Doonbeg Golf Links

The location is Ireland's Co. Clare, the look is classic links but the enterprise is distinctly American. The developer is Buddy Darby of Kiawah Island, South Carolina. The course designer is Greg Norman. (Okay, he's an Aussie but he lives in Florida and is married to an American.) The caddie programme is run by an American company. And the real estate approach could be from Long, Amelia or Hilton Head Islands.

So is playing Doonbeg truly an Irish experience? Our answer is yes, albeit a controversial one. The site is such spectacular dunes and links land that the Black Watch considered it as the location for its golf course over a century ago. Lahinch was eventually chosen as Doonbeg was viewed as too remote and inaccessible from the soldiers' garrison in Limerick. Environmentalists subsequently discovered the site, and that's when the trouble began. By the time the Doonbeg Community Development Company decided in the mid 1990s to promote the construction of a golf course in this spectacular setting, it was decreed that the course had to be constructed without harming the Vertigo Angustior species of microscopic snail (or was it snail darter) or the majestic seaside sand dunes indigenous to the site. These restrictions may be somewhat to blame for an awkward routing that diminishes the golfing experience and makes the course less than the sum of its parts. Actually, rather disjointed I should say.

None of the foregoing is to imply, however, that Doonbeg does not boast some wonderful golf holes, beginning with the par five first that finishes with a green set amid a massive dune on three sides. The short third makes maximum use of an ancient Irish stacked rock wall down the right hand side of the fairway. The eighth is a brutish par five with a green set hard by the sea. The eleventh with its elevated green is the best par three on the course. And the fifteenth is the most scenic hole on the course.

Perhaps it is the dynamic tension between the several outstanding holes and a few mediocre ones coupled with a less than optimal routing which results in such a diverse response to Doonbeg. One member of H&B Expeditionary Forces proclaimed Doonbeg so disappointing that it nearly ruined his entire Irish experience. Another opined that he planned to retire there and promptly wrote a check to Mr. Darby. I shouldn't think that the former member will be invited by the latter as his partner in the annual Doonbeg member/guest. Yet such is the controversy surrounding Doonbeg.

My advice? Worthy of a play if you plan to visit Lahinch then judge for yourself.

Independent travellers: The club is located on the north/west side of the N67 in County Clare. It is well sign posted from the N67. Report to the Professional's shop to register for play. The staff in the Professional's shop will direct you to the Caddie Master to claim caddies or trolleys.