The emerald in the crown of our favourite designer, day 252 at lahinch

Posted by Jamie on 17 September 2010 | 2 Comments | Tags: Lahinch, Ireland, links, Dr. Alistair MacKenzie, Old Tom Morris, SWING

Folks you'll have to excuse me for the belated posting of this blog.  But Ireland is just far too much fun.  And it's getting the better of us.  There, I said it.  No use pretending.  Far.  Too.  Much.  Fun.  

Lahinch was no different.  In fact, dare I say it, Lahinch was a special special experience.  It�??s probably no secret by now that Michael and myself are big fans of a gentleman named Dr. Alistair MacKenzie.  His courses are so cleverly designed so as to be playable by golfers of all shapes and sizes �?? the likes of Royal Melbourne, Cypress Point, Royal Adelaide and Pasatiempo are among the creations of his that we�??ve been fortunate enough to play this year.  Lahinch is the emerald in his crown.  

It was Old Tom Morris, to be sure, that was brought in first to recommend alterations to the original course laid down by The Merchant Princes of Limerick (with the help of the Black Watch Regiment, who were in town at the time).  The first game of golf was played on 15 April 1892; Old Tam was then brought over in 1894 by Alexander Shaw, the brains of the operation.  Apparently the old boy was deeply impressed by the natural terrain and sandhills.  In fact, it�??s reported that Old Tam believed the course would be on a par with the five great links courses of the UK, once his changes were implemented; the finest natural course he�??d ever seen.  Now a lot is said to have been said by famous golfers about golf courses over the years �?? you never have to go far to see a quote from Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan or Tom Watson on a strokesaver, proclaiming this is �??their favourite hole in [insert country]�?� �?? but I can believe it.  Lahinch is quite something.

Indeed it became known as the �??St Andrews of Ireland�?� �??  probably because of the Old Tom Morris connection and the similar atmosphere of the village.  By September 1926 the Committee had got wind of Dr. MacKenzie�??s growing pedigree, and so invited him across to recommend alterations to the course.  He agreed.  By 1928 his wand had been waved, and Lahinch was now a McKenzie course.  Hooray!  If you�??re wondering how I know all of this �?? by the way �?? it�??s because we were each given a fascinating book on the club�??s history �??A Century of Golf at Lahinch: 1892 �?? 1992�?�.  Not to mention we had a cracking lunch in the clubhouse with a past captain who was only too happy to share a few tidbits about the club�??s rich history.  Lahinch is a place that you can�??t help but want to know more about.

It�??s also a huge amount of fun to play, which really is the main thing.  On a benign Friday morning we had the privilege of doing just that �?? on this occasion, with a new friend of ours, a chap by the name of Connor Shields.  Great lad that he is.  Connor had taken the day off work to join us on the tee at 7.30am.  Not only that, but Friday was the day after his birthday, and the 14th anniversary of his wedding!  His wife�??s obviously an understanding lady indeed (who was at work anyway, and don�??t worry folks he whisked her off to somewhere fancy for the night after he left us).

When we left our plush pad at Doonbeg it was dark, and the rain was tumbling down as it tends to do over here.  Tumbling.  �??Feck�?� I exclaimed �?? which as you know is not a real swear word and so can be used in the blog without fear of adverse comment.  Imagine our delight and surprise then when the clouds turned whiter as we approached Lahinch, the bonnie wee village that we�??d passed through the day prior en route to Doonbeg.  As if by the command of Moses himself, the rain stopped.  The clouds parted.  Well, almost anyway.  And there was Connor getting kitted up in the carpark, ready for action.  Super.

Even at the anti-social hour of 7.15am there was a crowd starting to gather around the 1st tee.  These folks like their golf around here, and well they should.  Wouldn�??t want to be late for your tee time...  Anyway we got away without fireworks and found ourselves pacing up the 1st fairway with a butterfly like sense of anticipation.  Yes, we were playing a MacKenzie course.  Someone asked me the other day what type of course I would play for the rest of my life if for some unnatural reason I was restricted to playing one type.  Now, the question is an elastic one.  But nonetheless I responded quickly and without hesitation: I would play MacKenzie courses.  What say you friends?  Links?  Parkland?  Par 72s?  12 holers?  Take your pick.

An opening bogey on a seemingly innocuous hole reminded me that The Good Doctor�??s courses ankle tap you if you�??re not careful.  So I took matters into my own hands and hit driver, 3 wood to 8 feet on the par 5 2nd, to exact my revenge.  Then missed, unfortunately �?? could�??ve been a good few bob for The First Tee but for my omnipresent ineptitude.  The hole however was one to be marvelled at.  From the tee you look back past the clubhouse (on the left) to the village behind.  Lahinch sits there looking quaintly Irish, the waves crashing against its sea wall like an impetuous dog grabbing the leg of a disinterested master.  MacKenzie�??s signature bunkering style �?? aka rather fierce, and fierce looking �?? is there for all to see as you approach the green, some 5 or 6 of the rascals waiting to catch you out.

Holes like 4 and 5 have a Prestwick like quirk factor.  Both demand that blind shots be hit over the famous �??Klondyke�?�, the 4th being a par 5 and the 5th being a par 3.  The fairway on 4 is like a tunnel, which can gather tee shots towards the fairway �?? although you have to be long enough to ensure you can get it up over the Klondyke for your second blow.  On 5 you�??re told to fire 150 yards or so over a little white stone perched atop the dune; although the strokesaver actually said the stone creates an optical illusion, and the pin is in fact 5 yards left of where it appears to be.  All very confusing, but a huge amount of fun.  Poor Connor got a little too cute and ended up a couple of inches away from the stone itself, leaving a treacherous pitch down onto the green.  It was hard not to laugh, but thankfully y�??er man being a self-respecting Irishman has a good sense of humour.  

A brief shower threatened to spoil the party as we marched to the 6th tee.  The rain clouds in question were however blown away by our golf.  Perhaps they thought we looked tormented enough?  A gentleman by the name of Martin had come down to meet us while playing the 5th, at the request of a mutual friend.  Just as I was waxing lyrical about the fantastic start to the course, Martin insisted that things were only just getting started.  At the time I couldn�??t believe he was speaking truth, but he was.  Each hole is more fun than the next, it seems.

6 is a good par 4 playing down towards the sea that I�??m sure could be treacherous �?? although if you get a good drive away you�??ll only have about 140 down to the green, which is a wonderful example of MacKenzie�??s work.  7 then is an up-then-down-then-up short-ish par 4 to a green that looks improbable you�??ll manage to hold.  Vicious bunker to the right of the dance floor caught Connor, who was quaking in his boots but nearly in the end managed to get up and down in a display of Seve magic.  8�??s an uphill par 3 (Goldy was pleased after all the downhill par 3s he�??s been complaining about playing in Ireland...) possessed of wonderful features, not least the greenside bunker on the left that is so steep and deep that it has steps to take you down into its depths.  I always find steps are a bad sign when they lead to sand on a golf course.  9 then is a fun short par 4 with a 60 yard long green, so you need to pay attention to where the pin is for your wedge approach in.

What�??s great about The Good Doctor�??s courses is that �?? and I�??ve said this before, so please excuse the repetition �?? under normal conditions, they�??re very playable.  Good shots get rewarded, bad ones punished.  You don�??t need to be hitting the ball a country mile to be making birdies and (unless the greens are shaved quick and the pins cut in awkward spots) putting�??s generally a pleasurable ritual.  In this case, it was a delight �?? Lahinch�??s greenkeepers obviously know what they�??re doing.  Martin Hawtree �?? who has come in recently to make minor tweaks, and who has developed a reputation as being to MacKenzie courses what Rees Jones is to US Open courses �?? has dun good too.  His new par 3, the 11th, is pure.  It feels like a MacKenzie hole, which is a huge compliment.  

Connor despite having played the course before was just as inspired as we were.  The three of us were like kids at Christmas, beaming with enthusiasm and not wanting it to end.  We all agreed Lahinch was a course you could play every day until you die and not get sick of.  Not many courses fall into that category.  A short par 4 will get your blood pumping and plant the seed of birdie in your mind (like the 13th), then a longer one will bring you back down to earth before a really long one ensures you�??re not getting carried away with your own brilliance (like the 15th).  It�??s a veritable rollercoaster of mini-examinations.  

Eugene the Club Captain and his contemporary whose name very frustratingly escapes me greeted us on the 18th green.  The encounter was a very easy one as we had so many nice things to say, that we wanted to say.  We were taken into the clubhouse and fed like Kings, not to mention entertained with stories about the club and its impressive history I was alluding to before.  Lahinch is a golf lover�??s club and one with a proud record of hosting the South of Ireland which, I�??m told, is a big deal.  Quite simply, it�??s class.  In an unpretentious way, thank God.  I�??m bursting with superlatives but will spare you the monotony of having to read them all.  

One of the best, no doubt.

JP