Stewart & Friends

 

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Day 1 – Arrival in Shannon & Tralee

2:20pm      Tee Time at Tralee Golf Club

Welcome to the Southwest of Ireland!

Upon arrival at the Shannon Airport you will be picked up by your dedicated driver with his luxury minicoach to take you directly to your first round of the trip at Tralee Golf Club, a 2hr drive. After playing Tralee, you’ll board your mini-coach again to make the 1-hour drive to your hotel, Killarney Lodge, your home for the next three nights. You’ll make it to Killarney in time to check-in, set down your bags, and take a stroll into town to track down some Irish Stew and Guinness.

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Tralee Golf Club
West Barrow, Ardfert, Co. Kerry, Ireland

Instituted October 1, 1896, Tralee Golf Club opened its present Arnold Palmer-designed course for play at Barrow in October, 1984, after moving from its nine-hole course at Mounthawk near Tralee.

It was a great achievement for the Club. Having decided to buy land at Barrow back in 1980, the members dream of seeing the Club attain world-wide status has been realized. Back in 1896 the Club had its first nine-hole course in Tralee, believed to be where the Sports field is now located. A year later, in 1897, it opened a nine-hole course in Fenit on the south-western side of Barrow Harbour.

There were 120 members then (compared to today’s 1,300) who paid a subscription of 10 shillings a year, with visitors having one week free play as introduction. During the ‘Troubles’, in the 1920’s, a Captain Lionel Hewson was hired to design a new course in Oakpark, Tralee. He was suspicious of the men who sat around on the demesne walls watching him while he measured and made notes. He wrote later that ‘bullets used to fly in those days on little provocation. He had reason to cast a wary eye – a Major McKinnon in the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary was shot dead on the course in March, 1921, while playing golf.

Course Fast Facts:

Yards: 6,925
Year Founded: 1896
Designer(s): Mother Nature

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Your Hotel:

Killarney Lodge
Countess Rd, Dromhale, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland

Killarney Lodge is a charming 4-star guesthouse superbly located in Killarney, walking distance from the town centre. Owned and managed by the Treacy family, you’ll be hosted by Catherine, and you are guaranteed great personal service. You’ll love the superb location and the charming ambience, not to mention fine home baking! Not the fanciest place in town, but maybe the warmest reception.

Feel free to unpack your bags and make sure you pick a good roommate, as this will be your base for the first three nights of the trip.

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Day 2 – Dooks

2:10pm    Tee Time at Dooks Golf Club

Today you’ll get the chance to ease into the trip – and the time zone – with a relaxing morning in Killarney, before making the 40-minute journey for a round at Dooks Golf Club. You’ll return to Killarney after the round for another dinner in town.

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Dooks Golf Club
Glenbeigh, Co Kerry, Ireland

Golf has been played in Dooks since 1889 which makes the course one of the oldest Golf Links in Ireland. Originally named Dooks & Caragh GC, it was affiliated to the GUI in 1903. For 100 years the links remained a steadfastly quirky, 9 holes monument to those early days as the members resisted all efforts at modernisation.

It was extended to eighteen holes in the 1970s under the guidance of Eddie Hackett. The course was further enhanced in 2002 by Martin Hawtree.

For the golfer who is seeking a beautiful and tranquil environment to enjoy great Golf, Dooks presents a convincing case. Dooks is not as exposed as some Irish courses and features an amazing variety of gorse, heather and wild flowers, the “gentle” wind is never far away and the narrow genuine sandy fairways and well contoured greens offer you a real taste of traditional links golf at its very best.

Course Fast Facts:

Yards: 6,000
Year Founded: 1889
Designer(s): Eddie Hackett, Martin Hawtree

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Day 3 – Hogs Head & Waterville

9:00am    Tee Time at Hogs Head Golf Club
2:40pm    Tee Time at Waterville Golf Club

Today will be your first of three 36-hole days this trip. You’ll be driven the 1hr30 to Hogs Head Golf Club for your first round of the day. After a quick bite of lunch, you have a brief 10-minute drive to your afternoon course, Waterville Golf Club. After playing Round Two, your driver will take you back to the Killarney Lodge.

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Hogs Head Golf Club
Ballybrack, Waterville, Co. Kerry, Ireland

You’re unlikely to have friends back home who’ll be able to say they’ve already played Hogs Head, as the course is brand new, opening in the spring of 2018.

Hogs Head’s hard and fast links flow naturally with the visual tapestry of Waterville. Experience beautiful mountain vistas, majestic cliff holes overlooking the Ballinskelligs bay, and feel the Finglas River flow through this beautiful, challenging 18-hole course.

As Robert Trent Jones Jr., the course architect, once said: “The owner’s vision is to create a championship calibre golf course equal to Ireland’s unsurpassed passion for the game of golf, a passion we wholeheartedly share. Our working motto has been, ‘built by friends, for friends, for fun’ and we know this course will deliver the fun.”

Yards: 7,140
Year Founded: 2018
Designer(s): Robert Trent Jones Jr.

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Waterville Golf Links 
Murreagh, Waterville, Co. Kerry, Ireland

Waterville and Ballinskelligs Bay play an important part in not only the world of Irish golf, but in the mythology of ancient Ireland. According to the “Book of Invasions” written about 1000 AD, Cessair, the granddaughter of Noah, landed in Ballinskelligs Bay and became Ireland’s first invader. The rich legends, along with the earliest memories of Kerry history, combine to form a mystical aura that visitors to Waterville can sense even today. No area captures this feeling more than the sand hills and strand that border Ballinskelligs Bay and form the present day Waterville Golf Links.

Over forty of the world’s greatest champions from Sam Snead onwards have challenged the Links over the years. Prior to the 1998 Open, O’Meara, Stewart and Woods were joined by Appleby, Duval and Jansen, all of whom became members of Waterville. Later that year at a ceremony during the now famous Ryder Cup in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States team member Payne Stewart accepted the Captaincy of Waterville – the last golf honour he would receive before his tragic death.

Today, a life sized bronze statue pays tribute to his Captaincy and his special relationship with Waterville.

Course Fast Facts:

Yards: 7,311
Year Founded: 1889
Designer(s): Claude Harmon, Eddie Hackett, Tom Fazio

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Day 4 – Ballybunion

8:06am.    Tee Time at Ballybunion Golf Club

Today is an early start, packed and ready to go, you’ll check out of Killarney Lodge and hit the road at 6:45am. It is a 1h drive to Ballybunion for your 8:06am tee time. The early start means you’ll arrive at Doonbeg in good time to take advantage of the excellent spa, have dinner in the pub or the more formal dining room.

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Ballybunion Golf Club
Sandhill Rd, Ballyeagh, Ballybunion, Co. Kerry, Ireland

“If sheer pleasure is the yardstick, then Ballybunion’s Old Course gets my vote as the No. 1 in the world.”  So said Peter Dobereiner, the famous English golf writer. Dobereiner was doing no more than reflecting the views of the locals who somehow knew through all of their struggles for survival since the day the club was founded way back in 1893 that their Ballybunion links was an unknown treasure waiting for the outside world to come and discover it.

Although its fame did not arrive internationally until the late 1960s, there were hints at what was to come, notably in 1936 when the renowned English architect Tom Simpson was hired to prepare the course for the Irish Amateur Close Championship one year later. The eccentric Simpson always arrived for work accompanied by his glamorous assistant Molly Gourlay in a chauffer-driven, silver Rolls Royce wielding a riding crop and dressed in a flowing cloak and beret. Simpson and Gourlay picnicked on the course from the contents of a giant Fortnum & Mason’s wicker basket while the white-gloved chauffeur polished the Rolls.

By any standards, it was such unconventional behaviour, accompanied by a haughty personality, that militated against Simpson being regarded as a hero of classical golf architecture alongside Harry S. Colt and Dr. Alister Mackenzie. Nevertheless, Simpson’s legacy is formidable and nowhere more so than at Ballybunion Golf Club which he declared had “terrain that surpasses any course we know for beauty, not excepting Pine Valley.” Simpson made minimal changes to the Ballybunion links, confining his input to what he called “finishing touches”. Perhaps, his greatest ‘gift’ to posterity was realising that the links, like the Old Course at St Andrews, did not require “much correction” and that nature herself could not be surpassed. That’s the essence of Ballybunion. It is elemental, natural golf amid dunes beside the ocean where all of the battles are God-made challenges with nature.

Ever since, the North Kerry links has been one of the most lucrative and recognisable brands in world golf. Knowledgeable golfers realise that if they haven’t played golf at Ballybunion their golfing education is gravely incomplete.

Course Fast Facts:

Yards: 6,802
Year Founded: 1889
Designer(s): Jo McKenna, Lionel Hewson, Tom Simpson & Molly Gourlay

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Your Hotel:

Trump International Hotel
Doughmore Bay, Off the N67, Doonbeg, Co. Clare, Ireland

Located on the stunning Clare coastline, Trump International Golf Links and Hotel Ireland (or Doonbeg as we still call it) combines stellar accommodation, a great revised links course, two dining options and a world-class spa. It is definitely one of the best golf resorts in Ireland.

A distinct departure from traditional hotel offerings, Trump suites and cottages feature hand-picked furniture antiques and art which lend a unique and residential feel. The accommodations are meant to serve as your home away from home, offering all the amenities one would expect.