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Sport

10th Jan 2016

Irish golf course voted the best in the world

Alan Loughnane

Fairway Fair play to all involved…

The Royal County Down golf course has been voted the best golf course in the world by popular magazine Golf Digest.

The course in Newcastle County Down, which held the 2015 Irish Open, was referred to in glowing terms by the magazine who stated that “there is no lovelier place in golf”.

High praise indeed, but that’s not all they have to say about the beautiful course, they really try to portray the quality of golfing on offer:

“On a clear spring day, with Dundrum Bay to the east, the Mountains of Mourne to the south and gorse-covered dunes in golden bloom, there is no lovelier place in golf than our new No. 1. Its design is attributed to Old Tom Morris but was refined by half a dozen architects in the past 120 years, most recently by Donald Steel. Though the greens are surprisingly flat, as if to compensate for the rugged terrain and numerous blind shots, bunkers are a definite highlight, most with arched eyebrows of dense marram grasses and impenetrable clumps of heather.”

The Royal County Down takes over top spot from Pine Valley G.C. in New Jersey, which drops down to number three.

Two other Irish courses makes the list with Portmarnock G.C. in Dublin coming in 25th place and Royal Portrush in Antrim, which hosted the Irish Open in 2012, making the cut in 27th place.