Ballybunion

Rated 24th in the World

Ballybunion, County Kerry, Ireland

The Old Course & The Cashen Course (currently being modified by Tom Watson)

Designed by: Original (9) Holes: Lionel Hewson, re-design- Tom Simpson

https://www.ballybuniongolfclub.com

Course History

Ballybunion was first laid out and opened for play in 1893, by Lionel Hewson, a prominent golf journalist of the day. It would have challenges from both media reports and financial troubles for a few decades. It was not until 1926 that the club was extended to eighteen holes, and then subsequently redesigned in 1937 by Tom Simpson—mostly minor changes.

It hosted its first notable tournament, in 1957, the Irish Professional Championship. But it was the attention generated by a match between Christy O’Conor and Bob Goalby in 1970 that began its meteoric rise into the upper echelon of links golf courses. Herbert Warren Wind would help that cause by rating it in the top ten courses in the World. Then came the famous visit by Tom Watson and Sandy Tatum in 1981 that would cement Ballybunion in the top classic links courses, mentioned in the same breath the Royal Dornoch, Royal Troon and Prestwick.

Review of Course

The first clue about Ballybunion and what we were getting ourselves into the next day would be the view right out of our balcony. The ominous Norse Castle ruins guarding the beach, overlooking the course, and issuing you a stern warning. “You are about to go into battle, and we take no prisoners.

I could almost hear the driving, haunting guitar riffs of Jimmy Page on Led Zepplin’s Immigrant Song. The Norsemen were welcoming you to the battle. I could feel it just as much as the 30-40 mph wind in my face. The adrenaline rush was as intense as ripping down an unnamed country road in County Down, headed for the Mountains of Mourne. I could feel the words echoing as I put the peg in the ground on the first tee—graveyard ahead, lining the right side:

Aahh, Aahh
We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
On we sweep with threshing oar
Our only goal will be the western shore

What ensued was a roller-coaster, wonderful, battle of man vs. himself vs. Mother Nature, which on this day was a 4-club wind. Or was it me vs. the Norsemen looking down upon the course. I loved every minute of it! The variety of the green complexes, some up on a plateau with false fronts, others guarded by a giant dune, and others intricately routed through a valley of dunes—all demanding pin-point accurate shots—into or across three to four club winds!

I can see why Tom Watson loves Ballybunion so much. It is obvious why it is in that pantheon of the greatest classic links courses. The true test for me? It is a course that I could play every day for the rest of my life and it would play differently every time. Secondly, is it simply fun to play?

We were playing with a Canadian couple, and we all had caddies, Scooter and I a forecaddie. His name was John and he was amember of Ballybunion and had been playing there since he was a young lad. He had recently retired and he spent most days either playing there, or caddying. Nice gig if you can get it! Sign me up.

To their credit, along with Lahnich and Royal County Down, they require that you take a caddie, and I see why. If you have never played the course, you have no clue of the line off the tee and more importantly, the pitch of the fairways. That could easily make the difference between piping a drive at what you think is the correct angle down the middle, only to arrive at your ball thirty yards right of where you thought it would be, in the gorse, staring down at a brutal lie.

But it is not just the wind, direction/lines. The air is thicker and cooler. It can wreak havoc with iron shots and approaches. Why do you think the Irish and Scots love to play the ball low to the ground?

Ballybunion has an impressive set of Par-3’s, five of them. The first one, number 3, The Stile, is a brute, downhill, 200+-yarder back toward the road and clubhouse and into the wind. Number 8, Lartigue, is the Irish version of The Postage Stamp. 121-yards from the Senior tees, it faces back inland. It is a wee bit longer than The Stamp, but equally difficult and pretty.

The three par-3’s on the back play tenacious due to the wind. Number 12, The Citadel, is uphill into the wind (that day), at 193/Whites, and 171/Seniors—but played 30-yards longer and was difficult to hold the green. Number 14, Devil’s Back, was short at 125-yards, but indeed had a devilishly sloped green.

My favorite, Number 15, Black Rocks, pointed back toward the Ocean into a hurting left to right crosswind. John wanted me to hit the driver, and I just could not bring myself to do so. At an 185-yard carry (more like 215) I crushed a 5-wood, my aim at least forty yards left of the green that seemed like it was in the air for 5 minutes. It feathered down on the front-edge, and rolled back a few feet for an uphill, off-the-green putt. Aside from my 55-yard putt off #5 green (Marconi) it was my best strike of the day.

It has been said that the stretch of holes from 11-17 is the best in the World. I tend to agree although one could argue that 12-17 at Pine Valley are incredibly special as well. It is a zigzag of holes—three wonderful par-3’s, two par-4s, including what many say is the best hole in all of Ireland (#17) and two par-5’s—one of which is in my favorite par-5’s of anywhere, Windy Gap. From Watson’s, Citadel, Kitty’s River and Camel’s Back to Black Rocks, Windy Gap, and ending up with Devil’s Elbow (#17) it is an absolute joyride!

Along with numbers 7 and 11, number 17, Devil’s Elbow—the hole that our caddie John says is the best in all of Ireland--rims the beach as well

Another hole that I will call out in that run is #16, Windy Gap, a beautiful, fun, strategic par-5 of about five hundred yards. It was truly a 45-degree dogleg left and fun to play. Your tee ball is an aggressive angle left over a tall dune to try and catch the fairway cutting off the dogleg and saving yourself 50-60 yards off your second. I was (somewhat) successful, and wound up over the dune, but just short of the fairway, with a good lie. I pushed my second, chopped out of some wicked gorse and got up and down for what I thought was an all-star great bogey. There are horrible bogeys, but this one made me feel good. I cannot wait to play this hole again. It was indeed a narrow, windy gap.

I later found a plague in the clubhouse describing the hole (below). With a classic back and forth between a very anal-retentive golfer and his Irish caddie, it ended-up this way, as he was hitting his 200-yard approach:

“What is to the left? What is to the right?” Finally, when he asked his bewildered caddie “What’s behind?” His caddie responded, “The Sea, Sir.”

As we walked off #16 and up the hill to tee, our Caddie John told us to leave our pull-carts at the front-tees and follow him, like he had done a thousand times. It was quite a climb, and well worth it.

We reached the top, and the far-back tees and walked over to a beautiful, what looked like mahogany wood bench, with a carving of all capital letters “CTH.” It is a tribute to a deceased member who used to remark that the location felt like the closest to heaven he would ever get.

I spun around and John was looking out past the hole to the Ocean and sky above. He saw something, I could sense it. He spun around and motioned Scooter and me.

“See that break in the clouds, and where the tide kind of splits to the right of it,?” he said. “There is front coming in and it will hit us soon. There is a micro-climate of sorts, and it never fails.

Then we had the pleasure of playing #17, Devil’s Elbow. As I mentioned earlier, it has been called the greatest hole in Ireland. It has everything you would want in a great hole: views of the ocean, elevation, dunes, gorse, an amphitheater green, and strategy—especially off the tee. My take was it plays equally as fun or difficult on a windless day, as it did on this day.

The front that John mentioned was coming in the wind was howling. I played it like a par-5. I absolutely nutted my drive that went all of 175 yards—so much for a knock-down with a driver! Then a 7-Wood hybrid—again, another 120—I am not kidding, you cannot make this up. Then, a knockdown (successful) 7-iron about 110 yards, to the back pin. I gladly smiled and walked off as I two-putted for a bogey. Yes, another great bogey. How in the World can a 370ish par-4 play five hundred yards? It is Devil’s Elbow, and it is a Ballybunion.

John was right about the front. It would be about 15 minutes later, right after we teed off on eighteen that the rain came.

Eighteen, Called Sahara, is one of the newest holes. It is a nice 370-yard par-4, dogleg left through a valley of dunes, as you see the clubhouse up the big hill to the right.

I striped a drive to the right side, and calmly hit a 7-Iron 30’ past the pin, for an easy two-putt par. If only I could have done that ten more times in the past four hours, my scorecard would not have looked like a bloodbath. But as we always say, on a course like this, it is not about the score, it is all about the walk. As we walked that fairway, I had an inner calm, unlike any that I had all day.

The rain started out as an Irish Mist as we walked toward the amphitheater-like green after our approach shots. Then it really kicked into gear as we drained our putts to finish the round. It was like little pellets, or needles hitting your skin. We scrambled up the hill to shelter under the clubhouse. It was dream-like, surreal, and yet calming at the same time.

As we were scrambling to get organized, putting stuff away, and paying John, I could hear Led Zepplin’s Immigrant Song blasting in my ears once again, especially this lyric:

“The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming! On we sweep, with threshing oar…. Our only goal will be the western shore!”

As we tucked into the 19th hole for dinner, my mind was wandering back and forth between four thoughts: 1) This is my favorite course in the World. 2) We had just done battle with the Norsemen, and survived, 3) I am mentally and physically exhausted, 4) I cannot wait to go back, and 5) I see why Tom Watson is so enamored with this course—do we really have to go home tomorrow?

Why should you play it?

As I mentioned earlier, it is in that pantheon of the top four classic links golf courses, along with Royal Dornoch, Prestwick and Royal Troon. A great routing, fantastic dunes, lovely green complexes, and challenging, yet fun.

It is truly an awe-inspiring links course that I would enjoy playing every day for the rest of my life.

But the best reason of all? The hospitality. From the moment you drop your bags at the front, then make your way around the fantastic links and end up in the wonderful clubhouse regaling in stories of the round--all-the-while caressing a Guinness and soaking up the views to the course--you are sporting a smile, and warmth through your entire body.

Old Tam rating: Albatros