31 Old Head

31 Old Head

Architect: Carr, Hackett, Higgins, Kirby, Merrigan Stats: 6,866 yds, par 72, SSS 72 GF: €200 Visitor information: Visitors can play seven days a week W: oldhead.com 2008 Ranking: 21 (Down 10) Improvements since 2008 Rankings: Course: New tee box complexes built in November 2008 on holes 6 and 10. In 2009/10 a new cliff edge tee complex was bulit on 16. New bunkers on 14 and removal of mounds on 12 Clubhouse: Fifteen members suites added, additional dining room and spa facility

Old Head is like the peninsula holes at Nefyn in Wales on a grander scale. It opened in 1997 and plays over a 220-acre headland near where the RMS Lusitania sank in 1915. Many holes defy belief, perhaps none more so than the par-5 12th set high above towering cliffs on a narrow strip leading out to the headland.

Panellists' comments: "The cliff-top setting and exposure to the elements are challenge enough"; "A real fantasy golf course"

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