Dooks Golf Club

Dooks Golf Club,
Glenbeigh,
Co. Kerry,
Ireland.

Course Review

Founded: 1889
Designer: Local Members
Championship Length: 6,071 yards

PAR: 70
SSS (Course Rating): 68
Type: Links

Dooks Golf Club represents traditional Irish links golf at its best. Though not renowned the world over like its near neighbour Ballybunion, Dooks offers the visitor a unique links experience in a majestic environment. Golf Course architect Donald Steele aptly assessed the course as follows "Dooks is a rare gem it has a special place in the annals of links golf and must be preserved at all costs. Its character typifies the true meaning of what this form of the game should represent."

The golf course is laid out on one of three stretches of sand dunes at the head of Dingle Bay. In the immediate foreground are the dune peninsulas of Rossbeigh and Inch, while just a few short miles away, the whitewashed houses of Cromane fishing village provide another eye catching distraction. To the southeast are the famed peaks of McGillycuddy Reeks, while looking northwards across the bay; one can see Slieve Mish and the Dingle mountains dominate the landscape.

Dooks is perfectly suited to the golfer seeking a tranquil environment in which to enjoy a superb golf course. The courses' defence is not found in distance but in layout Dooks rewards the thinker as is common with traditional layouts. The par 3, 13th hole, measuring 150 yards, probably best represents the charm and magic that is inherent at Dooks. This is a throw back hole to the time when golf began, a time when greens lay where the fell and were the better for it. Renowned golf writer, Peter Dobereiner was suitably impressed when he played Dooks and described its charms concisely "It was a dreamlike experience playing over the rolling hills and guessing, often wrongly, which hollow would harbour a green"