Trump International Golf Links Ireland is located in County Clare, in the west of Ireland. The course was designed by the renowned Greg Norman and opened in 2002 to much acclaim and has continued to garner many awards and much recognition. In 2014 following its acquisition by Donald Trump, it was redesigned by the revered golf architect Dr. Hawtree. This world renowned 18 hole championship and golf links course covers 1.5 miles of crescent shaped beach and century old sand dunes along Doughmore Bay. It is a par 72 links course, measuring 6,885 yards from the back tees.
It benefits from a fantastic design and layout that makes the most out of its scenic location, amongst the monstrous sand dunes, with dramatic views of the Atlantic from 16 of the 18 holes. When designing the course Norman wanted minimal impact on the natural terrain and the result is an old-fashioned feeling course that follows a natural route through the sand dunes, making it both unique and beautiful.
The layout consists of
- a single loop of nine holes that play away from the clubhouse to the dunes,
- then nine back, synonymous with traditional links architecture.
- There is a fantastic variety of holes, each one is a gem and challenging in its own way,
- with the finishing holes being especially dramatic and really strong.
What you can expect from this course is foremost spectacular scenery, followed by hideous dunes, blind drives, roller coaster fairways, elevated greens and even an unusual green with a bunker in the middle of it. As with all links courses mother nature plays a hand and the speed and direction of the wind cause regular fluctuations in play. There is a unique combination of five par 3s and five par 5s. A caddie is highly recommended if this is your first time round, it could prove disastrous otherwise, it is full of surprises.
The condition of the course is fantastic, it is beautifully maintained. The contoured greens are quite small, excellent, fast and consistent, the fairways are wide, bunkering is well placed throughout and comes in the form of either Scottish-style sod faced pot bunkers or roughed out explosion bunkers, the high, fescue rough is impenetrable.
Trump International Golf Links Ireland is a tough and uncompromising course but fun to play, a real design triumph. The approach when playing here is to immerse yourself, roll with the dunes and draw inspiration from it, there are some great touches here that you won’t find anywhere else.
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