Waterville today was my first proper links golf course. Narrow fairways and if you miss, losing it in the tall grass is likely.
A gentle starting hole followed by 2 really tough par 4s. The front nine was a fine set of holes, but the course really started to get interesting with the par 5 11 and got better towards the end. Holes 16, 17, and 18 along the water coming in were fantastic.
I was hitting the ball well, couple birdies on the front and some safe bogeys. Felt good about things until I 4 putted the 12th hole for bogey and then started to get shaky. The wind started to pick up to, so I tried to change my swing to hit low driving shots and that was a disaster. But loads of fun and interesting golf nonetheless.
We had a quick bite in the Waterville clubhouse before driving back to Killarney.
| Hole | Par | Score | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | Good drive, 140yds in with 8I to 20ft, 2 putt |
| 2 | 4 | 5 | Drive right into rough, 4Hy pulled into tall grass left of green, awesome splash to 6 feet, left putt short |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | Good drive, 4Hy into string wind left short of green, decent chip but short of pin, 2 putt |
| 4 | 3 | 2 | Par 3 looking down a canyon, 170yds with 6I to 3 feet, birdie |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | Center cut drive, 3Hy to 10 paces short of green, poor chip to 40 feet, 2 putts |
| 6 | 3 | 4 | Perfect 6I that hit pin high and bounded over the green into high rough, wedge to 20 feet, 2 putt |
| 7 | 4 | 5 | Par 4 into the wind. ok drive and pulled 3I left of green, chipped on and lipped out par putt |
| 8 | 4 | 3 | Good drive, approach shot short right of gree, chipped in for birdie |
| 9 | 4 | 5 | Good drive, pulled approach left next to bunker, awkward lie and chipped not close, 2 putt |
| 10 | 4 | 5 | Good drive and good 3Hy onto green of this long par 4, bad three putt bogey |
| 11 | 5 | 5 | Good drive and precise 3Hy to bottom of hill short of green, chip on, 2 putt par |
| 12 | 3 | 3 | The Mass Hole, 180yds with good 6I past the pin, 2 putts |
| 13 | 5 | 6 | Shortish par 5, good drive leaving 237yds, 3Hy to just sort of green, 4 putts(!) |
| 14 | 4 | 4 | Good drive and another piercing 6I to the right side of the green, 2 putts |
| 15 | 4 | 5 | Short par 4 with winding downhill approach, Good drive leaving 130yds into green, got cute and skulled a wedge over the green, chip and 2 putts |
| 16 | 4 | 6 | Dogleg left par 4, good drive but skulled approach, made a mess of the green for double |
| 17 | 3 | 5 | Gorgeous par 3, 170yds with 6I, another double |
| 18 | 5 | 6 | Good drive but found a small fairway bunker with my second shot, 9I approached pulled left leaving 100ft putt, 3 putt |
| White | 72 | 83 | Balls Lost: 0 |
#2, chip from the bushes
#4, 6I to 3 feet and birdie
#8, chip in for birdie
#12, good par at the Mass Hole
In the fairway at 13
#15, neat short par 4
#17, highest point at Waterville
#18 tee box