Waterville Golf Links Course Review

The holes are surrounded by magnificent dunes, the course is surrounded by sea and river and even the bodies of water are surrounded by mountains

Waterville Golf Links Course Review

Green Fee Range: €60-€230

Medal Tee: Par 72 – 6,810 Yards

Visitor Times: Contact Club for details

Website: www.watervillegolflinks.ie

Waterville Golf Links Course Review

At 45 Waterville is still relatively young, but it has the look and feel of a course that has been here forever.

It was designed as a collaboration between owner Jack Mulcahy, former Masters champion Claude Harmon, and one of Ireland’s greatest golf course architects, Eddie Hackett.

Almost completely surrounded by water and with mountains in the background, it’s an excellent test that was most recently upgraded by Tom Fazio.

If you fancy a game on a seriously good golf course situated alongside a peaceful, expansive and beautiful sheltered bay, Waterville is exactly the place.

Aerial photographs of links courses can be captivating and stunning in equal measure, nowhere more so than at Waterville, where it is from the air that you truly appreciate what a marvellous plot of linksland this is.

You get a fair feel on foot too, although you’re perhaps less aware of the water on three sides where the River Inny meets the Atlantic.

Waterville is the westernmost course in our Top 100, but its relative inaccessibility only heightens its romance and appeal. The initial appeal of the place is its wonderful, secluded, natural dunescape setting – it really is heavenly.

It is also a tale of strength in the face of adversity, for although the club dates back to 1889, it ceased to exist in the mid-20th century, and it was only through the vision of Eddie Hackett, Claude Harmon and John Mulcahy in the 1970s that it now exists at all, with Tom Fazio further upgrading the layout in 2006.

The opening quartet and closing trio hug the boundaries, with the 4th hole providing the first of several trips into the most rugged of the dunes.

Great closing stretches always leave you clamouring to come back for more, and Waterville delivers in abundance here.

The terrain on the right-to-left dogleg 16th seems to be doing everything possible to push you towards the water; the 17th is a stunning par-3; and the 18th is a long par-5 where the beach remains a constant threat until you’re safely on the green.

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