ON MY journey to the European Club last week, I had to drive across the Wicklow Gap to avoid a car crash on the motorway.
This route surprised me because it was very well surfaced and the 45-minute journey across the mountains was quite pleasant. It was promised a tough day weather wise and it did
not disappoint. We had to contend with some 55kmph gusts along with sprawling rain. For those of you who are familiar with this course it certainly needs no introduction, on a calm day this course is easily the toughest course in Ireland and surely a top five in the world. For those of you who have not played here yet, it is like going home every evening to a beating from your loved one, yet you keep making that journey home.
It is possibly the challenge of one day taming the beast, yet it has a 100% record of chewing me up and spitting me out to date. The winds were so strong, my punched 5 iron on the first did not make it to the green front only 124 yards away.
A well hit drive into the wind was losing over a hun- dred yards of distance. But yet we had fun all day and I reminded myself once again that there is plenty of golfers in a hospital who would cherish the opportunity to play golf even in the conditions. The course itself plays just under 7,400 yards from the back tees which I would recommend only for long hitters and if it is a calm day. The white tees alone play over 7,000 yards so this course truly is a monster. What makes it even more difficult is the deep potholes bunkers that are cleverly positions throughout the course and it is all but impossible to avoid all of them over your five-hour round.
The rough it possibly the most difficult aspect of this course they had it cut quite short however even at the height you could only advance a ball 80-100 yards from the first cut. You simply must find the fairways on this course because any missed fairways you will be extremely punished. A lot of the holes get quite narrow as you reach 240- 280 up the fairway. The clever design of these narrow tight areas means you must choose a club from the tee box that you hit the straightest. You are definitely better off fifty yards shorter off the tee to make sure you are on the short grass.
The greens are no slouch either they were running fast for winter golf at I would guess 9.5 – 10 on the Stemp meter, so it was easy to race a putt past the hole location which I managed to do one several occasions.
I first played the European Club in 2006 in the Irish Amateur Championship that was won that year by Rory McILroy. I was blown away by the course and it was love at first sight even though it was ridiculously difficult, any ball that missed the fairway was a lost ball.
I had my chance to return here as a PGA Golf Professional in 2009 when the course hosted the Irish PGA Championship that was won by Padraig Harrington. Padraig won the Irish PGA Championship here in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the event having been scheduled in the week before the British Open in order to prepare him for that classic, and the plan worked so well that he won the PGA in a playoff the week before, winning The Open at Carnoustie in a playoff; and retained the PGA by four strokes at The European the week before retaining his Open title by
four at Birkdale!
He recalls: “There is no question that there were shots at The Open that I was better at because I had played links golf at The Eu- ropean Club the week be- fore. I would specifically pick my 7-iron into the first hole of the playoff. The weather had turned, the temperature had dropped, and I had learned the week before to allow for this as I hit a 7-iron 162-yards as against my nor- mal 180-yards. It must have won me The Open. The European Club is a great links that you have to think your
way around.”
The 7th and 12th holes always excite me. The 7th Index 1 is a tight tee shot that has a water hazard to the left-hand side of the fair- way and it has a line of out of bounds all the way up the right hand side just a few feet away from the fairway. I set myself a target to par this hole last week even though it was into the wind I hit a great low drive followed by a well hit 5wood that carried only 175 yards leaving me only 15 yards short of the green surface. I chose to chip and run a 6 iron to 4ft and managed to hold the par putt.
Anytime you walk off this hole with a par you feel like you have gained a shot or possibly two on most of the field. The 12th hole is an exceptional par four that sweeps from the beach right to left and it is one of the more generous fairways in relation to size. The green however is 138 yards long so for your second shot you may be hit- ting anything from a wedge to a 3w depending on where they decide to locate the pin.
For instance, I had 121 yards to the front of this green and over 250 yards to the rear edge of the green for my second shot. This green truly is a huge talking point for anyone who plays golf here it is so unique. I ended up with a 44-yard putt from the front of the green last week all because I missed the fair- way from the tee box.
I have heard they are running an open single event every day for only €100 a day, so it is the perfect opportunity for you to test your game in what truly is the hardest, toughest golf course in Ireland, Europe and one of the most difficult in the entire world. But be warned playing here leaves you with a longing to return the next day. I highly recommend also stopping at Jack Whyte’s Inn after your round you have to pass by it on your way home and the food is amazing.
