Castletroy

When Castletroy Golf Club was established in 1937, green fields surrounded their course to the west of Limerick, near the village of Monaleen. Unfortunately, the course is now hemmed in by modern housing development – the price to be paid for increased prosperity in the city over the last seventy years.

Castletroy is a pleasant, though testing, parkland course that was radically updated in 2005 by architect Eddie Connaughton. His company installed USGA-specification greens and tees as well as adding new water features and fairway bunkers.

There are a number of fine holes on the back nine, in particular. The 391-yard par four 10th, a tight driving hole that sweeps right, followed by a par three where the tee shot has to carry a wide stream in front of the green. Another fine pair of holes is the short par four 13th (which doglegs severely right to a heavily contoured green) and the 187-yard 14th, which features marvellous panoramic views of the course from an elevated tee position.