Dooks is a par 71 links style course in Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry, Ireland. Located about 40 minutes drive south west of Killarney Town.
The course in 2018 is ranked as 31st in Ireland.
The course was originally laid out by the Royal Ordnance Corps in 1889. A redesign of the course was undertaken/completed by Martin Hawtree in 2006.
The course comprises 4 par 3s, 11 par 4s and 3 par 5s. The course is 6,272 yards off the white tees. Three of the par 4s are over 400 yards of which the 451 yards 7th is the longest.
The course abuts Dingle Bay with spectacular views of the Slieve Mish Mountains on Dingle Peninsula and the MacGillicuddy's Reeks on the course side of the bay. The ocean can be seen from most holes!
The course comprises beautiful vistas off the tees; to generally spacious landing fairway areas though with plenty of trouble awaiting the wayward shots! I drove well and managed to finish with the ball I started with!
The fairways were firm, dry (despite overnight rain) and fast/long running. Which contributed to my best scoring performance on my trip! The were no completely blind shots from the tees to the fairway landing areas though anyone attempting to cut corners risked trouble/lost balls!
The greens typical links style, generally raised; wide, long and undulating and consistently medium paced.
The looks and plays beautifully. On the negative side there was no course planner available and there were no 'hole layout maps' on any of the tee boxes. An important point for course/speed of play management as it wasn't always obvious where the next tee boxes were; eg often the ladies red and men's blue/white/yellow tee boxes were from different spots.
The visitor green fees are expensive and vary with the season. The high season (May to September) is 120 Euro per round, whereas the April and October rates were 80 Euro per round; which I paid! The
November to March period is only 50 Euro per round.
While in principle I consider 80 Euros to be much to high for a round of golf on albeit a truly high quality course; the rates are high because of the affect of the American golfing tourist market to Co Kerry and some neighbouring Counties courses!
I do so want to play it again very soon but also can recommend it highly to fellow TSGers who may be playing in Ireland. I would want to find a cheaper way, to get to achieve this!
The bar and catering were good; the food of high quality; but the bar and catering services are operated separately, the bar by club staff and the food by a catering company; meaning that you need to order and pay for both separately. Peculiar! It seems that a modern cash register system hasnt found it way to the club!
There is a well stocked pro-shop with a wide range of mens and ladies golf year. Staff were very helpful!
Date Monday, 12, November 2018
