My Favourite Course

Golf’s hottest architect on Carne, probably the best links course you’ve never heard of

Situated on Ireland’s rugged and windswept northwest coast, Carne holds a very special place in my heart. I first saw pictures of the course in the late 1990s, a few years after it opened, and said to myself, ‘I’ve gotta go to that place.’ So I did – and I was absolutely stunned. It was the wildest course I’d ever seen. There’s so much diversity. The front nine traverses pure rolling linksland, while the back side plunges down through monstrous sand dunes, which have to be some of the biggest in golf. The first time I played it I giggled the whole way round. Some of the holes are so quirky that they’re bad, but they’re so bad they’re brilliant. I quickly joined as an overseas member. Carne has taught me a lot as a golf course architect and has had a profound effect on my work. The course’s wacky features – both natural and man-made elements – gave me the confidence to push the envelope as a designer; I realized, architecturally speaking, there really are no rules.
I was at Carne when I discovered why I enjoy Irish golf so much. After several trips it hit me. I constantly had a smile on my face, I was switched on; endorphins were rushing around inside my head. It was an adrenaline rush, pure and simple. American golf is not like that – it’s too “rigid”. It doesn’t require anywhere near the same amount of imagination. In the States you see the flag and hit your ball towards it. In Ireland and at Carne in particular, you might not even be able to see the flag, but even if you can, you have so many more options when it comes to shot-making. I don’t want to recreate Ireland verbatim when it comes to my new designs, but I want to recreate that feeling – the variety, the exciting features: something that creates mental stimulation.

Pages

Click here to see the published article.