Review of the Month April 2017 – Carne Golf Links (Hackett)

There's gold in them hills... It was April 2016 in a northwest corner of Ireland, and we expected some tough weather. We got it, of course, in spades, but what we also got was two days of golfing majesty.

If the greens staff were to immediately fill in every bunker, Carne would not become the first bunkerless course in history, but it would inarguably be crowned as the best. It simply doesn't need them. The terrain pushes and pulls you in such fantastic fashion that big holes in the ground half-filled with sand would feel strangely artificial and, in my humble opinion, entirely unnecessary…

If anyone were to criticise this course, I imagine they'd point their crooked little finger at the conditioning of the greens. If it's Royal County Down you're after, then you're looking in entirely the wrong place.

Make no mistake: Carne is an absolute masterpiece.

By Joe McDonnell

Review of the Month April 2017 selected by Editor-in-Chief, Keith Baxter – click here to read the full review

Photo courtesy of Carne Golf Links