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Portumna Golf
Club |
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Golf in
Ireland is as varied as the scenery of the Emerald Isle. With a wild,
convoluted coastline, great links courses are to be expected among the
extensive sand dunes of the island’s perimeter. But Ireland’s interior
offers its own challenges: bog, moor, heath, hills, forest, lake land,
even mountains. In recent years a number of new major resort courses
have sprung up in locations well away from Ireland’s coasts. The
successes of the |
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golfers can find a number of hidden gems in inland locations throughout Ireland. We nominate the Portumna Golf Club course in Central Ireland for inclusion to the hidden gems list. Portumna has everything — length, difficulty, variety — golfers look for in a challenging course, along with the pleasant attribute of a friendly, local course where members treat visitors as very welcome guests, and do not require that they empty their pockets to play. |
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HISTORY: Portumna Golf Club first organized in 1913. Its original 9-hole course lasted twenty years, then relocated across the street. Continuous improvements slowly upgraded the course until the club finally took the ambitious step of expanding to 18 holes in the 1980s. The new course opened in 1992, but improvements have steadily continued, especially with the expansion of the clubhouse. The resulting growth in membership is no surprise, of course, but Portumna |
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remains a very local golf club, one that welcomes visitors warmly but does not court them openly. |
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LENGTH & PAR:
•
Blue Tees (Championship): 6,935 yds, Par
72, SSS 73
•
White Tees: 6,671 yds, Par
72, SSS 71
•
Yellow Tees: 6,371 yds), Par
72, SSS 70
•
Red (Ladies’) Tees: 5,675 yds, Par
74, SSS 73
GREENS FEES
FOR VISITORS:
• €30/round
weekdays
•
€35/round
Saturdays
• Sunday: inquire with your tee-time request
FACILITIES:
•
Practice Area
•
Pro-shop
•
Locker rooms
•
Fairways Restaurant &
Bar for meals & snacks
VISITORS
WELCOME
YEAR ROUND
No handicap certificate or club membership required.
ADVANCE
TEE-TIME
strongly recommended:
Advance
reservations welcomed for Monday-Saturday
play. Sunday tee-times bookable on day of play only.
• Tel:
+353 (0)90 974
1059
• Email:
info@portumnagolfclub.ie
Or have HOME AT
FIRST make reserve your tee-times as part of
your
HOME AT FIRST
vacation in Central Ireland. There’s no charge for this service!
LOCATION:
Portumna Golf Club is just west of the town of Portumna in
the southeastern corner of County Galway, in the
very center of the Republic of Ireland.
NEAREST HOME
AT FIRST LODGINGS:
Portumna
Golf Club is within reach of
HOME AT
FIRST
lodging locations in
CENTRAL IRELAND
(15-45min.)
DIRECTIONS
TO PORTUMNA GOLF CLUB:
From
HOME AT FIRST’s
Central Ireland lodgings
take the N52 north from Nenagh to the N65 at Borrisokane, or the R493 north
along Lough Derg from Puckane and Terryglass to the N65 at Carrigahorig near
Lorrha. Take the N65 to the west end of Portumna where the N65 turns north at
the intersection with the R353 (St. Joseph’s Rd – toward Gort). Take the R353
one mile west of Portumna. Watch for the entrance to the Portumna Golf Club on
the left.
OTHER NEARBY GOLF COURSES:
•
Nenagh Golf Club – Nenagh, 25min S of Portumna
•
Birr Golf Club –
Birr, 20min E of Portumna
•
East Clare Golf
Club – Bodyke, 45min SW of Portumna
•
Lahinch Golf Club – Lahinch, 90min W of Portumna
•
The K-Club – Straffan, 2hrs E of Portumna
•
PGA National
Ireland – Sallins, 2hrs E of Portumna
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THE COURSE AND SOME NOTABLE HOLES: |
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| the 17th fairway. The principal hazards of the course are tight fairways lined with trees, elevated tees and greens, and sand bunkers. Unlike seaside links course exposed to the wind, tall trees shelter many holes at Portumna. Those same trees, of course, make cutting the corners of doglegs difficult for all but the best and most daring players. The result is that success at Portumna, like at a seaside links, requires long, accurate, low shots. Four challenging holes at Portumna reinforce the principal: | |
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• Hole #1, Par-4, 432 yards (from the white tees), men’s #3 handicap hole: no sand, no water, but tight and long, with out-of-bounds running along the right side of the hole.
The 1st green at Portumna
Golf Club. |
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• Hole #3, Par-4,
430 yards
(from the whites),
men’s #1 handicap hole: sweeping log-leg left with trees blocking a
second shot to the green from all but long hitters.
The 3rd
green at Portumna Golf Club. |
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• Hole #14, Par-4,
378 yards
(from the whites),
men’s #4 handicap hole: not long, but the green is almost encircled by
mature trees leaving a small approach guarded by two tight bunkers.
The 14th
green at Portumna Golf Club. |
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• Hole #17, Par-5,
534 yards
(from the whites),
men’s #2 handicap hole: long, beautiful, and treacherous, this terrific
par-5 is Portumna’s water hole. The long fairway is wedged between tall
trees (to the left) and a large pond (to the right). Only the longest
drivers will reach the elbow at the dogleg right. Everyone else must
decide whether to cut over the water or add a stroke on the way to the
green. The green itself is protected by bunkers and lined by the pond
and dense, black forest. Playing it safe usually means no chance for a
par here. However, taking a risk here often results in big numbers on
the scorecard.
The
signature 17th hole at Portumna Golf
Club: |
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THE REGION: Portumna Golf Course is located one mile west of the town of Portumna in the SE corner of County Galway, Ireland. Portumna is located at the top of Lough Derg and just west of the River Shannon at the point where it flows into the lough (lake). County Tipperary is immediately to the east of the River Shannon. This region is the |
| very center of Ireland: three of the historic kingdoms of Ireland, Connaught, Leinster, and Munster, intersect at a point about five miles NE of Portumna. Being central means one is about as far away from the sea as possible in Ireland, and yet Portumna is only a little more than an hour east of the Atlantic seacoast at Galway city (on Galway Bay). Dublin and the Irish Sea are not much more than two hours east of Portumna. The border with Northern Ireland (and the fourth old kingdom of Ireland, Ulster) is about 2.5 hours north of Portumna. Even Ireland’s south coast—near Cork, Waterford, or Wexford—can be reached in a few hours. But, Central Ireland is much more than |
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a convenient base from which to tour far and wide throughout Ireland: it is itself an attractive, delightful Irish destination. Besides golf, Central Ireland offers many opportunities for outdoor activities: fishing, boating, swimming, walking, cycling, and horseback riding all are available to visitors. History and culture buffs will find numerous castles, stately houses, monastic sites, museums, scattered across the region. The local arts and crafts scene is active and sizeable, with galleries and shops found in most any town in the Lough Derg region. Central Ireland is a principal agricultural region of the country, and dozens of quality regional restaurants feature the excellent |
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local beef, fish, dairy, fruits, and vegetables produced here. Importantly, Central Ireland is neither overrun with nor jaded by tourism. Local people take an interest in visitors, and you are sure to find a warm welcome wherever you travel in Central Ireland. One of
three monastic ruins found at the |
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Coming to Ireland to play golf? Why not let HOME AT FIRST make your advance tee-times at Portumna Golf Club and many other Ireland golf courses as part of your pre-reserved Ireland independent fly/drive golf vacation. There's no extra charge for this service. Click the link for more information about HOME AT FIRST's travel program to: CENTRAL IRELAND. |
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