Carton House (Montgomerie) - Kildare - Ireland

An absolute brut! The best in land links I've played. 17 and 18 provide a cracking finish but the entire track is a serious challenge for any level of golfer. With the O’Meara on the same complex as good a two course venue as you will find anywhere. AVOID THE SAND, you have been warned

Played this course in May 2019. The fact that the facility has played host to many notable events over the years (Irish Open, Eisenhower Trophy etc.) made my expectations reasonably high, not only for the course itself but also for the entire property.

Let’s start with the positives: The Montgomerie course has been laid out to a nicely undulating piece of land, which has provided Monty the opportunity to use the elevation changes to benefit the layout. The enormous size of the estate has enabled the holes to be placed far apart from each other, creating a feel of a spacious parkland layout with a nice, calm feel to it. The on-site facilities off the course are incredible and another cool part of the facility is the driving range, which is a massive grass field without a single target (at least when we were there) with perfect practice tees and a wonderful view of the Carton House.

However, the highlight of a world-class golf resort should be the golf course. At Carton House, I think the off-course facilities stand well above the Montgomerie course. The course is a good test of golf, as you would expect, but after leaving the course behind, even golfers like me with a good memory would forget most of the holes. Apart from holes 17 & 18, there is just nothing else that would create a permanent memory from the layout. The Montgomerie could be turned into a real monster for championship golf by narrowing the fairways, growing the rough and cutting the greens down. During my round I didn’t get penalized as I probably should have with my wild tee shots, so I actually managed to get it around. But for a recreational golfer, the course does not offer much additional enjoyment compared to similar styled courses around (except if you decided just to enjoy the off-course facilities), the brutally deep bunkering and elevated greens make the course a real fight for shorter hitters. “Inland-links” is an interesting description of the course, as I could not find anything about the course that would have brought a linksy feel to the golfing experience.

As a conclusion, the Montgomerie course is worth visiting for the rest to be experienced at the estate, but the golf course left me slightly disappointed due to my expectations. This is a ballstriker's golf course and truly separates the best from the rest, playing here often would definitely make you a better player if your career ambitions are set to play championship golf one day.

Here's the good news -- The Carton House is a warm and wonderful top notch resort property, fortunate in having two good and different golf courses to choose from, with The Montgomery being better of the two (with The O'Meara being more "easy going" ... parkland, but almost Monterey, CA-like, how native trees, bunkering and rough outline many of the fairways). The less than good news? The difficulty playing the course lies in redundant deep bunkering, both in the fairways and around the greens. Even Monty said, "I looked at the great courses around the world -- Royal Melbourne, Troon, Turnberry -- and worked out what is so good about them. One thing that springs to mind -- bunkering." Fine ... but does nearly every bunker need to be so deep, that when you're stuck in one, playing partners can't even see your head? Don't mind a tough round at all -- but when the course relies on the same feature, over and over, to introduce difficulty -- it actually takes away from the beauty and challenge of the rest of the course. Finishing hole more parkland-like and a bit out of character ... leaving one to wonder, "what course did I just play?" The front nines from both courses would make the better composite 18, in my humble opinion. Don D.

played the course twice in sun and a stiff breeze. Got beaten up the first time round, got the hang of things a bit the second time and played much, much better.Aside from the fact that this course is a links-"style" course set on a flat track of ex-cattle farm, so it doesn't really fit in, what annoyed me the most is the quality of the bunker sand. It felt like there was a light dusting below which was concrete. We literally could not get the ball out of the bunkers, whereas those at RCD, Portrush, Portmarnock et al held no such problems. That was annoying and plain stupid.The greens however are true, there are some beautiful holes (especially one and eighteen), and playing the course of a midsummer evening with the sun casting shadows over the undulating fairways was breathtaking.If you have to pick one Carton course to play (btw, the Carton House Hotel is an absolutely beautiful place to stay and Maynooth, the local town, foody and buzzing), for sure you should opt for the far superior and more appropriate for the setting O'Meara,

Just come back from Ireland after playing three top courses - The K club, The Hermitage and The Montgomerie at Carton House. All courses were relatively tough in their own way, but The Montgomerie was the most bland, featureless and uninspiring. On the plus side I like the fact that there are a lot of bunkers and they are really deep. This is proper punishment for not finding the fairway. The greens were quite quick and had various contours but they were manageable for a 13 handicapper like me. I would say play this course at least once to test your skills at keeping out of the bunkers, but because there is no real stunning scenery to speak of I won't be returning (despite carding a 86 for my best round of the week).

When any body says to me "it's like an inland links" about a golf course I have to confess I roll my eyes and expect the worst. Here is a case in point. Technically outstanding, this course left me cold. The man commissioned to move all of the earth for Monty has probably retired and is sat on his yacht in the Bahamas by now. The scale and nature of each hole, the bunkers, the green complexes and tees is jaw droppingly well done but you can't detract from the over all truth that the front nine is basically a huge field and the back nine is esentially another one. It is all too typical of a tour course, celtic manor, the belfry et al. There is no sense of discovery or journey and only once you are in to the back nine do you enjoy the wider surroundings. It is clinical. It's a great varied test and it's in faultless condition. There are some lovely holes here but by and large they need framing, some definition, a backdrop. There is good reason however that this is the home of the Irish golf union. The facilities are unmatched in Ireland off of the course. Plant some trees and this course could be epic. The bones are there. JCB Lay

I played "The Monty" at Carton in late December 2011. It is in superb condition. I love the fact that you tee off on the 1st from County Meath and play the rest of your round in County Kildare. It has just secured the Irish Open again for 2012 and is a worthy venue. Long, dry all year round, beautiful and a real challenge. Always take an extra club for your second shot. Not bad value too if you're a good negotiator. Much better than the sister "O'Meara" course.

This is a clever golf course. There really is nothing quite like it. Monty set out to design an inland links, and for the most part he achieved this. As others have said, the pot bunkers are its defence. Don't believe for a moment that they are any less severe on the fairway than around the greens. If you drive into one, it really is a case of hitting a sand wedge back into play and taking your medicine. There really are very few courses that I have played where you have to think so much about every shot, particularly if the wind is whipping across the undulating acres. The conditioning is also superb. We played last week and the course looked set up for May, not February. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it is a proper test of your golfing skills. You may not fall in love with it, but you will certainly be in awe of it. Off the course, the Carton facilities are second to none, including the National Golf Academy with superb practice facilities.

I have played over 100 courses in Ireland and the Monty course manyl times. It is my favourite course in the country. I have played the K. Club, the PGA, European Club and other beautiful courses but I just love Carton not only for the quality of the course but for its setting as well. It has a really links feel about it with some beautiful views of the woods surrounding parts of the back 9 and it offers a fantastic view on the castle from many holes and especially the 17th and the 18th which are great finishing holes with water. You can score very well on those 2 holes or lose the ball as well right and scratch them. The course is always in immaculate condition (greens are top class, fairways, bunkers...). The design is really good and challenging and meeting the bunkers definitely brings another challenge to a round. The club house itself is worth a round of golf at Carton! If you have never played this course, give it a go, you will love it!

Played whilst Dublin hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006, both this and the sister O'Meara course were a joy to play. You have to smile off the tees to see a bank of bunkers greeting you to the left of the fairway and an odd one on the right- then you remember Monty's famed controlled fade and wonder why he wants to punish those of us who cannot play that shot!! But a beautiful and enjoyable stretch of holes with a real sense of achievement if you pinch a birdie or two from the big Scot. Tremendous fun! Martyn