came up short. We were playing two different courses and that is one of the beauties and terrors of links golf.

The guys are useful golfers and were placed fifth overall after two days of golf (Rosses Point and Carne), but faded on the final day at Enniscrone – which was the toughest challenge of the event by a fair margin.

Denis (10 handicap), James (7), John (12)

[Photo: approach to Carne's par four 8th]

Q. What are your overall impressions of the course?

Denis: Great golf course. Back 9 as good as any in the country.

James: Very enjoyable. Challenging.

John: Eddie Hackett made a most beautiful links. The back 9 are a great test of overall skill.

Carne was Eddie Hackett’s last design, and it is his greatest legacy – in my opinion, anyway. The man was a master of leaving the beauty of the landscape untouched, with the fairways at Carne moving simply and mischievously between and around the dunes to create some of the most remarkable holes you will ever play. With a new nine ready to open, it will keep Carne in the spotlight. I imagine that they will have a hard time deciding which will be the main 18, once all 27 are open for play.

Q. What are Carne’s best features? What really stood out for you?

Denis: Very true greens. Huge dunes! Playability.

We were really well received and welcomed by Mary Walsh in the Pro shop. She was genuinely keen for us to enjoy the day.

James: Mary in the Pro shop was most pleasant.

The setting and the scenery were outstanding.

Undulations on the fairways and shape of the greens.

John: The shape of the greens. Mary gave us a lovely welcome.

[Photo: the par three 16th (from the 17th tee box). The 16th tee box is top left of shot]

Q. Are there any negatives – either on or off the course? If so, what are they and how would you suggest they’re fixed?

Denis: 9th green is too penal.

Coffee at €2.50 and pint of cider at €5.30 are excessive.

James: Nothing serious come to mind. There are a few blind tee shots – I would suggest white stones on the fairway showing you where to hit the ball. I was really impressed with everything about the course – but maybe the greens could have been a bit quicker.

John: Coffee at €2.50 and pint of cider at €5.30

If the negatives are restricted mostly to the price of drinks, then Carne doesn’t have too much to worry about. The 9th green is a beast for sure, with big movements and one of the most daunting approach shots you’ll play at the club.

Q. What did you find particularly tough about the course (excluding the weather)?

Denis: Aprons of greens shaved, so it was difficult to chip. Greens could have been a fraction quicker.

James: Finding the speed of putts and putting from off the green.

John: The greens. They were a little slow.

I expected some comments on the blind shots and some very tricky approaches – the shape of some of the green complexes is mind-boggling at times.

[Photo: Carne's opening hole, and just a taste of the undulations and bunkers to expect]

Q.What is your favourite hole and why?

Denis: Hard to choose between 16, 17 and 18… after parring the three of them!

James: 17th. It is a spectacular hole that demands a lot and really lives up to its Index 1.

John: The 17th is a cracking par four. You need to drive the ball long and accurately, and what an approach shot to the green.

[Photo: the par four 17th, taken from the 18th tee box. Believe me, this gives no indication of just how tough this hole is]

Q. What other links courses have you played?

Denis: Waterville, Ballybunion (Old & Cashen), Tralee, Doonbeg, Dooks, Lahinch, Enniscrone, Rosses Point, Portmarnock Links.

James: Ballybunion (Cashen), Dooks, Tralee, Enniscrone, Rosses Point.

John: Waterville, Ballybunion, Tralee, The European, Lahinch, Enniscrone, Rosses Point, Connemara, Ballyliffin (x 2), Portstewart, Portsalon, Rosapenna, Dooks and Doonbeg…. And Royal St. David’s, Tenby and Ashburton, as well as Minerton in South Africa.

Evidently, a well-travelled, links-playing bunch.

Q. How does Carne compare?

Denis: Back 9 as good as any – overall, on a par.

James: Very well.

John: It can live with the best of them.

[Photo: The short par four 11th is a beauty of a dogleg right - the green sits behind the highest part of the dune. See next shot for more...]

Q. You’re selling this course to a friend – sum it up in one sentence.

Denis: Very playable and enjoyable if you keep it on the short stuff.

James: Fantastic golf course that every kind of golfer would enjoy.

John: It’s a beautiful layout amongst the dunes.

Q. Your rating out of 10

Denis: 9

James: 8

John: 8

Total: 25

[Photo: the other side of the dune on the 11th]

Q. Value for Money (currently €50 per person) out of 10

Denis: 9

James: 9

John: 9

Total: 27

The rack rate (April – Oct) is listed as €65 (€90 for the day) on the website, but if you go through to the booking process you'll find that golf only costs €50 (€40 before 9am), and Carne offers a variety of options, including buggy hire and grub). €50 to play one of the most outstanding links on the island is well worth the journey, don't you think.

Carne Twitter Feed
Carne Facebook Page

Atlantic Coast Challenge - Day 1

[Photo: the clubhouse at Rosses Point, with the 2nd fairway highlighted in the sun]

Unloading my car at Fin’s house, and transferring golf clubs, trolley and an assortment of other bags to his car, would have been a lot easier if it hadn’t been raining quite so hard.  Stand up straight and water drips down your neck; lean over to put something in the boot and your exposed back gets a soaking.

‘What about an umbrella?’ you might ask.

Have you ever tried cramming golf clubs into a car while holding on to an umbrella? It is simply not possible my friend! The great minds of our time (my dad) have tackled the problem, but have singularly failed to devise a solution.

So, being wet before the drive from Dublin to Sligo was not the best start possible, but at least I didn’t have to drive. That was Fin’s job. I dozed peacefully after my 5am start, while Fin headed for the M4, ignoring his chronic jetlag (he arrived from the US the day before) and the long working days that had preceded this trip.

The rain continued for much of the drive, but once we reached County Sligo, it all changed.

[Photo: the busy 1st tee box at Rosses Point]

This is the second year of the Atlantic Coast Challenge – an opportunity for teams of three amateur golfers to play three superb links courses across the north-west (Rosses Point, Enniscrone and Carne) – and I had convinced Fin to come home from New York to play. Not a huge deal of convincing needed as Fin knows how much I love these courses, and he’s one of the world’s best advocates when it comes to my book.

Unfortunately there were only two of us as our third had cried off the week before, citing global catastrophe (aka wife disapproval), so we were immediately out of the team event (all three scores combined). Not that it mattered – I was here to play my favourite courses and have some fun with a buddy who has been living in America.

The sun was out, the locals were friendly and Fin stuffed his drive and then his provisional into the rough on the right. Not the way to kickstart three days of Irish links golf.

The front 9 was a bit iffy for both of us. Finbarr plays off 18 and enjoys the molly-coddled world of an American manicured parkland, and while he loves links golf he hadn’t played it in a while… and it takes time to adapt. On the par five 3rd, I hit my best drive of the day, which was a sweet coincidence as it’s the best driving hole on the course (alongside the 5th) with its long drop to the fairway. The ball soars into the sky and then drops past mountain and seascapes. There’s nothing better than knowing it’s heading for the short grass, opening up the possibility of reaching the green in two.

[Photo: a 180 degree panorama from the 3rd tee]

“How do you hit that draw so well?” Finbarr asked me.

I befuddled him with swing theory, body dynamics and altered grip, but the truth is I have no idea. I usually hit the ball dead straight and drawing it so frequently hasn’t happened in years. It makes it awkward on the tee when you can’t decide where to aim. Still, a little flattery goes a long way.

For people who complain that the rounds are slow – over five hours – I say that it’s hardly surprising. Unless you’re all good golfers, balls are going to end up in the rough… and the rough at all three courses can be nasty stuff that swallows a ball. Blind shots make life difficult too (particularly the case at Carne and Enniscrone) but just like a queue of traffic, it only takes one or two people to be slow, rubbish or ignorant and everybody is held up. When you have 240 people playing, there’s always going to be at least one of those people.

[Photo: a view of the par three 9th with one of Ireland's most spectacular backdrops]

The sun was out and blistering and it stayed with us for nigh on 12 holes, with clouds adding to the drama and silhouetting Benbulben in all its glory. The rest of the views were just as spectacular – across the sea, islands and distant valleys.

Yes, it was slow, and we encountered the ladies ahead of us (who, quite coincidentally, had been in front of me at last year’s event) on several occasions, but you use the time to chat and generally chill out. Or, put another way, it only takes a few holes to realise you’re not going to be in the prizes, so why rush!

[Photo: Fin snaps the scenery from the 11th tee box]

There are plenty of golfers out there who don’t like links golf – they complain that good shots can be unfairly punished. It’s true, but Rosses Point is not one of those courses. It rewards good play and severely punishes bad play. It is rare that a good shot does not get its just reward. I will admit, however, that the same is not true at Carne and Enniscrone, but that’s for the next blog. Detractors also complain that it's repetitive.... not likely: Rosses Point has one of the most interesting selection of holes - links or otherwise - you'll encounter on the island.

The closing stretch is notorious, with low-lying holes running in the same direction. Holes 14 to 16 are flat, the 17th is one of Ireland’s most daunting holes – a dogleg that rises sharply up the hill, with the green nearly always hidden from view on your second shot – and 18 is a quirky and tricky hole, driving blindly over the dune that rises behind the 17th green. And yet, with the wind behind us - a rarity - the holes were relatively benign.

[Photo: the par four 10th]

It certainly helped our back 9 scores – 19 points each – which made up for the poor start. I managed a par on the daunting par four 17th (the first time in four visits here) and Fin delivered a couple of great pars on the two par threes (13 and 16), knocking long range putts right up to the cup. Our cards were not that impressive – not compared with Randal Cross, from Enniscrone, who won the individual event with 41 points – but it mattered little. The bar was busy and full of chat and bowls of chips. Much of the discussion centred on how good the course was, how it was in perfect condition and how the greens were sublime.

[Photo: Rory adoration goes a step too far in the Men's Changing Rooms... spot the lipstick!]

True, it was probably me who started those conversations but everyone happily agreed, as they looked forward to Carne the following day. 

Atlantic Coast Challenge Giveaway (free green fees worth €405)

A few months back I wrote a blog on the different Irish Golf Challenges that take place around this great island. Some go back 30 – 40 years, while others are much younger. I played in the inaugural Atlantic Coast Challenge in July 2011, and it was three days of pure bliss. Carne, Co. Sligo and Enniscrone are among the best links in the country… if you happen to have my book, look up the scores… and easily make my top ten.

Yes, there are other Challenges, but here you’re talking about three supremely exciting golf courses, each as good as the other two and in beautiful locations.

[Photo: the mighty 11th at Carne. The green, if you're interested, is tucked behind that enormous dune on the right]

That’s why I played last year; that’s why I’m playing this year on July 2, 3 and 4 (Mon-Wed). Golf doesn’t get better than this, and for €135 to enter the event, the value couldn’t be better either. That equates to €45 per course and it's during peak season.

But on this blog you might not even have to pay that, because the Atlantic Coast Challenge organisers have given me a FREE line, worth €405, to give away to one lucky winner… you can even choose what time to play (subject to availability).

[Photo: Enniscrone's clubhouse]

For official details take a look at the Challenge flyer here. And if you’re not the winner, you can book a line for yourself before the April 30 closing date (follow the same link). Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

How To Enter

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog, with your name.

[Photo: views from the 9th at Co. Sligo, with the stretch of back 9 holes, 13-16, heading home]

It’s not a phishing exercise, or trawling for emails, and no information will be sold/given to any third parties etc. etc… it’s just an opportunity to win a real golf treat for you and two friends (the event is played as a 3-ball single and team competition).

So click the ‘comments’ link at the bottom of this blog and choose the ‘Name’ option, so you can leave your name! That's all.

[Photo: The view back to Enniscrone's complex of dunes from the 8th tee box]

The giveaway will be open until midnight on April 24th. I’ll then use a random number generator (who knew there was such a thing) to pick a winner, which I’ll announce here on the 25th. Please be sure to check back as this is the only way I can contact the winner.

If the prize isn’t claimed within two weeks, another winner will be selected. Please note that there is no cash alternative.

Links to Websites

Carne website and photos and Twitter @CARNELINKS

County Sligo website and photos and Twitter @CountySligoGC

Enniscrone website and photos

[Photo: views from the 17th tee box over the par three 16th (tee box top left) and holes 15 and 13 beyond]

Airports

If you’re flying in from Europe, Knock Airport is very close by (County Sligo) and flies to 11 destinations in Great Britain and a further 20 in Europe. Check out the map here

From the US, it has to be Shannon or Dublin.

Cars can be hired from all three.

Accommodation Recommendations

These are general recommendations and pulled from a Failte Ireland search. I have stayed in only a couple of them, so dig around and you’ll find everything from self-catering to 4 star hotels.

Ballina (Between Carne and Enniscrone)
Ice House Hotel is close to the centre and very fancy indeed

Something v. special: Mount Falcon

And drop in to Murphy's pub on the River Moy for a superlative pint and atmosphere (it’s also on the way to Enniscrone Golf Club).

Belmullet (i.e. Carne Golf Club’s home town)
I stayed at the Broadhaven Bay hotel which is just before you get to Belmullet itself and 5 minutes from the golf course.

Enniscrone
Ocean Sands hotel
Diamond Coast hotel, is practically on the golf course itself.

Several years ago I stayed in a self-catering cottage in Enniscrone and it’s a good solution if there are several of you.

Sligo

The big town and therefore has the most choice – here are just a few:

Sligo Park Hotel is a few minutes out of town and was a very comfortable venue when I stayed here a couple of years back.

And there’s the Radisson Blu

The Glass House is in the town centre

Where to eat?

All three clubhouses serve good food and last year we found that a big breakfast and a late afternoon, post-round meal was more than sufficient… and left room for a couple of pints later on.

So what are you waiting for? Enter away, and be sure to tell your friends (on the condition they invite you, of course).

Enniscrone: Risk and Reload

[Photo: View of the par five 4th]

It was a nice touch. Pat Sweeney, Enniscrone’s General Manager, had turned the all too abused golfing cliché ‘risk and reward’ on its head. And aptly so. Enniscrone is a beast of a links course and one of the finest in this country. Remarkably, after being awarded Golf Course of the Year a couple of years ago, Enniscrone still remains one of the best links that people don’t talk about.

The two puregolf2010.com travelling Kiwis had Enniscrone on their original schedule, but let it go as they decided to play Ballyliffin’s two courses instead. I like both Ballyliffin courses well enough, but not compared with Enniscrone. The size of the dunes, the routing of the course, the imagination required on each hole – it all adds up to one of the most enthralling rounds of golf you’ll play. Jamie and Michael missed a beauty.

Once again Dad and I arrived early and got onto the course well ahead of time. And the sun was out which seemed a good omen for our final round. With dunes this big and the wind sending coils of patterns through the marram grasses, it was like playing through a living, breathing thing.

[Photo: Dad ponders the approach to the 12th]

Dad had never played here, so I kept my mouth closed about what was to come – apart from giving him a line on the blindish holes (2 and 4, and later, 12 and 13). I wanted him to enjoy everything as it arrived. After some distinctly poor golf the previous day, his game picked up after the 2nd. He birdied the par three 3rd, sinking a putt of well over 30 feet, while I was stuck down the back and was lucky to stay on the green with my recovery. If there’s one simple lesson to be learned about Enniscrone, it is not to go off the back of the greens. There is no room and no relief. After the 3rd, dad added a run of pars and bogeys over the following holes to put a smile on his face. Risk and reload… not something my dad does and his sensible play reaped the rewards he was due. It was a great way to finish, and into a strong headwind he almost got his four on the 429 yard 18th.

Enniscrone is not a course to blaze away at. Positioning off the tee is paramount. Take the 15th which is Index 1. Your shot has to be to the right of the fairway or else you see nothing of the green and going for it in two is suicide.

[Photo: view back up the 13th fairway]

Something I alluded to in an earlier blog was a forthcoming book by a gentleman named Craig Morrison. He is producing a book on the 18 best holes in Ireland. He’s already done a similar book for Scotland, and now he’s decided Ireland deserves his full attention. He’ll get no argument from me.

Picking best holes and best courses is always a tricky proposition. I picked Scrabo in County Down as having the best opening hole in Ireland (I still think so), yet a journalist who reviewed my book said that the 1st wasn’t even the best hole on the course.

[Photo: Tee shot on the par four 12th - no driver needed]

And so it is with Craig. He has picked Enniscrone’s par five 16th as one of the top 18, yet I would put holes 12 and 13 ahead of the 16th. The 12th is simply magnificent: Cnoc na gCorp (Hill of the Dead) is a perfect description for the terrifying second shot you will face, but the hill that the name refers to is the monster dune that rises to your left and reaches some 80 feet high, stretching on and on into the distance. Why is it known as the Hill of the Dead? According to Pat, some 1500 years ago when the Vikings landed, they tried to come inland through the dunes. The natives were waiting and slaughtered them all, burying the bodies under the dune. A great story and one to keep visitors intrigued and aiming ever further right.

[Photo: Cnoc na gCorp]

Pat had a heap of stories about the course and I particularly liked the one about four Swedes who took out life membership and now keep their clubs in the top of the clubhouse so that they can come back whenever they want for a few rounds.

Enniscrone will never bore you, crammed as it is with its complex and myriad challenges, its views and its beauty. You will not beat this course, of that you can be sure, but you will be happy to keep trying for the rest of your life. As we left and said our goodbyes to Pat, Dad picked up a leaflet promoting the Atlantic Coast Golf Challenge – a tournament in July 2011 that covers Carne, Rosses Point and Enniscrone. “You up for that?” he asked. I’m guessing that will be his 80th birthday present.

[Photo: the par five 14th]

Thanks Pat, and good luck with the Eddie Hackett golf tour. No better way to promote the man’s genius.

Rosses Point - All Change

The second round of golf for dad and I was at County Sligo Golf Club, or Rosses Point. It was only after I’d finished the book and looked back over the scores that I discovered Rosses Point was the highest scoring course. 97 out of 100.

People automatically assumed that this made Rosses Point my favourite course. It is one of my favourites, for sure, but whether it holds that top position would require me to play probably a dozen links and a couple of parklands all over again. I will do so willingly, but what I love about Rosses Point can be summed up in one word: change.

[Photo: views back down the fairway, towards the clubhouse, on the the par four 2nd]

Our tee time was at 9am, playing in an open singles for €25. Consider that a bargain, and if you arrange your trip here and are canny enough, you’ll discover similarly priced opens at Strandhill and Enniscrone.

We arrived early. And just as well. At 8am there was a large bus in the car park and golfers milling about. The cold fear of being held up by Americans washed over me. It is a generalisation to say that Americans are slow golfers, but they are here to enjoy the best links golf in the world so it's no wonder that they take their time. And it was great to see them on courses like Rosses Point, Strandhill and Enniscrone in October. The slow round wouldn’t have mattered too much but we had a tee time at Lough Erne, 50 miles away at 2.30pm. I legged it into the pro shop and queued behind two Americans.

[Photo: the par five 3rd drops down over ridges and bumps and bunkers, curling left towards the clubhouse]

I asked them where they were playing on their trip. Rosses Point was their final round and they’d played The Island, Portmarnock (old), Royal Dublin and somewhere else. They couldn’t remember where they’d played the previous day. Hmm, not exactly memorable then! A third member of the group arrived and ‘remembered’ Donegal Golf Club. I'm sure they won't be best pleased to know that they'd been forgotten so quickly.

[Photo: the par five 5th drops onto a flat fairway well below the tee, showing off the distant and glorious views all around.]

When I got outside, I held some hasty negotiations with the Americans and they were kind enough to let us out ahead of them. It helped of course that we were in a buggy. It was 8.15am. And by 11.15am we were back in the clubhouse. In between we had a great round of golf, switching between the different styles of hole and absorbing the views that make Rosses Point such a great golf experience. We met three more Americans on the par three 4th tee who, like ourselves, were avoiding the busload of their countrymen. The 4th was being hollow-tined so we had time to chat. They were playing early as they were heading off to Donegal Golf Club (they remembered the name too) and despite being a three ball, they easily stayed close behind us for the rest of the round. making a mockery of my earlier generalisation.

[Photo: the homeward stretch viewed from the 9th tee, starting with the par three 13th green on the right]

Where Strandhill is dynamic, amusing, unexpected and infuriating (in a good way), Rosses Point has that dramatic quality that runs through the soul of links golf. The constant changes that demand you to switch gear, the deception, the distraction of the views and the run for home that takes you in one direction from holes 14 to 18. We had the wind against us, which is the whole point of that closing stretch, and low punched shots were prayed for on every blow. Dad used his driver off the 16th, a par three of 172 metres (white tees) and put it pin high, 20 feet from the hole. It was remarkable watching the wind pull and snap at the ball in flight. It stayed true and it was his best shot of the day.

[Photo: the par four 14th. The 15th, 16th and 17th all stretch into the distance]

After a great start, I had started to struggle. If you asked me at the start of the year: ‘before you start your swing, what do you look at?’ I wouldn’t have been able to answer. I can’t remember if I looked at the ball as a whole, or the back of the ball. But a couple of months ago I started looking at a spot on the ground just underneath the ball. And now I suddenly find that mid swing my eyes look at one spot and then another. You won’t be surprised to know that I then duff it all of 10 feet. It happened on the 16th from 15 yards left of the green. It’s as frustrating as hell.

We did manage to avoid some other frustration though: we teed off on the 15th, standing on the edge of the sea. As we watched, the final of the three groups of Americans were teeing off on the 7th alongside. One thing is for sure: we would never have reached Lough Erne if we’d waited for our official tee time. As it was, I’m guessing we were having lunch in Lough Erne’s clubhouse by the time the Americans finished.

Thanks to David O'Donovan, the club's Director of Golf. And thanks for the directions to Lough Erne - via Ballyshannon if you're planning a similar trip.

West of Ireland Championships 2010

[Photo: views of Rosses Point's par three 13th]

The West of Ireland (Amateur) Championship at Rosses Point, Co. Sligo, is a rich breeding ground for Ireland’s future professionals: Harrington (1994), McIlroy (2005 and 2006), Shane Lowry (2008) have all won here, while Walton (1980), Murphy (1995) and Hoey (2001) were runners-up – Gary Murphy losing at the 23^rd hole. Other instantly recognisable names include McGimpsey, Fox and Fanagan, not to mention Miko Illonen from Finland, who won here in 1999 – proving it’s not just an Irish affair. The 2009 winner was David Corsby from Royal Lytham, who beat the 2008 winner, Shane Lowry, in the final.

[Photo: views of Rosses Point's par three 9th with Benbulbin beyond]

Rosses Point (Par 71) is a tough test of golf in any conditions, but coming in early April 2010, it was going to be a tough affair this year. And the wind blew during the two days of strokes competition. There were 141 competitors (and 61 reserves), and CSS on Day One was 74, and 73 on Day Two. Forget about qualifying – sometimes this was about surviving. The wind was coming straight down the Index 1 par four 7^th of 393 metres, which has a deep drain right in front of the green.

When McIlroy won his first West of Ireland, he was 16 years old so I had high hopes for my home club’s 17 year old star, Paul Dunne (pictured). With a handicap of +2 it was his first visit to the West of Ireland Championships. He fought through the winds on the first two days to record a 77 and a 71, which qualified him comfortably for the matchplay stages. He won his first round match against Brendan Walton (The Island), but lost 2&1 to Eddie McCormack (Galway) in the next round. No doubt it was an excellent education for Paul and he will be firing at plenty more titles this year - especially after a stunning 64 in the Lee Valley Scratch Cup at the end of March. At the time of this blog, his victor has won two more matches and is now in the semi-final.

The last two rounds are played tomorrow and will see:
Eddie McCormack against Michael Sinclair (Knock), and
Rory Leonard (Banbridge) against Rory McNamara (Headfort)

The Championship began in 1923: the greatest victory ever recorded was by J Burke of Lahinch, who won 11&10 in 1936; the greatest battle was won by W Ferguson of Malone at the 38^th hole (i.e. the 20^th extra hole) in 1959; and the most prolific winner is J Carr with a remarkable 13 wins.