# Royal County down



## USER1999 (Sep 30, 2009)

Royal County Down.

This is a links course, often featured in the top 5 in the UK, and the course well deserves it's reputation. I played in mid September, and it was in excellent condition, with fast firm greens, and immaculate fairways.

The starter was friendly, and allotted the tee positions according to handicap. Yellow for 12 and above, white for better golfers. I opted to play off the yellows, as my two playing partners were off mid teens, and having played the course before I know it is a stern test (however, for the cost of the green fee, I think everyone should have the choice of tee, including the blue championship tees if wanted - it works at The Grove).

The first is a par 5, with a narrow fairway (a trend around RCD). It is not that long (505 off the yellow), but finding the fairway is imperative, as there isn't much rough, just heather and gorse. It is nice to start on a par 5 though. I will mention that I birdied it, 5w, 5i, wedge and one putt, but won't mention any other scores, as they were less impressive.

Next up are two challenging par 4s,  both of which have blind shots (starting a trend here as there are a lot of blind holes), and then the first par 3, a 175 (plays more like 195) yarder into the wind to a small green protected by bunkers and gorse. The view along the beach from the 3rd tee is dramatic, and adds to the whole links feel.

The bunkers on the course are small, deep and very overgrown around the edges. Tricky to get into, even trickier to get out of. Some of them so overgrown, it is hard to see them at all, even when standing 5 yards away, which makes using the stroke saver awkward and time consuming.

The 5th is a par 4 with another blind drive which curves off to the right. Given the number of blind shots, and the narrowness of the fairways, it is very easy to lose balls, which can get frustrating (not a course for using ProVs).

The first 5 are the prettiest holes on the course. That said, I often find this with links, as once you turn away from the sea, something is lost.
Royal County Down is unusual for a links course, in that they have two loops of 9, rather than a 9 out, 9 back layout, which means more holes than usual don't get a sea view.

The 9th is a stunning hole, with a blind drive over a crest to a fairway considerably lower than the tee box, (difficult to walk down to the fairway without surfing down on your backside, especially if it is raining). A cracking drive here leaves about an 8i into the green, (nice little par here for me, doubly satisfying as we were being played through which is normally the cue for a disaster).

The tenth is another par 3 (182 yards), with a raised tee by the club house. Not one for the self conscious, as there are large windows behind the tee, giving the feel of eyes boring into your back.

In general the back 9 is blander than the front, but still a difficult test of your golf, with narrow fairways weaving their way through the gorse, and the obligatory blind drives. If you are having a bad day with the big stick, you are not going to score well (if at all), and on most holes you do need the big stick out, 5w off the tee will not do.

The 17th is the only hole with water in play, a narrow pond in the middle of the fairway, which is easily avoided. 
The 18th to me is the toughest hole on the back 9, a very narrow, long par 5, with lots of bunkers, and I have not yet worked out a way of playing this hole, racking up a phone book score both times I have played it. (Note to self, don't hit driver here next year).

I cannot comment on the club house, as I did not have time to visit.

Practice facilities are limited. There is a small pitching green, with a bunker. There is a massive putting green, which is a bit slow, but has lots of contours. There is a smaller putting green, which is the same speed as the greens on the course, and feels like lightening. There is no range, and there are no nets. The lack of a warm up facility makes the first tee shot even more daunting.

RCD do not allow GPS to protect their caddy program, which is annoying if you don't want to fork out yet more money for a caddy. You can buy a course planner (what? Â£160 and they don't give you one?), and luckily I had remembered last years. That said, I have never found these easy, and looking for what could be the 5th bunker back down the right side was not easy, as a lot of the bunkers look camouflaged. There are no yardage posts on the course either, or indications of front, middle and back pin positions.

I had a few issues on the day, such as not being played through when balls have been lost, and being driven through once. In both instances there was a caddy with the group at fault, who did not intervene in a helpful way. We also got grief from the marshal about slow play when we had just played through the slowest 4 ball ever, and it wasn't our fault. My differences with the club have subsequently been resolved to my satisfaction though.

My conclusions would be:

Expensive - Â£160 per round
Difficult - not sure it would be worth playing if worse than single digit h/cap, as losing balls on every other shot isn't fun, and this is easy to do, even off the yellow tees.
Beautiful - It just is.
Slow - very (2 hours 45 for the front 9, 4 45 total).
Standard of golf - they let anyone play, it is expensive P&P, which leads to slow play.
Weather - It is Ireland, so windy and wet. Proper links weather.
GPS - not allowed, but use of which would speed things up for those without caddies.
Worth it? - Sadly, no, not at Â£160.


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## Dodger (Sep 30, 2009)

Great review Murph.I was lucky enough to play it twice for Â£50 3 or 4 years back and loved it,that said I agree with you in that the front 9 are simply superb but the back 9 while still great just dont match up to the front.That said it is in my top 5 with ease and I would love to go back!


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## USER1999 (Sep 30, 2009)

I will be back next year, but I now know a member of the Mourne club who can get me on for Â£20ish. A bit more realistic price wise.
It also helps that you have the handicap required to play round it, unlike me.


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## Ethan (Sep 30, 2009)

RCD is a big beast of a course, and it is a different proposition off back tees. The 4th par 3 becomes 213 yards and a lot of the drives get tougher. The front 9 is fantastic and there are some great holes on the back, my favourites being the 13th and 15th, two strong par-4s. 

A few years ago, I took a mate playing off +1 to the Open Week, and played in a medal off the blues. He had a 74, and said it was one of the best rounds he had played for years. Plenty of 2 iron tee shots followed by long iron approaches. 

On the GPS, what happens if you just have one in your bag? Nobody will take it off you, surely?


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## USER1999 (Sep 30, 2009)

They won't, and apparently many of the members have clocked it themselvs. However, most of the big gps manufacturers don't have it for download, ie: Skycaddie, Golfbuddy, sonocaddy, as RCD won't let them do it.


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## kevinmarkham (Sep 30, 2009)

A majestic course, and the grasses left to grow around and in the bunkers is simply terrifying.

One thing to note: if you change your shoes in the car park and you're spotted - you will be asked to leave the club. And no, I'm not kidding.


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## Ethan (Oct 1, 2009)

They won't, and apparently many of the members have clocked it themselvs. However, most of the big gps manufacturers don't have it for download, ie: Skycaddie, Golfbuddy, sonocaddy, as RCD won't let them do it.
		
Click to expand...

OK, laser rangefinder, then. Not so good on blind shots, which I know abound at RCD.


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## Mike_j_golf (Oct 1, 2009)

Played there last year in november for Â£80 so not too bad price wise great course but i still think the European club is a better course.
Mike


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## Yerman (Oct 1, 2009)

Sounds a great course and as Ulsterboy I'd love to play it but Â£160 is a piss take.


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## RGDave (Oct 1, 2009)

Arise, Sir Murph.

THIS is what we want to read.

Good job mate.

Why not simply make it Â£165 and throw in a stroke-saver and bucket of balls?


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## NeilBennett (Oct 3, 2009)

Thank you for the post. Are there any other golf sites you recommend me for membership?


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