Photos of Ireland's Golf Courses

[kevinmarkham]

Guys, I'm putting hundreds of photographs of Ireland's 18 hole golf courses on my Flickr page. This is to give golfers an idea of what our beautiful courses look like and to tempt you to this part of the world. They're not professional photos and some days the weather was miserable (it does rain over here from time to time), so some shots can look a bit gloomy.

There are over 800 photos and over 100 courses up so far and I have a couple of thousand more to add. It's taking a long time but if there is a particular course you want to see, let me know and I'll add it as soon as I can.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmarkham/

 

[bobmac]

Wow Kevin. How much have you spent on green fees?
Great selection of pics. Ty

 

[kevinmarkham]

Green fees? Not one cent. I was writing a book on Ireland's golf courses so I got to play it all for free. I did work out roughly what it would have cost me as a paying customer: approx €15,000

 

[bobmac]

Were you really writing a book, or............?
I went to Ireland 2 years ago and played Portarlington, so it was nice seeing the pictures again.
I did also play Mount Juliet which I see you haven't added yet.
I hope you do as it's one of my favourite courses of all time.
Thanks for bringing back happy memories

 

[kevinmarkham]

"Were you really writing a book, or............?"

It's a question I was asked a few times, but I was turning up in a camper van on my lonesome, so I guess they believed me or just thought I was a sad old git with no mates. You'll find a load of stuff on my blog about my travels, including a couple of visits to Portarlington, which is one of my favourites.

It's typical you ask about Mount Juliet - it's one of the courses I've played loads of times but never photographed because it was before I started the book. The same goes for Druid's Glen. I'll get back to them soon enough and get some photos.

 

[stevek1969]

Kevin alot of good memories brought back there. Limerick County played there twice and the best we were looked after i thought the 18th was a par 5 right up the hill.Glasson another spectacular course.Have you any of Ballyliffin played the Old Links in June what a course. Whats your opinion of Rosapenna we're going to play it next June or Portsalon as we're playing in the Old Bushmills Whisky comp again

 

[kevinmarkham]

Hi Steve
Limerick County 18th used to be a par five but one of the neighbours took the club to court and it had to be reduced to a very short par four. I'm a member at Greystones and we're going through the same pain at the moment.

Rosapenna and Portsalon are great courses. Rosapenna (Sandy Hills) is a tough track. Veer off the fairway and there's no forgiveness. Portsalon is more forgiving, older, and more adventurous in its layout. A couple of double greens add to the fun.

I'll stick up Ballyliffin later today. There won't be many of Glashedy's back 9 though - I finished in the dark

 

[stevek1969]

That 18th killed me both days at Limerick County climbing that hill, never understood why you buy a house on a golf course then complain about it .
Thanks for info on Portsalon, we played Royal Portrush, Portstewart,Castlerock and Ballycastle and Ballyliffin Old Links ,that was was the best golf tour i've had for course quality .
Not long till next June now.

 

[Ken_A]

I think I remember an article about you doing thi, not as pretty as it sounds from memory. Must have been damn hard work.

 

[Ken_A]

No Tandragee and no picture of Leinster Hills' Clubhouse - Of which I designed the Fimber Frame. Shame on you.

BTW

I also designed the TF for these - and agree with your caption

 

[clubchamp07]

Kevin are you the same guy who stayed in a camper van?

If you are, you must remember Massereene.

 

[kevinmarkham]

Blimey lads, I've just got Laytown & Bettystown, Ballyliffin x 2, Greenore and Warrenpoint up on the site - some superb pics from Greenore by the way.

Tandragee I have and I'll get them up along with Massereene.

Yep, that was me in the camper van. Sadly no pics of the two drunk lads who decided I shouldn't have parked in the Lady Vice President's parking space at Massereene and called the cops.

 

[Ken_A]

Blimey lads, I've just got Laytown & Bettystown, Ballyliffin x 2, Greenore and Warrenpoint up on the site - some superb pics from Greenore by the way.

Tandragee I have and I'll get them up along with Massereene.

Yep, that was me in the camper van. Sadly no pics of the two drunk lads who decided I shouldn't have parked in the Lady Vice President's parking space at Massereene and called the cops.

I did read that article BTW, hard to believe you played them all- some going! Bet the misses had plenty of peace.

 

[kevinmarkham]

Massereene and Tandragee are up on the site. Neither was played on a bright day

 

[brendy]

Kevin, did you get round the north down coast, ie Bangor, Clandeboye, Carnalea, Royal Belfast etc?

 

[kevinmarkham]

Yep, played them all - thought Clandeboye was superb. I liked Blackwood too (such potential). As for Bangor, good track with some great holes.

 

[redmike]

nice photos. played both ballyliffin courses about a month back.

what did yoyu make of them?

port salon looks nice - hoping to add it to the itinery for next year!

 

[matt01]

very good,must have take alot of time and planning

did you get around co tyrone ie newtownstewart,omagh and so on

 

[kevinmarkham]

nice photos. played both ballyliffin courses about a month back.

what did yoyu make of them?

port salon looks nice - hoping to add it to the itinery for next year!

People rave about the two Ballyliffin courses and there's a constant debate about which one is better. Personally, I prefer the Old, probably because of the finish by the sea. Faldo's changes have worked well too.

If you're heading for Portsalon be sure to pay Rosapenna a visit

 

[kevinmarkham]

very good,must have take alot of time and planning

did you get around co tyrone ie newtownstewart,omagh and so on

Hi Matt, yes I played Co. Tyrone - the goal was to play every 18 hole golf course on the island, so I played all 349 of them.

I thought Newtownstewart was a great track