St Anne’s Golf Club (220)

St Anne’s is a links course on North Bull Island in Dublin Bay and it’s a great setting. (Royal Dublin is on the same island). By the time we arrived after our wash out at Stackstown the weather had cleared, but the course was mostly deserted and the clubhouse was empty. Sean, the barman, gave us a friendly welcome and after showing us a bit of the layout of the course from the balcony of the plush looking clubhouse suggested that we speak to Joe Lynch, the President of the club, about parking overnight.

We watched Joe finish the 18th then accosted him in the car park as where we chatted for 5 or 10 minutes. He said it would fine to park overnight and so we headed inside for some of the black stuff.

The weather next day was windy, but it wasn’t raining. There was some cloud around and occasionally the sun came out to remind us that it was, in fact, summer. It was a fourball open comeptition and we were paired with a couple of guys, who were members of Forrest Little, called Barry and Brendan. They were a very friendly pair and we very much enjoyed their company.

The course was in fine condition, despite some puddles of water that littered the course from yesterday’s torrents. Holes 3 to 11 were particulrly punishing as they were all into the very strong headwind so club selection is key.

The fairways are quite forgiving – less undlulating than some we have played and they were generously wide and lush looking making them easy to see, if not quite as easy to hit when your game is off. The lighter rough just off the fairways was manageable but you didn’t want to find yourself in nasty stuff. Poor Brendan lost several balls when you would have expected to find them easily.

The greens were also in great condition and pretty fast to boot.

Thomas says:
Links golf really is a different game. The wind always messes with my game and today was no exception. Despite playing poorly I think we managed 34 points, so at least one of us was playing well!

We were treated very well at St Anne’s by Sean and Joe and even the ladies in the starter hut were friendly and interested in our camper van story – and the friendly treatment was matched by the two lads we played with. It’s always nice to play a round with someone else.

I was very impressed with the course. It did seem a little bit up and down at times, but I guess there’s very little you can do in that respect with a links course. The whole course had a very open feel – there were sand dunes around but they weren’t any great height, more mounds than anything else. The greens and fairways and everything in between were well maintained and first class condition. The only negative thing I could say was that they had no hot water for a shower afterwards!

Clive says:
I had always thought it would cost a fortune to play at St Annes, being on North Bull Island the same place as Royal Dublin. But an Open was on at a reasonable price – €35 per player. It was funny to arrive with hardly anyone around – I think this has something to do with the drink-driving laws. However we were made to feel welcome and we slept soundly in the car park – where else?

On the morning it was all buzz with the ladies welcoming all the players. I nearly went on my back coming off the putting green and mentioned it to the men in the hut. They were out immediately and fixed the problem.

I liked the course. Links golf is, of course, totally different from being on a parkland course. Punch the ball and keep it low is the motto. My driving was off today but I have to say that, for once, I was the one who kept our pairing up to scratch. I scored several pars and I holed a fabulous putt from well off the green on the 11th. I’m great with a putter from off the green – you see I’m not much good at chipping. I know I should practise!!

I would recommend this course to everyone. Just keep your ball in play and you cannot go wrong. It’s a place where you don’t really need huge drives. The greens were in fine order and the fairways a credit to the green staff. I suppose the only down side is if you get a wet day – there are no trees to protect you as you go along. But we got a lovely day and all was well with the world. If you press me I’d say the 18th was one of the finer holes – a really straight drive is essential followed by an accurate iron into the green. I’m afraid I didn’t do either. Our 34 points was pretty good – and we beat the lads from Forrest Little – just!