Royal Curragh - Kildare - Ireland

The Curragh, a club with a long proud history within Irish Golf is situated on the vast plains of Co Kildare. This is the oldest golf course in Ireland, having being laid out by members of military stationed at the nearby Curragh Camp and to this day still maintains a very strong link to the Army. Every second year a member of the armed forces is made Captain of the club, a novel idea which helps foster the relationship. When I first started playing the Curragh it was a vastly different design to the one we see today. Back then the layout was largely unchanged from the original.However in recent times, a public road running through the course became busier and required that shots could now not be played across the road, something which would turn out to be, in my opinion, detrimental. The course lost a huge amount of its character, with the re-design being carried out by Paddy Merrigan, which I feel is the worst example of his work that I have ever seen (I struggle to believe that this is the same man who designed Tulfarris).

In his renovations he designed 3 new holes and altered two existing holes and in doing so he laid created something which I feel a Construction foreman could have done a better job of. The three new holes(two long par 5's and a brain dead uphill par 3) are a complete mis-fit for the topography and were in my opinion designed completely aside from the overall thought behind the remaining holes. They stand out like white elephants, the original course was designed with St Andrews and Musselburgh (the 2 clubs have a link) in mind and was intended to play like a links, with the hard running terrain being a great substitute for seaside turf. I was a lover of the original Curragh and I must say that many of the holes are still the same, however it is these new "excuses" for golf holes which deter me from playing a track I one loved so much. Great efforts have been made by this years captain to return the course to its former glory (tree removal etc) that being I feel he has made one fatal error, removing the Sheep from the course. These animals were an integral part of the course and how it played, allowing for a wide open track with emphasis on shot making and also how one would deal with the many different lies encountered.

This once great course, which a young golfer growing up at would learn to play a large variety of shots has been ruined by modern day requirements.

This course has changed a lot in the last few years. Firstly the layout; five holes have either been removed or changed to take the public road out of play, also five new greens were laid and some of the tee boxes have been moved further back to toughen up the par 5's. The second big change has been the removal of the grazing sheep, although they are not too far away from the fairway! This has allowed the course to play more like a parkland course, although the landscape is a mix of heathland / parkland. The course is truly magnificent and probably unique in it's mix of terrain. One of the strengths of the course are the greens, when we played last, they were very fast, but very true. Depending on the pin placements and your approach shot, it can be very easy to three putt on some of the sloping greens.Probably the toughest stretch is on the turn, with a long par 3 (11), followed by two tough dog leg par 5's (12,13). But the signature hole has to be the long par 17th measuring 443 yards off the back tees, with a double dog leg and blind tee shot, a par is truly a great achievement on this hole. If you are putting together a hit list of Irish courses, don’t miss this gem, you will also get a very warm welcome.