Castlemartyr - Cork - Ireland

The course at Castlemartyr is difficult to find fault with and there are plenty of positives. I say this with this style of course not being my favourite by a long stretch;- I, like most golfers love the Irish coastal courses and would play them over anything inland every single time (maybe with the exception of Druids Glen). Ok with that said there is still a place for every type of course and what we have at Castlemartyr is a very good modern resort course and to be honest if being totally objective is probably a little low in the county Cork rankings (5th) and also the country numbers (84th). Whenever I visit a course for the first time, I will always have a level of expectation – these were exceeded here, which is a big positive as I have played many 100’s now. As a direct comparison, this course is comparable with the English courses at The Grove and also both at The London Club and back in Ireland, Moyvalley and in fact Castlemartyr is someway better than Moyvalley, although the current rankings tell a different story – hope to see this change next time. My favourite holes are as following; the par-5 4th with fantastic bunkering left and right around landing point from the tee. The 10th is an absolute brute of a par-4, 436 yards with a slight dog-leg left towards the green but what a quality hole. Then the 11th, another par-5 but at 566 yards and a semi-hidden green behind gorse bushes probably needs a couple of ‘plays’ before you love it but I think you will in time. The 15th is yet another brilliant par-5; a 90 degree dog-leg with subtle bunkering down the right-side and a great green right in the corner of the course. The approach to the closing hole will give a full look at the futuristic clubhouse (not a classic design by any stretch of the imagination), it looks a little like a cross between a goldfish bowl and the Sky Sports golf studio you sometimes see when they cover an event on the European Tour. Lasting impressions of the course are really good and I would certainly like to play again at some point – technically a very strong course indeed.