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Hole-in-one review for Ballyliffin
02.11.10
BALLYLIFFIN Golf Club
has landed a hole-in-one with a flawless review on
the international golf website, WorldGolf.com. The
review article was written by senior contributor,
Jason Scott Deegan, who described it as "one of the
world's best theaters for links golf". He writes:
"When it comes to 36-hole golf clubs in Ireland,
none are better than Ballyliffin. Not The K Club.
Not Ballybunion Golf Club. Not Lahinch Golf Club.
Those three Irish headliners have elite courses, but
they lack a secondary site so highly acclaimed as
Ballyliffin's dynamic duo."
Deegan interviews Chicago brothers Bill and Chuck
McDonough who ranked Ballyliffin their favourite
course during their two trips to links courses in
the North West and Northern Ireland over the past
two summers.
"Ballyliffin is just a great property," Chuck
McDonough told him. "The Glashedy course has the
bigger dunes. The routing has more change in
elevation. The Old Links was a great course, too. It
was a shade easier." |
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The 18th green on the Old Links at
Ballyliffin Golf club. |
Deegan continues: "Upon
his first visit to Ballyliffin in the 1990s, (Nick)
Faldo reportedly fell so in love with the Old Links
that he stayed overnight to finish playing all 18
holes. Faldo's offer to buy the club was turned
down, but his work at the Old Links showcases his
spiritual connection to the place. Faldo renovated
all the bunkers and repositioned several tees,
allowing for more soul-stirring views of the
Glashedy Rock off the coast. The new par-5 14th he
added now rivals "The Tank" -- the dynamic uphill
par-3 fifth -- as the best hole on the course."
Deegan also interviews Ballyliffin general manager,
John Farren, who told him: "Both courses are a step
back in time. They use the pure links land to their
best. Normally you have one weak course. Both are
grand. The quality of the courses and the
conditioning is second to none."
In his summing up verdict, Deegan writes: "Ballyliffin
Golf Club is located in the "back of beyond." That's
the way one Irish tour driver described its remote
location to me on my first visit in 2007. Lucky
millionaires such as Faldo arrive by helicopter. The
rest of us still feel rewarded for making the long
trek by finding one of the world's best theaters for
links golf." |
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