Waterville, County Kerry, Eire

www.watervillegolflinks.ie

                          

White tees par 72
Red tees    par 73

This is a wonderful golf course and takes a place in our top three.  It is rare to encounter a course in such a beautiful setting which is of the highest calibre without any weak holes. Lying on a promontory between the estuary of the Inny river and the North Atlantic on the west coast of Eire it has views to the intriguingly named Macgillicuddy's Reeks mountain range which has the highest peaks in Ireland.  We had a very friendly welcome in the club which is popular with Americans.  Payne Stewart accepted honorary captaincy before his premature death and is commemorated by a brass statue in front of the clubhouse.



Waterville is a haven for hares. 
This is reflected in the use of a hare on the club badge
and the tee markers

Golf was brought to Waterville by the workers on the first transatlantic cable which was laid between nearby Valentia island and Newfoundland in the middle of the 19th century.  In 1889 the first formal golf course was laid out with nine holes.  The club failed in the 1950s but was resuscitated by Jack Mulcahy, an Irish American who bought the course in the 1960s and commissioned Claude Harmon and Eddie Hackett (see Connemara) to build an eighteen hole course which opened in 1973.  The original nine holes make up the current first nine which run beside the estuary.  The second nine run closer to the Atlantic with the last few running along the beach. 


Christy's choice - the second hole

The Mass Hole

The first hole is probably the easiest on the course and appropriately named Last Easy!  The second is pleasing to the golfer's eye and is a left to right tilting par 4 with a green framed by the estuary.  It was chosen by Christy O'Connor senior as one of the 18 best golf holes in Ireland.  The par 3s at this course are remarkable for their quality and crowned by the 17th which is played from a tee 250 feet above sea level.  If you can drag your eyes away from the magnificent views you will see the green across a sea of dunes described 'as an emerald oasis amidst a jungle of nature's own terrain'.  The par 3 12th is 'The Mass Hole' named for the use of its deep valley to celebrate Mass in times of persecution in the 18th century.  The finishing hole maintains the standard of the rest of the course as a classic tough par 5 with a narrow fairway and a green angled to the left.

Worth a visit? Unquestionably

The magnificent views from the 17th hole