Welcome to Doonbeg: The Doonbeg Experience Raises the Bar in Irish Golf By Ivan Morris
Long before he drives into the welcoming courtyard of Doonbeg Golf Club in County Clare, the sight of a spectacular, stone-structure standing tall on the horizon will intrigue the expectant travelling golfer. With 47 inter-connected suites snugly nestled around it, the Doonbeg Lodge appears from a distance to be a self contained village overlooking dramatic views of Doughmore Beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
All the buildings are tastefully constructed in keeping with traditional Irish architecture. It is obvious no detail or expense has been spared in a total spend of 150 million euros, on and off the golf course, by the time the entire project is completed. Even the gardens and pathways are landscaped to reflect their location in westernmost Ireland by the renowned skills of the TV personality, Diarmuid Gavin. And we haven't yet mentioned the world-class Greg Norman-designed gold links.
Everything that Buddy Darby and his fellow Directors of Kiawah Development Partners concieve, is carried out with such superb taste and brilliant business acumen and planning that it comes as bit of a shock that they actually did get something badly wrong. It was nobody's fault, mind you, but the opening of the Doonbeg Links in 2002 could hardly have been worse timed.
In its short life, the Doonbeg project has had to cope with mountains of legal paperwork to overcome the most stringent of planning procedures, 9/11, Foot and Mouth disease, the falling value of the US dollar and the Iraq War as well as the begruding curse of St. Munchin which they could never have anticipated, i.e. the spoiled Irish would be the most difficult of all to please.
Nor could the uproar and delays caused by the wish to save from extinction an estimated 10 million microscopic snails deflect Buddy Darby and Co. The snail, a member of the Vertigo Angustior family, has been jokingly renamed Angus locally due to the copious amounts of heifer dust it helped to generate.
As the crow flies, Doonbeg is strategically sandwiched equidistant between the long-established and world-famous Lahinch and Ballybunion courses. So, the owners knew from the beginning that they would have to compete in elite company.
As a frequent visitor to Doonbeg from its earliest delays and as a member of both Ballybunion and Lahinch for eighty-three years combined, I regularly enjoy the different challenges of all three courses and therefore feel well-qualified to express an opinion on how they compare.
In my golfing travels I have always considered the 1st tee atmosphere at Lahinch to be second to none. You should see Doonbeg! The clubhouse at Ballybunion and its dramatic ocean views is pretty impressive. You should see Doonbeg! Off the back markers Lahinch and Ballybunion are formidable tests of ball control. You should see Doonbeg!
As you can gather, Doonbeg compares very well. Indeed, from my own experience I find it to be the most difficult of the three on which to produce a sub par score. Norman's intelligent design has achieved excellent variety by putting some greens about, some below and some on the same level as the approaching golfer without any of the back-breaking climbs one has to endure at Lahinch, especially. On the other hand, Doonbeg is also probably the easiest of the three from the forward tees; so, tigers and rabbits are provided with challenges commensurate with their skills.
Doonbeg waited patiently for over 100 years begging to be turned into golfing ground. As long ago as 1891, this stretch of eye-catching dunes six miles north of Kilkee, screamed "golf course." Sir Alexander Shaw, a Scottish-born industrialist and enthusiatic golf promoter who was based in Limerick City, recognised its potential. He, and his friends, seriously considered locating what they termed their "summer course" here. The absence of an acceptable road system or, more importantly, a railway line made accessibility rather too difficult. Instead, one of Ireland's most intrepid golf pioneers decided to go elsewhere. To be fair, Shaw found equally exciting terrain 20 miles up the coast where he became the founding father and first president of Lahinch Golf Club.
The choice of Greg Norman, as course architect was inspired. As a passionate lover of links gold, Greg understood his responsibilities. On one of 23 visits he made to the site, he said, "The sensitivity of this piece of property required a total hands-on approach. You do not get too many opportunities to work on a piece of land like this one. It is unique. I am going to make sure that the end result is 100% but at the same time people must realise that great golf courses need time to evolve and Doonbeg should be regarded as a work-in progress for sometime yet. This is a course I want to be identified with. One that I will be able to say with pride everywhere I go, 'I did this one!' It's Ireland. It's Irish golf. It's links golf; sand dunes like you'll never see again because golfing land like this is preciously finite. The ball is round and is designed to roll as well as fly. The golfer is required to make his ball do both at Doonbeg. The last thing I wanted to do was to Americanize this golf course, I love links golf and Irish links golf is among the best. I wanted to keep it as natural as possible. As a golfing test Doonbeg will only get better."
The routing cut through a series of conical dunes adjacent to a crescent shaped shoreline lives up to its rave billing but the original design that was set out by Norman has not been declared sacrosanct. Head Pro, Brian Shaw and Head Greens Superintendent, Jim McKenna, have an understanding with The Shark, based on intelligent and practical feedback from the Doonbeg members that certain refinements will be executed from time to time. Quite a number of them were successfully undertaken last winter. Those alterations plus natural evolution has seen the course mature more rapidly than could have been envisaged.
When I say that the course is infinitely better than when it first opened in 2002, do not forget that revered Ballybunion was classed as a "rabbit warren" once upon a time and Lahinch underwent its own extensive "Mackensieisation" refurbishment recently. Every time I go to Doonbeg, I fully expect to see subtle additions and improvements because Norman, McKenna and Shaw do not sit on their laurels.
The Shark has always played the game with enviable panache and this laudable approach is suitably reflected in all aspects of the Doonbeg facility. After being taken care of in the clubhouse, the high altar like 1st tee and one of the most attention-grabbing puck-offs in all of the golf is at one's doorstep.
With the sound of the Atlantic waves ringing in one's ears as they crash onto the beach a mere wedge shot away and the nervy feeling brought on by many pairs of eyes watching you from behind the bar windows, there is no getting away from the fact that from the first to last swing, the boisterous elements of the west of Ireland will be your primary adversary. Variations in wind speed and direction guarantee that the course plays differently every day.
Just over 500 yards from the 1st tee; 50 yards from the front edge of the green; a tiny pot bunker catches one's attention. That trap, no more than 6 feet wide, has powerful magnetic properties way out of proportion to its size. Every golfer has to get past it somehow without doing serious injury to the scorecard. Behind the green, a semi-circle of enormous, cone-shaped dunes is an eye-catching backdrop.
On the front nine my favourite stretch is Nos. 6 through 8. The raised, back tee at the 6th (373 yards, Par 4) overlooks the beach and the fairway runs from a deep, hidden bowl between unruly dunes through an ascending valley parallel to the shoreline. The slightest of pulls will end up on the beach; any miss to the right will result in an ungainly recovery, if you are lucky. From the back tee it could be the most intimidating shot on the golf course. The highest part of the green is the front edge and everything from the point meanders downwards in erratic steps for 120 feet. Believe it or not, I have managed to drive this green downwind which demonstrated the strength of the wind on particular days.
The 7th tee is located in the heart of the golf course. A glance at the scorecard reveals a formidable par 3 measuring 227 yards. Because the tee is elevated only a hint of prevailing breeze ensures that the hole plays nowhere near that length. The entrance to the green is open and flat as Norman sportingly provides an opportunity for weaker players to run their golf balls onto the putting surface.
The 8th hole (582 yards, par 5) has as wide a fairway as you will ever see but the hole can be brutal. No matter the wind direction, perplexing multiple-choice questions arise at various stages to test your course-management skills. Along the right is clearly the safer if longer route but if you are brave and want to force the issue you will have to risk much trouble on the left.
On the back nine, the 10th hole (580 yards, par 5) is a thinking man's golf hole that plays downwind more often than not. There are so many hazards, conundrums and food for thought strewn about that I never know whether to attack or back-off.
The short 11th (148 yards, par 3) has striking similarities with the same numbered hole at St. Andrew's in Scotland, the most obvious being the intimidating "Strath-like" bunker facing the player.
Norman claims that the 405 yards, par 4, 15th hole was the first hole he saw in his mind's eye when he made his inaugural visit to stake out the land. Nor is there a letdown on any of the finishing holes. If you can survive intact until the 18th, you will enter the Clubhouse fully entitled to your well-earned refreshments.
Templemore's Joe Russell has been the genial General Manager in charge of operational affairs at Doonbeg for almost three years. Joe is big into the detail of the many small things that can so easily be taken for granted. He sets high standards but is delighted and excited by the progress he sees all around him. Working on a project as big as this has given him a unique insight into "who delivers and who keeps his word," he says knowingly. The level of bookings already placed long before the Lodge accomodation is finished surprises Russell. He is particularly proud of his carefully chosen, keen to please staff of almost 150 that will transform the local economy and social scene.
One of the most notable of the new employees is Mary Kelly, the Golf Shop Manager. Mary grew up in nearby Mullagh but had to leave her beloved County Clare to earn a living as a retailer with Benetton. She has come back to her roots with a husband and two children and loves the challenge of working in this unimagined atmosphere of international proportions.
Doonbeg Golf Club does not intend to rely solely on golfers to keep its wheels turning. The ultimate aim is to have a total golf destination with add-ons like the superb practice facilities and spa that will be coordinated with the golf coaching staff's desire to implement an integrated biomechanical approach to fitness and wellbeing. The superb, casual and gourmet dining facilities and surrounding regional attractions and scenery should also draw less energetic, non-golfing customers.
150 million TV viewers in the USA will see it all for themselves shortly when Doonbeg's Head Golf Pro, Brian Shaw, makes a series of 32, one-minute inserts of golf tips for the Weather Channel. Doonbeg was the location selected for several reasons, Brian's friendly personality and expertise, the vagaries of the Irish weather, the beautiful background scenery. If only a tiny percentage of viewers are enticed to come to Ireland what a marketing coup that will be!
As we were going to press it was announced that Doonbeg was deservedly chosen to be the recipient of the prestigious Irish Golf Tour Operator's Award for 2005. Every Director of Golf should spend a day at Doonbeg and see how high they have raised the standards bar in Irish golf, including what service really means and how to take care of people.
Footnote: It is estimated that since the golf course opened at Doonbeg, the snail population has doubled. Proving once again that golf is good for the ecological environment.
