Turvey Golf Club
We had been to Turvey before but the course was closed due to the bad weather so we didn’t get to play. When we spoke in at the hotel/clubhouse there were two ladies there, one of whom sort of remembered us from last time. We chatted for a few minutes and found out that the electricity will be off in the area the next day so the ESB could repair a pylon, or something and that the bar would be open til 11:30pm. It was still fairly early so we headed into Swords to see a film (The Mist, it was excellent) before returning to Turvey to make our dinner and enjoy a couple of pints.
By the way, when I say hotel it’s not like Mount Wolseley or Druid’s Heath – it’s a much more low-key affair with a comparatively small hotel and a small block of apartments nearby.
Turvey Golf Club is an 18 hole parkland course in the Donabate area. As such it suffers a little from the flatness we experienced a Donabate. Unlike Donabate, however, this course has a much better feel to it. The fairways are pretty wide open, so feel free to spray the ball around if you like, but they have a nice shape to them and are well cut. The course really starts to come into its own after about the 7th hole which is a nice downhill par 3. The 8th (par 4, index 2) has the course’s first pond and the 9th is a par three over the same pond. The 10th will be one of the nicest holes on the course when it is finished – lot of the fairway had been dug up and is being re-seeded. It’s a sweeping dog leg to the right with a pond and a large tree to negotiate around about where the average golfer’s ball will most likely land. The bigger hitters will be able to head straight over the pond through the gap, but watch out for the out of bounds on the right. The fairways then heads up to the raised green, one of the few hills on the course.
The whole back 9 makes very good use of the few contours the course has to offer and there are some further tricky par 3s to negotiate as well as back to back par 5s, one of which is protected by a pond at the green.
Thomas says:
A very likeable course that doesn’t really reveal itself until about the 7th hole. It did seem very open and plain at the beginning but it was all hanging together quite well without being spectacular. The greens were much slower that the previous ones we had played so it took me a few to adjust to the speed. That said they were firm and in nice order so I’ve only myself to blame for my poor putting!
I’d have to say my favourite hole was probably the 9th (par 3) or the 17th (par 5), both over water. The 17th was on a gentle downslope all the way to the green with that pond that I successfully negotiated and made my par! Lots more to like about this course though and well worth a visit.
Clive says:
I definitely had the wrong feeling about this course – it was so much better than my original vibes. The greens are lovely and, being sand based, means you can hit a firm shot in and it will hold. I was driving well today but couldn’t always finish. The par threes are quite good especially the 9th and the 13th – which is long and very tricky through trees. For a parkland course Turvey has lots of interesting tee boxes with big trees just to make you think about your drive. Today we were on our own and off at around 7.45 – it’s the time to play golf – no one slowing you up or pushing you from behind. Of the courses in the area we have played – Balcarrick, Donabate and Beaverstown, this is up at the top – a good 8 out of ten.
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See our photos of Turvey.
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