The Full Irish: Tralee Golf Club
Let's just see WHO designed that back nine after all.
As we head back to Kerry, one of the marquee courses we still needed to play was Tralee Golf Club. Famously - and indeed, said incessantly to the point of eyerolls - the course was designed by Arnold Palmer, but to hear it said, he only designed the front nine - the back nine was designed by God.
Founded: 1984
Designer: Arnold Palmer
Ratings:
Top100GolfCourses: 16 (Ireland), 70 (Britain & Ireland)
The Irish Golfer: 8 (Ireland)
Golf.com: 65 (Britain & Ireland)
Putting theology aside, the point of this quip is that the two nines look like different courses because of the land they’re built on. The front nine hugs the sea but looks like a clever, challenging links course - and the back nine is set into the wild dunes, similar to some of the stunning courses we’ve had the luxury to play already on this journey.
But in some ways, there are holes here we have never seen before because they’re so unique. There are a few tee shots - like the 13th across what appears to be a 100-foot deep pit - that I’ve had in the back of my mind for years. It’s about a 135-yard shot and I thought about pulling driver just to make sure I didn’t have to think about walking down there looking for my ProV1.
Guys, I’m here to tell you that I didn’t cover this shot, but I did walk down to get my ball. There’s a specific reason for it, which I’ll get to later.
That hole comes just after this one, with a bowling alley lane for a fairway and another green fronted by the Cliffs of Insanity.
If someone used heavy equipment to make this course, it would feel like a videogame and artificial. “Mickey Mouse” would be used as a way to describe it - but instead, this was just the way the land was, largely, and Palmer and his crew took advantage.
We originally had a fourth to jump in after Big Bob flew home but my buddy Dank couldn’t make it after all. Instead, we were joined by Tom Kennedy of Experience Ireland. He set up the No Laying Up trip which I’ve posted videos of throughout this and has set up trips for other friends of mine. He’s also part of a WhatsApp group I joined as I prepped for this trip. We were thrilled to have him join us and show us around the course. He couldn’t join us until the back nine so for the first nine it was just the three of us. And oh man, what a place.
The front nine might be more typical but it’s not just gorgeous it’s really well thought out. In particular, the 4th through 8th holes are on a very small piece of land and the routing is really clever to maximize that space in a way that doesn’t feel cramped at all.
As noted, Tom joined us for the back nine and showed us the way through holes like 12 and 13, and then saw me almost hole a chip for 2 on the 16th, Shipwreck.
We had an absolute DAY out at Tralee and it was one of my biggest surprises of the trip.
We headed back to Killarney, easily one of my favorite cities in this country, and had a delicious meal at Celtic Whiskey and Larder, then popped into Reidys again (wow, what a different, mellow scene Tuesday was than Friday) and retired for the evening.
The next day … Old Head.