Balbriggan Golf Club
Now this is more like it! The welcome we got here couldn’t have been more different to what happened at Kilcoole. When we arrived last night about half six the place still seemed quite busy – which we took to be a good sign. We went up the new looking shop where we met and had a good chat with Rory, the assistant pro. He told us that the new shop had only been opened for three weeks and that they were improving several holes on the course as well as adding a couple of new ones. We had no tee time pre-booked for the next day and we were looking to take advantage of an Open Fairways offer of 50% off. Rory explained that there was a big charity event on Monday and the tee was closed from 9am to 5pm and we told him we’d probably away off the first tee by no later that half seven. When it came to parking overnight Rory thought it wouldn’t be a problem but we should check with a club official just to be sure. As luck would have it David O’Connor, the Captain no less, came into the shop and said that should be fine. He even suggested having a quick 9 holes now – but we declined in view of the fact that we were tired and hungry! We made our way down to the harbour for dinner then came back to the clubhouse for Guinness. The Captain spoke to us again telling us to keep an eye out for the hares (of which there were plenty) and some buzzards (of which, sadly, we saw none).
Take that Kilcoole!
Balbriggan is an 18 hole parkland course in north Co. Dublin (est. 1945) and we played it on a very windy (see my comments for more on that), overcast but getting sunnier day. Given the welcome we got last night we had good vibes about this course so I guess we were predisposed to like it. And we weren’t really disappointed as the course was in great condition even with all the recent and ongoing changes. The width of the fairways was pretty generous but that didn’t stop us finding the trees a fair few times. There’s plenty of ponds and ditches to make you think about your shots, but once again the slowish greens, though in good looking condition, didn’t do it for us. There was obvious evidence of some of the work that was going on – it was hard to miss the giant digger and earth mover at the seventh, widening the pond. And they seem to be building a very nice looking par three over a couple of ponds as the 8th. Elsewhere the new par 3 11th was a lovely hole – about 180 yards downhill into a bunch of tree with an inviting pond on the left. It was lovely to see the hares running pretty much all over the course. There was a section between the 15th and 17th fairways where six or eight of them had taken up residence. They didn’t seem too bothered as we passed them – even posing for a few photos! It was fun reading all the sponsor signs that were put up for that day’s charity event – things like “It’s a hard game – Concrete Suppliers” and “There’s no such thing as a rough lie – Balbriggan Hotel” kept us entertained all the way round.
At the end of the round we back up to the shop and thanked Rory and Hugh (the starter) and had a brief handshake with the pro Nigel Howley. A nice end to a nice morning.
Thomas says:
I’m blaming the wind. Today, it really got the better of me. That’s my excuse for such poor golf anyway. If there was a bunker or a pond or a ditch, I was in it. I lost so many balls I had to start using my brand new pro Vs! Which is a sign of very bad golf indeed. I liked this course a lot. It’s not too difficult, despite the hacking around I did today. The new 11th (par 3) is a lovely hole and the 15th (par 4) is a tricky dogleg with a ditch on the left all the way up to and across the front of the green. Needless to say I lost a ball in said ditch. Some great views over the course and countryside here and there as well.
Bu sadly there is a blot on the landscape of this course – yes, The Curse of the Slow Greens Strikes Again. I certainly don’t mean to harp on about slow greens. I mean I don’t think I’m a green snob or anything. I just don’t feel comfortable on greens where it feels like I have to whack the ball. And I was constantly leaving the ball short. Like the rest of the course they were in great looking condition, just too slow for my liking. Still worth playing though!
Clive says:
From the start I really liked this course – sometimes the ones you just ‘happen’ upon, like today, turn out to be terrific. The par 5 second hole was a lovely and demanding hole where I got a par. I generally preferred the outward 9 although when all the work is done, Balbriggan will be hard to beat. Today I played some great golf and twice I sank putts from way off the green – Thomas just laughs and wishes he could play the texas wedge the way I can. Top marks to the greenkeepers on the excellent condition of a course undergoing changes. I give the course easily 8 out of 10 – I hope Rory will read this review as he looked at the website when we were with him!
On my course count this was number 236 although in truth it may be just a few less – but still quite a lot and always a great topic of conversation.
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