Killeen Golf Club

When we arrived at Killeen it was in the midst of a lady’s competition. From the clubhouse we could see a large lake with a few greens dotted around it and it looked like to could be a really nice course. We spun our story to the lady behind the bar and with permission granted we enjoyed a Guinness before heading back to the van for dinner. Unable to resist the lure of another Guinness we headed back into the bar for another and got caught up on the prize giving - someone won with 42 points! The US Open had been called off for the day so with no golf to watch on the TV we turned in for the night.

This morning was a lot calmer weather-wise. Still plenty of cloud around but none of it threatening rain and it was a lot warmer as well. Today’s competition was a three ball rumble, but our third person let us down. Their name had been scored of the time sheet and with no one else around we put our green fee in an envelope and headed out to play.

Killeen is an 18 hole parkland course in Co. Kildare not far from Kill and the first thing you need to know about the course is that it’s flat. And there’s no getting away from it. They’ve tried very hard to mask the flatness with slight doglegs around mature trees but there’s not mistaking the obvious mounding in an attempt to add interest and the up-and-downness, particularly in the opening 6 or 7 holes. Things pick up at the 8th with a lovely par 3 over water and the holes from 12 on are more interesting than those that have gone before mainly on account of the water that comes into play at most of them.

There’s little to fault this course condition-wise; fairways, tee boxes and greens were all immaculate. It’s just a shame that it’s so flat.

Thomas says:
I played some really good golf today. Sank some long putts, drove well and almost chipped in a couple of times. You’re always going to enjoy a course you play well at. Having said that it took this course a while to get going. It looked lovely, but the first lot of holes were just up and down - and even then some of the tee boxes weren’t marked terribly well and we found ourselves wandering a round a bit. The greens were excellent and fast, the fairways wide and the rough and the trees were forgiving, so the only real challenge came when water was in play - and thankfully there was a lot of it about. Probably my favourite hole was the par 5 16th with three lakes encroaching on the right and trees sweeping in from the left. On the whole and enjoyable if not super memorable course.

Clive says:
In the past couple of years we have been playing lots of courses in the Dublin/Kildare area since we have been around Ireland and done most of their courses. Whilst the newer courses are all perfectly manicured, I still prefer the little out of the way ones. So we came to Killeen. There are lots of courses close by and we’ve played some of them. I was disappointed when our partner didn’t turn up but off we went. Up and down was the order of the day - to make matters worse my golf was dreadful. However the second nine are much more interesting. I started to play quite well and began to enjoy the Killeen experience. I should say too that there are plenty of magnificent hares around the place and, along with various water birds, swans, coots and even some dabchicks, the wildlife certainly adds interest. We even saw a heron watching for his dinner beside the stream. He looked for all the world like a Trinity professor.

I played the 17th perfectly - good drive, excellent 5 wood on to the green and 2 putts for a par. So we finished this our 252nd course in Ireland with a sense of ‘well it could have been more interesting’ - maybe we are getting too fussy!

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