Royal County Down: what would be the 14 handicapper points on the first course of the world?

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Royal County Down, which hosts the DP World Tour’s Irish Open this week, is consistently ranked as the best golf course in the world.

Golf Digest ranked you high.

So is Golf World.

And so, too, does today’s Golfer.

Rory McIlroy is a big fan, too. Back in 2014 he said it was his first choice for 18 holes when he went home to Northern Ireland to play with his friends.

The appeal is obvious. It is a rugged, hilly structure that runs along a wide stretch of beach, overlooking the Irish Sea, with the Morne Mountains providing a stunning backdrop.

It’s not easy though. When McIlroy first played the Irish Open there in 2015 he carded 80 and the conditions were so difficult in the final round that eventual winner Soren Kjeldsen could shoot 76 and still win.

So, how can a 14-handicapper cope with the Royal County Down test?

Matt Cooper headed there to find out.

It is the front nine

Originally designed by the great Old Tom Morris and joined by the likes of Harry Vardon and Harry Colt, the brutal beauty of the course is immediately apparent upon arrival.

The wind blows those dark mountains and damages the first road towards the big dunes.

We hit the yellow tees and the first road stretches out in front of us, a green ribbon between the dunes. The waves are crashing on the sea to our right, but we don’t hear them because the wind is whistling in our ears.

“Open your drive to the wind and let the wind do its work,” I say to myself and, to my surprise, I do just that as my playing partner’s cart takes a single, wind-assisted trip out to sea and crosses my line. . I repeat my “get it out of the air” plan with a 5-wood second and am happy to find myself 15 feet from the flag on a par-5 in conditions that make keeping the bag on my back very difficult.

The putt lips but I’m 1-under and I’m walking to the second tee and I’m so sad that I just burst out laughing. The tee box is located on the dunes by the beach offering a view of the sea and a beautiful fairway hidden between several of their sand dunes. It’s so good that we almost forget to hit our shots.

I made bogey-5, I wish I could play the hole again and more or less I got that wish because the third time is pretty much the same thing. But I was so surprised by my surroundings that I made a double bogey-6 this time.

The fourth is a 202-yard par-3 played back towards the clubhouse and into the wind. I suspect the stroke is beyond me and I’ve been proven right but I’m fighting for a bogey-4.

There is almost no margin for error from the tee but I have never felt beaten and I am very happy. A drive on the fifth to the sea, to an angled fairway but the most open fairway of the day and helps me avoid another bogey.

No such luck on the sixth. We are back downwind but at a higher altitude and standing is difficult and you never find the short grass. A double bogey.

Then it’s time to turn again and the par-3 seventh is short (125 yards), even higher than the sixth and scary with long grass and bunkers that threaten any lost ball. I remember the short green but short grass and I tear the scales.

Good vibes don’t last. The dense grass digs into my ball on the eighth and a double bogey-6 feels lucky.

The ninth tee, like the second tee, is a time to laugh. The mountains are blooming, the red brick turret behind the clubhouse clearly resembles a lighthouse that guides golfers, the fairway is far above the dune seat. Walking down that chair towards the green felt like we were mountain climbers coming down the hills after a tough climb.

The back 9

After another bogey and a cup of tea, we turn to play the incredibly short 10th. It is played on a green set between dunes and bunkers. My tee shot takes the slope of the green, not on purpose, and leaves a 15-foot birdie putt that doesn’t look like it’s going in but another par puts a smile on my face.

Earlier in the round, hitting the wind, my 3-handicap partner smashed the driver and counted it 160 yards. Now, on the 430 yard par-4 11th his second shot is played with the putter. Granted from 50 yards it was still a great drive and the longest lag putt I’ve ever seen gives him 12 feet for birdie and he makes it. I made a bogey and added a bogey-6 on the 12th hole where I learned that having the wind in your tail doesn’t help when you miss the fairway.

The 13th introduces a key feature of the next five holes: gorse.

Green, dense and stinging, no one really gets into it but the holes are lined with it and the threat feels real.

I hit a horrible drive on 13 but played blier in my own way. Honestly, honestly. I couldn’t see at all when I hit it and I didn’t know I’d hit the green until I was yards from the putt but the two putts ensured another level.

The 14th is the last par-3 and just when we thought the wind was tough enough, the rain is now hurling itself at us from all sides. It’s like playing golf in a washing machine. Another bogey.

The 15th and 17th play back into the air. And the rain. Fatigue also plays a part. Both par-4s stretch beyond 400 yards and I feel lucky to scratch a double-bogey-6 at the start and a triple-bogey-7 at the end, cruising through fairways like a boat in a storm.

Among the short par-4 16th offers a break with a bogey courtesy of a good chip after being played three shots (not on purpose) under the wind.

The 18th is long. It’s too long. 528 meters long. And in the air it sounds at least twice that. There are also many bunkers. Lots and lots of them. No one likes to close the round with a double-bogey 7 but it could easily have been worse.

Describe Royal County Down in a sentence ✍️#AmgenIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/UJb9dDzl7i

– DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 10, 2024

So, 90 strokes into the par-71 and, despite limping home (literally and figuratively), I’ve never felt happier. Royal County Down is everything you’ve been told.

Game of Thrones was filmed on the Northern Irish coast and the course feels like golf on that scale.

The mountains are angry, the beach has a wide screen, the dunes are wild, the wind is angry, the tee boxes, fairways and greens are like stage sets – the whole experience is nothing short of epic.

* You can book to play the course (on any day bar Wednesday or Saturday) but you will need to book long before you play. It’s expensive but there are deals all winter.

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