washed out at the K Club (smurfit)

Yardage: 6224 (from societies tee's)
par: 72
Location: Straffan, Co Kildare (just outide Dublin, Ireland)
Greenfees: €185-€230
I paid: €60 to my society to play at a winter rate.
weather conditions: you dont wana know!! :P

Described by many as the greatest inland course in Ireland, I think this glowing complement might well apply to both K Club courses, as there is a parkland and a heath / inland links course. This is the largest golf course (from the back tees) on the European tour, it has hosted the smurfit European Open many times, and has seen Tomas Bjórn quit in frustration during his round there a few years ago. Its big brother "the Palmer Ryder course" hosted the Ryder cup in 2006, the first time Ireland has staged such a huge competition..There is water in play on 11holes, although not always a in dangerous areas.

Anyway, enough about the course, lets get to how i fared in my attempt to tame it. My society kicked off at 9.50am after complementary bacon sandwiches and tea/coffee, My group going at 10:50am, i was the lowest handicap in our group, playing off 13 (gui 10)for the society. I had a nice drive, straight down the middle, a little fade.. but i caught the second thick, and this set the tone for the opening 5 holes, battling to straighten up the drive and find some consistency. but i managed it on the 6th, a slight weakening of my grip and i was booming drives 250-260 yards straight down the middle of the fairway, plugging on impact such was the dampness of the course (after the torrential rain we had all week)..

The most consistent feature i would say on this course is the high placement of most greens, It was tricky for me to gauge which club to use a lot of times having not been used to playing this type of course. These greens are be held up high and protected by some huge bunkers. It was quite a challenge to choose the correct club, and then get the high angle of approach to hold the greens. The greens themselves were very fast, but quite a true roll, It was not easy i must admit trying out my new putter the Gel Sapphire, also my new putting grip was being eased into my game

The most significant golf hole on The Palmer Smurfit Course is the Par 5 7th measuring some 606 yards (see pic below paragraph). In its construction, the fairway was dropped some sixty feet below its original height. A large man made quarry / rock face has been developed along the entire length of the golf hole. This was a hole to be respected, so i was delighted to clear one set of bunkers at the front of the green, and avoid the green side left set to hit the green with my 3 wood second shot. I got a birdie, and was fairly chuffed.. I averaged an 7-8 iron approach shot all day, oh oh... i birdied the 3rd par 5 also ;) hehe

The 7th

Did i mention the wind?? oh there was a ferocious wind to contend with all day.. but this was nothing in comparison with what was yet to come. When we stood to the tee box on the 12th, there was a huge downpour, we got soaked, absolutley saturated, thunder and lightning lasting 15mins, downpour after downpour for hours, i have never played golf in rain like this, and i play in rain a fair bit, we all do on the Emerald Isle.. but this gave me a chance to try out the Footjoy Wintersof gloves, yea, ive been testing new kit and new everything recently.. the problem with the gloves was that i bought the wrong size, I have since re ordered a medium ..

So from 12 -18 we suffered a relentless bashing from the rain, and a savage beating by the wind. The fairways held up well in the rain, but it proved very difficult to get good contact on the ball. Despite my best efforts to stay calm and accept the rain, it was not easy. I was barely able to see the island green on the 18th for my approach shot, and subsequently got my ball a little more wet that it had been all afternoon, so my first water hazard had been found.. :P ... I finished with a 16 over par score, but Im thirsty to return and manage a 10over or less, I felt like i was oncourse to do it yesterday, but that attempt turned sour when mother nature had a hissy fit.

all in all, a great day was had, the 3 winners scored 37points, but were approaching their final hole(s) when the rain began, Oh what I would have given to start an hour earlier .. I think i'll try to play Dun Laoghaire next, but the weather better be fair to me !! :/

If you get the opportunity to play the K club by the way, i would encourage it, there are 2 fantastic courses, but the price of green fees are unholy.. fetching as high as €380 last summer.. so, do your best to play on a mild winter seasons day.

This is my first course review, i hope its not too long :P

The 18th

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