Look north and discover some Irish golfing gems

Jan 29 2008 by Paul Chapple, Liverpool Daily Post

PADRAIG Harrington’s Open success has put Irish golf firmly in the world limelight. But when most people think about a prospective trip to the Emerald Isle, their thoughts drift south of the border with its rich history of links and parkland courses.

However there is much to commend the golfer to make a visit to the north – especially given its easy links with Merseyside.

In fact, for those with a busy schedule a visit to a course in Northern Ireland could even be included in the diary as a day trip.

A 7am easyJet flight from John Lennon Airport might mean an early start – nothing a strong, black coffee couldn’t cure, though.

The short flight took just 35 minutes (quicker than my daily drive from home to the office!) and meant much of the city was still sleeping as we headed through arrivals.

Having popped to the Europcar booth to pick up a vehicle for the day, there was time for a quick cooked breakfast (including traditional Irish soda bread) and then off to my first port of call, Massereene Golf Club, located just 10 minutes from Belfast International Airport in Antrim.

The club is more than 100 years old but has undergone considerable improvements since then – most recently a state-of-the-art clubhouse with an almost entirely glass facade.

With the weather favourable, a number of Massereene’s members were already milling around as we rather embarrassingly took a wrong turn in the club car park and almost ended up wrecking the immaculate practice putting green in our rented VW Passat.

After briefly introducing ourselves to professional Jim Smyth we headed off to the 10th tee to play the back nine holes.

The course, situated on the banks of Lough Neagh (the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles) is very much a course of two halves. The front nine holes run alongside the water to create a links feel. The back nine are much more in keeping with a parkland course.

Massereene impressed. It was tricky but fair. It has a particularly tough run-in, culminating in the par-five 18th with the glass- fronted clubhouse situated menacingly close to the right-hand side of the green.

With lunchtime approaching we hit the road again, this time heading west of Belfast for one of Northern Ireland’s most highly rated courses – Malone Golf Club – a 30-minute drive away.

The drive from the main road up to the clubhouse was enough to whet the appetite for golf rather than food and so we skipped lunch in favour of making sure we’d get the full 18 holes in.

And what a treat!

The Malone Golf Club of today is located on the beautifully manicured Ballydrain Estate – its home for the past 44 years.

It features the delightful Ballydrain Lake which laps alongside the 14th, 15th and 18th holes and makes for a wonderful setting when analysing the round afterwards in the Ballydrain Bar over a pint of Guinness.

There are 27 holes all told and Malone was the scene of Tony Jacklin’s first professional tournament win in 1966.

Great Golf Courses of Ireland author John Redmond summed Malone up perfectly when he said: “In any 19th hole discussion attempting to determine the accolade of supreme inland course in Ireland, it is perfectly understandable that there will be a case for the claims of Malone Golf Club.

“Not much argument is really required for, truth to tell, the gently rolling summertime tapestry of mature wood, restful lake and blaze of flowers sets it quite apart.”

With our round complete, and a couple of hours to kill before the flight back home, we were at last able to enjoy the meal we’d skipped at lunch time.

It was worth the wait, though. The a-la-carte menu included tasty options such as spicy black bean soup, wild wood pigeon’s breasts, smoked Ardglass haddock tartare, chicken and prawn creole, crispy confit of duck and much more.

Feeling suitably replete it was time to head back off to the airport, drop the car off and make the short trip back to Liverpool.

The beauty of a trip like this is that it’s perfectly feasible to do it in one day, therefore saving on accommodation costs.

Useful contacts

For cheap flights visit www.easyJet.com

For car hire visit www.europcar.co.uk

Massereene Golf Club Tel: (+44)028 9442 8096; E-mail: info@massereene.com; Website: www.massereene.com

Malone Golf Club Tel: (+44)028 9061 2758; E-mail: manager@malonegolfclub.co.uk; Website: www.malonegolfclub