My Favourite Course

My best round at Carne is a 73. If I’m playing well at other courses I might hit thirteen or fourteen greens in regulation. But at Carne, it’s more like five or six. The landing areas have a lot of width, which given the wind that howls through it certainly needs. When I’m over there – and I normally visit every spring – I’ll play twenty-seven holes a day: eighteen in the morning and another nine in the afternoon. I rarely take more than seven or eight clubs with me. You don’t need any more than that. You can turn a seven-iron into a six-iron just by playing the ball back in your stance. That’s the kind of golf I love.
The “craic” in nearby Belmullet is worth the trip alone. For a town of only 1,200, Belmullet has an extraordinary number of pubs and inns, which gives a good indication how the people here like to enjoy themselves. The Irish really are among the friendliest people in the world – and I’ve made many new mates there over the years. Golfing tourists who go over to Ireland normally do so as part of a tour, which is okay as long as they make the effort and mix with the locals. Honestly, walk into a pub by yourself of an evening and you’re guaranteed to make a bunch of new friends.
A few years ago the club decided to build another nine holes and I became involved. To have the opportunity to work on land like that is a real blessing. Unfortunately, due to the current economic slowdown, it might take a little while before our plans are realized, but that’s alright: there’s plenty of time and we’re in no rush at all. –As told to Alex Jenkins