Killarney Golf & Fishing Club, is located on the outskirts of Killarney Town, Co. Kerry, Ireland. It is a stay and play style golfing resort, largely targeted at the American and UK golf market.
There are two 18 hole courses and a 9 hole course. The Mahony's Point course is the 'junior' of the two 18 hole courses.
The Killeen Course is the 'senior' course having been a venue for the Irish Open on several occasions. It is ranked number 41 in the top 100 Irish golf courses.
The Mahony's Point course is a par 72 parkland style course, xxx yards from the ????? tees, comprising a conventional hole configuration, ie 4 par 3s, 10 par 4s and 4 par 5s. Mahoney's Point is ranked number 83 in the top 100 Irish courses.
The Mahony's Point course is very challenging to the club golfer, though the landing areas from the par 4/par 5 tees are more generous than they appear standing over your tee shots. The main difficulties for us visitors is that the fairways are/were not cut as tight as the London/South East England courses have been during the summer, so it was difficult on occasions firstly to clearly identity fairways from the first cut of rough, and consequently the ball either didn't run on after landing or ran through into the rough. I doubt if I found the fairways more than half a dozen times out of 14 drives! Also it was a bright/cold windy day following heavy overnight rain so the carry on the ball was much less. A rapid adjustment to ones club selection/playing strategy was required and I didn't adjust my game well enough. A good lesson in anticipation of the next time!
The greens, whilst generally large, undulating and tricky, were not at their best following verti-draining/light sanding within the previous 10 days or so, so the judgement of lines and pace was challenging.
The Mahony's Point course is surrounded by wonderful vistas of the famous MacGillicuddy Reeks mountains , and while most of the course is inland parkland, the 16th, 17th and 18th holes meander around the Killarney Lake back towards the clubhouse.
There is a lovely halfway house located at a point where the Killeen and Mahony's Point courses meet, at the 10th tee boxes.
I played in early October during the first week of their off-season rates. The Mahoney's Point green fees were 55 Euro reduced from about 80 Euro. whilst the Killeen Course green fee was 80 Euro reduced from about 120 Euro. I played the Mahony's Point course in preference due to the fact that there were more available tee times due to a couple of stay and play societies booked to play the Killeen course.
The course is generally in very good playing condition, and whilst challenging is not too onerous!
A negative factor is the complete absence of any 'on tee' diagramatic 'hole maps' though course planners were available to purchase.
Catering options were excellent, good quality and reasonably priced. I particularly enjoyed their fish chowder and brown soda bread.
While the course had operated one of the larger proshops in Ireland, it was in the process of being dismantled due to the 'long serving' club professional leaving over operational differences between him and the club management. Apparently he actually owned all of the internal shop fittings and all of the non-club branded golf clothing and equipment and was taking them with him! Hopefully a new club shop will appear again soon!
I clearly want to play the Killeen Course next time I'm in Co. Kerry but I would also love to play this again. An excellent society venue!
Date Friday, 23, November 2018