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Lahinch Golf Club
Founded in 1893 by a Scottish Regiment of British Army officers
stationed in Limerick, Lahinch with its towering sand dunes, undulating fairways
and rolling greens is the perfect example of a true Irish links. Set in the sand
dunes of west Co. Clare and bounded by the vast expanse of the mighty Atlantic
ocean, it is indeed a humbling experience to play this historic links. Originally
designed by 'Old' Tom Morris of St. Andrews and extensively revised by Dr. Alastair
MacKenzie in 1928 it inspired both these great men. Morris has been quoted as
saying, "I consider the links as fine a natural course as it has ever been my
good fortune to play over", while MacKenzie, a man responsible for the design
of such American greats as Pebble Beach, Cypress Point and Augusta National, said
of Lahinch, "Lahinch will make the finest and most popular course that I, or I
believe anyone else, ever constructed". Sweeping statements indeed, but Lahinch
does not disappoint.
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A
second course, The Castle, was added in 1975, but it is the old course that includes
the real gems. Two of the most famous holes in golf reside here. The Klondyke,
a par five, features a drive into a scenic valley from where you then have to
play a blind 200-yarder over a monstrous sand dune to the oasis of safety that
is the green. The Dell is a par three that inspires either delight or desperation
but always awe at its natural beauty. You play your tee shot onto a green that
is straddled front and back by sand dunes. The pin position, not visible from
the tee box is indicated by the placement of a stone on the bank of the near dune.
It is an anxious walk over the dune in anticipation of what lies beyond.