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Limerick County Golf
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Boss Croker would be proud. The kingmaker of New Yorks
Tammany Hall during the Gay Nineties
thats 110 years ago when Gay was an adjective without
complications lost
his place as the eras Karl Rove when a reform candidate won New Yorks
mayoralty in 1901. The Boss became plain Richard Croker again and
returned to Ireland, land of his birth. Sixty years earlier his family
had fled the Great Famine to start anew in New York, where young Richard
got an education on the citys mean streets. His pockets lined with the
graft of a successful backroom political career, Croker returned to
Ireland a wealthy man. He bought land, raised thoroughbreds, married a
self-styled Indian princess in her 20s and had a high old time. Two
decades later he lay on his deathbed. A priest promised a fairer land
on the other side. The old Tammany boss croaked, I doubt it. Life
had been good to Croker. Life in Ireland had become real good. |
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When Limerick County Golf Club christened its new 6,426-yard
championship 18-hole inland course in 1994, on a parcel of land that
included part of the ancestral Croker family estate, it was another sign
that life in Ireland was becoming real good again. And this time, life
was improving for many more than a few prodigal Irish lads whose
fortunes had been made elsewhere. |
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LENGTH & PAR:
Blue Tees: 5,876m
(6,426yds), Par 72, SSS 71, Slope 127
White Tees: 5,587m
(6,110yds), Par 72, SSS 69, Slope 124
Gold Tees: 5,373m
(5,876yds), Par 72, SSS 68, Slope 121
Red (Ladies) Tees:
4,661m (5,097yds), Par 72, SSS 72
GREENS FEES
FOR VISITORS:
40/weekdays (30/weekdays
early bird: 7-9:30AM)
50/weekends
VISITORS
WELCOME DAILY
No handicap certificate or club membership required.
ADVANCE TEE-TIME: required
RESERVATIONS:
Tel:
+353 (0)61 351881
Via Web Site automated form:
http://www.brsgolf.com/limerickcounty/visitor_home.php
Or have HOME AT
FIRST make reserve your tee-times as part of
your
HOME AT FIRST
vacation in Central Ireland. Theres no charge for this service!
PAYMENT: VISA, MC, and AMEX accepted. Credit card info must be presented at time of tee-time booking. Card will be charged on day of play.
CANCELLATIONS:
Outside of 1-week of play, cancellation at no penalty
Within 1-week of play, 50% greens fee cancellation
penalty charged to your credit card.
No-Show: 100% of greens fee penalty charged to your
credit card.
FACILITIES:
Pull Carts (trolleys) rental: 3 (reserve in advance)
Golf Carts rental: 35 (reserve in advance)
Club rental: 25 (reserve in advance)
Ballyneety Bar and Fairways Restaurant
Clubhouse with Locker Rooms
Driving Range and Practice Area
Pro Shop
LOCATION: Southeast of Limerick City in Ballyneety. Drive the Dublin Road (N7) south toward Limerick. Before the city at the Parkway roundabout take the R509 south (Childers Rd) two roundabouts to the Killmallock roundabout. Turn SE on the Killmallock Road (R512) for Ballyneety. Drive 5 miles to the Limerick County Golf & Country Club.
NEAREST HOME AT FIRST LODGINGS: approximately 30-70 minutes from HOME AT FIRST lodgings in towns and villages throughout CENTRAL IRELAND.
OTHER COURSES NEARBY:
Adare Manor Golf Club, Adare, Co. Limerick; 15min
Adare Manor Golf Resort, Adare, Co. Limerick; 15min
Nenagh
Golf Club, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary; 45min
Shannon Golf Club, Shannon
Airport, Co. Clare; 30min
Ballybunion Golf Club, Ballybunion, Co. Kerry; 60min
Lahinch Golf Club, Lahinch, Co. Clare; 75min
Doonbeg Golf Club, Doonbeg, Co. Clare; 65min
The K
Club, Straffan, Co. Kildare; 120min
THE COURSE AND SOME NOTABLE HOLES:
The Limerick County Golf Club course occupies a
rolling estate with considerable woodland and some carefully placed water. The
course is the standard 18-hole, par-72 layout with two par-3s and two par-5s on
each nine. The course (measured in meters) is not especially long for an inland
course, but its challenge increases as it matures. Course peripherals include a
large, all-weather driving range, a lavish, modern clubhouse with full bar and
restaurant. PGA-spec undulating sand-based tees and greens ensure the course is
playable year-round. Like a standard American championship-length course, the
most difficult holes are four par-4s, none especially long even from the blue
tees, in which doglegs, rough, trees, water, bunkers, green placement, and
undulations required careful shot making:
Hole 3, #3 Handicap, Par 4, 364m (398 yards)
Not especially long, but made challenging by a
dogleg
left into a narrow, undulating fairway. Cutting the
corner is risky due to a few strategically placed trees. A
large bunker below and left of the green insists that
this hole be played to the right over its length. Flying
the swales and the bunker to reach the green in two
requires good distance controlflying the green will
likely mean a ball in the dense wood that protects the
greens back.
Hole 5, #1 Handicap, Par 4,
409m (447 yards)
A long 4 with a dogleg right. Two long, accurate
shots
needed to reach the well-protected green. No water
here, but several swales, narrow fairway throats, and
three sand bunkers guarding the left and right of the
green tempt shorter, less accurate hitters to play this
like a par-5. Flying over the trouble here is not an
optionsteep, deep rough punctuated by fir trees walls
the back of the green.
Hole 16, #4 Handicap, Par
4, 373m (408 yards)
What club off the tee? For many players the landing
zone for the driver endangered by two well-placed
fairway bunkers to the right, leaving a narrow neck of
short grass within a long iron or a fairway wood of the
green. Maybe its better to hit short of the A-position
here and pull a bigger weapon out of the bag for shot
two. The sizeable, circular green is loosely protected by
a horseshoe of four bunkers, but its entrance is broad
and trouble free for the straight shooter.
Hole 17, #2 Handicap, Par
4, 372m (407 yards)
Theres no relief here following 16. Two carefully
placed
shots are required on 17. The drive needs not only to
land in the fairway, but on the right side of the fairway
in order to set up a difficult second shot to a green
wedged fore and aft between two ponds. Swales and a
devilishly place bunker only make hitting the green
more interesting. The faint-of-heart may wish to follow
the fairway and play for a one-putt on the green.
THE REGION: Central Ireland offers access to excellent golf courses, including inexpensive quality local courses and some of the best and most expensive courses in Ireland. If golf is only part of the reason youve come to Ireland, CENTRAL IRELAND offers much more. Active visitors choose from excellent fishing, horseback riding, walking, cycling, and sailing/boating. The regions central location ensures that touring is nowhere better in all of Ireland. Within reach of HOME AT FIRSTs Central Ireland lodgings is most of the Republic of Ireland by excursions in four directions. Three coasts (east, south, and west) are reachable, as are the major cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Galway. Best of all, visitors can still find the romantic Ireland of old in charming villages hidden in the remote corners of hilly, prosperous Central Ireland.
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