Moyola Park

Castledawson is situated in the middle of Northern Ireland, halfway between Belfast and Derry, and just outside this small village sits the beautiful wooded parkland estate of Shanemullagh and the Moyola Park Golf Club.

Designed by little-known architect, Don Patterson, and inaugurated in 1977 with an exhibition match involving Christy O’Connor Snr, the course attracted an even bigger golfing star three years later when Seve Ballesteros took part in a fourball match to mark the “official opening” of the layout.

The front nine concludes with a strong set of four par four holes, the toughest of which is undoubtedly the 421-yard 8th, where the approach to the green requires a carry across the Moyola River.

On the back nine, the 128-yard 17th, the second of back-to-back par threes, brings the same flowing waters of the river into play at one of the most fetching parkland holes in the Ulster province.