Gale force golf par for the course

Northern Ireland has stunning golf courses, including world-class Royal Portrush.

I would like to know more about the weather conditions on the day Castlerock Golf Club formally opened in 1901.

The club's history book states the inaugural tournament "evoked much interest but unfortunately ... the weather turned out disagreeable for all".

I can imagine the players experienced gale force winds that drove icy rain horizontally down the 13th fairway into their eyes. I know I found those conditions quite disagreeable.

I had spent the first 12 holes battling the wind, trying to avoid the sand dunes and ball-killing tussock grass without much success.

As a high-handicapper, I can do without the added disadvantage of atrocious weather and, more importantly, New Zealand was up against the Aussies and I hoped to be of some use to my playing partner in the transtasman showdown.

The rest of the media contingent - South Africa, India, China and Japan - were battling it out elsewhere on the course in the howling wind and blinding rain.

We had three days to experience three courses in Northern Ireland and Castlerock was not making the best impression.

The links course shares the same coastline as Royal Portrush, ranked one of the top courses in the world and the jewel in the crown of Northern Ireland golf.

Portstewart Golf Club makes up the third links course on the same stretch and can be found between Castlerock and Portrush.

We were playing Castlerock's 18-hole Mussenden course, a par-73 with five par-5s, four par-3s, and nine par-4s.

They say on a clear day you can see Scotland and the Isle of Islay. The miserable weather robbed us of the coastal holes where we would have had - on a clear day - the best views.

But it was not to be and the other teams followed our lead back to the club house, drenched and disappointed.

The pro was asked if any locals would be out on a day like this. He laughed.

We consoled ourselves with a trip to the world's oldest whiskey distillery, Bushmills, a short drive away.

Northern Ireland boasts more than 90 courses of varying degrees of difficulty and golf rates alongside festivals, Guinness and beautiful scenery as reasons to visit.

The internet offers golf holiday packages, including those designed around next year's Ryder Cup, to be held at the K Club [Kildare Golf and Country Club] near Dublin.

Our three-day media tournament was centred around the North Antrim coast and our base was the Radisson SAS Roe Park Resort at Limavady, about a half-hour drive from Londonderry.

The 11-year-old resort includes a beauty spa and gym, conference centre, restaurants and bars and is set on a picturesque estate with bush walks nearby.

It also has the Roe Park Golf Course, a relatively straightforward par-70 that better suited my skill level. I still don't understand how I lost seven balls, although water does feature on five holes.

Roe Park has a driving range and a training academy that I would have visited for some golf rehab had there been more time.

From Roe Park we graduated to the aforementioned Castlerock before tackling Royal Portrush on the last day.

I am, quite possibly, the least skilled golfer to ever grace the fairways of Royal Portrush.

The irony - and the tragedy - is that I almost scored a hole in one on this world-class golf course, but more of that later.

Royal Portrush was this year ranked by Golf Digest as the third best course in the world, outside the United States.

The course received Royal status in 1895 with the Prince of Wales as patron and lays claim to a distinguished golf history, including being the only Ireland course to host the British Open (1951).

My confidence had been knocked at Castlerock and my body was weary after two days of golf - and the entertainment in-between - but tee time at Royal Portrush carries a sense of privilege that demands the best game you can muster.

Unfortunately we were again battling some strong winds. New Zealand was playing with the Chinese and we all spent an inordinate amount of time in the rough looking for our balls.

The two most famous holes on the course are the 5th and the 14th, the former being White Rocks, where an over-hit on the second shot [or third or fourth, in my case] will have the ball flying over the green and into the Atlantic, a good 100m below. I managed this quite well.

From the green there is a stunning view towards Dunluce Castle, perched on a cliff jutting out of the North Antrim coast. The following day we stopped to look at the ruins on our way to the Giant's Causeway.

The other famous hole is Calamity, once voted the best par-3 in the world. It is said you will always remember all 210 yards (192m) of Calamity and this is quite true.

Two of our four - including me - sent the ball, with some help from the wind, off the 30m cliff while trying to find the green perched on the edge.

The course has its share of intimidating holes, but another to mention is the 17th, with a bunker next to the fairway that resembles a crater made by a UFO crash landing into a hill.

The hole I will most remember - in that so-embarrassing-you-have-to-share-it way - is the 11th. Not surprisingly, it is the easiest hole on the card, a par-3 with a green with bunkers on all sides.

I took a 5 iron to the tee and managed, for the first time all day, to send the ball straight. It wasn't a great swing but the ball stayed low and then started to roll, roll, roll, towards the pin.

I lost sight of it and thought perhaps, just maybe, it had gone in the hole. It would have been my first ever hole in one and a golf story to dine out on for life.

Unfortunately, the ball was short of the hole but I could have made a birdie with the putt.

I don't know if it was the pressure, but I choked and three putted - meaning that is the first and last time I will ever tell this golf story.

Checklist

IRELAND

Getting There
Air New Zealand offers airfares from Auckland to London return from $2619 (plus taxes, etc of $92). See link below or by call Air New Zealand reservations on 0800 737 000.

Fares across the Irish Sea can be very cheap. Louisa Cleave bought a Ryanair airfare from London to Knock Airport in Ireland for 50p (plus taxes, etc).

Golf Courses
See link below for information about North Ireland's golf courses.

Further Information
For further information on travelling to Ireland see link below or email tourism@ireland

* Louisa Cleave travelled to Ireland courtesy of Air New Zealand and Tourism Ireland.