Irish Open: Three key holes at Royal County Down

The four par 3s at Royal County Down are each entitled to respect, and – especially when the wind blows a hooley – fear! The first of them is arguably the most impressive of all as, following the opening sequence of holes along the coast, the fourth hole faces back to the mountains. There is a descent of almost 20ft from tee-to-green with seven bunkers lining the route, with mounds and gorse forming the landscape to the green where another two bunkers come into play. There is danger front, left, right and back so the onus is on the player to find the putting surface. The only solace being the view of Slieve Donard from the tee box.
Like pieces of jewellery linked together, the finish to the front nine is one magnificent par 4 after another. If the ninth is one of the most photographed holes in world golf, the preceding hole – the eighth – is one that has the potential to wreck scorecards. Indeed, Søren Kjeldsen’s route to victory in 2015 hit a speed bump here when he suffered a double-bogey six in his final round. The hole occupies one of the highest points on the links and the tee shot from an elevated tee is unforgiving. There is gorse down the left and down the right while the approach shot is to a long, narrow green that is extremely difficult to hold. In that 2015 Irish Open, the hole played to an average of 4.43 and there were no fewer than six triple-bogey sevens recorded through the tournament.
This late hole should come with a health and safety warning, as it has the potential to inflict chaos and carnage. When the Irish Open was here in 2015, the hole – a dog-leg to an upturned saucer of a green – played as the most difficult of all and averaged 4.52, which made it one of the hardest on the DP World Tour that season. Thomas Pieters ran up a quadruple-bogey eight on the hole and there were in all 207 bogeys or worse over the four rounds. There are three fairway bunkers in play off the tee with thick gorse down the right and left. Although there are no bunkers around the green, it’s undulating surface makes for a tough approach shot, even from the fairway.
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