Old Head Golf Links, Kinsale

History & Significance

There really is no pedigree to speak of. Ultimately, like many courses across the world it was built in the 90’s by a group of wealthy individuals, and privatized land that many of the locals feel should be reclaimed as a private space. There are no past Open’s, no magical moments of golfing history to replicate as you walk the course. However, I would argue that is almost a good thing (will come back to this further down).

The Destination

Despite the fact that while playing you feel you are standing on the edge of the earth, it is actually relatively easy to get to from London. 1 hour and 15 minute flight into Cork Airport, followed by a 20 minute taxi to the charming seaside town of Kinsale where you can stay in one of the charming B&B/guesthouses and find a range of restaurants and pubs. You can stay on the Old Head property, and that is the golf purist way of doing it, but I would strongly suggest venturing out in the evenings into the town. From Kinsale it is a 20 minute taxi ride to the course. As is the case with most of Ireland, you can experience all four seasons in a single day. We were lucky enough that one of the two days was beautiful sunshine with no wind, which is more than you can ask for.

The Course Itself

Old Head is essentially the antithesis of Carnoustie. There it is all about the history and putting golfers to the maximum test, with no regard to aesthetic beauty or wow factors. Old Head on the other hand is a fairly straightforward golf course, it isn’t overly difficult, and hasn’t hosted any Open’s, but that is perfectly ok as the greatest asset it has is its surroundings, and I would argue that the setting already maximizes your sense. If you added on top of that having to make constant risk/reward decisions as you do with Carnoustie, it would take away from the scenery. Essentially, you at Carnoustie you are going to be spending a couple minutes on the tee-box looking at the course guide, at Old Head you don’t even want to take the course guide out of your back pocket, you want to stand on the tee’s and breathe in every moment of it. All you care is that the course is in great condition (which it was). That isn’t to say the golf is boring, it is still an amazing golf course in its own right, it just probably isn’t “technically” as lot of the top courses. It may not be in any top 100 lists, but ultimately it is one of the only courses where even 5 years later I can still recount almost every hole on the course, and ultimately, I think that is the proper test of a course. Of course, it doesn’t help that I went 12 over (and 2 over on the back 9).

Favourite Holes

4^th (par 4): One of the most beautiful photographs I have ever taken in my life. The first hole of the course is a warm up hole that is completely hidden from the amazing scenery that is found towards the edges of the course, as if allowing you the first 10 minutes to focus purely on the golf before the sensory overload that is to come for the remaining 4 hours. The second hole is the first hole where you play on the edges of the cliffs, but it’s the 4^th hole that really takes over your sense, with the cliffs on the left dropping sharply towards the sea all the way down towards the green, where chipping even 5 feet off the green forces you to stand perilously close to the edge. One of the few holes in the world where you get a real sense of danger, and can feel the adrenaline start pumping. The view off the tee box is absolutely magnificent, with the Atlantic ocean spreading out across the horizon, with the lighthouse the last line of humanity.

12^th (par 5): Another great hole that sits on the edge of the cliffs, with the tee box providing spectacular views. You hit at a sharp angle to the fairway which makes it seem as if the tee shot is more difficult than it actually is. However, the real tricky shot is the 2^nd / 3^rd as the hole narrows as you approach the green. Off the yellow tees the hole only plays 425 yards, making it very reachable in 2, but you have to be extremely confident with your mid irons to go for the narrow entrance to the green, which optically looks even smaller next to the 300 foot cliffs that you are standing.

Overall, if there was one course I could go back and play again, it would be Old Head. It might not be a golf mecca, but when you have the winds off the Atlantic hitting you as you walk alongside what seems like the edge of the earth, that is the last thing you will be worrying about.

The gorgeous 4th with the hole falling off down the left hand side