The Full Irish: Waterville
Run rabbit, run.
After a day on the Dooks Golf Links, we headed into Waterville for some dinner and rest at The Smugglers’ Inn. Because we had a bright and early tee time at Waterville Golf Links. Indeed, it’s the earliest tee time of our trip - something that actually made sense because after the round, we had to backtrack and drive all the way back up to Lahinch. More on that later. But first, golf.
If Dooks has its natterjack toad, Waterville might have an even BETTER logo with their rabbit.
Founded: 1889
Designer: Eddie Hackett, Tom Fazio
Ratings:
Top100GolfCourses: 35 (Britain & Ireland), 6 (Ireland)
The Irish Golfer: 10 (Ireland)
Golf.com: 39 (Britain & Ireland)
Once again, Eddie Hackett? Menace. You’ll note that Hackett was born much later than 1889, but like many courses here, Waterville started as a nine hole course, but was later expanded.
Waterville is a destination spot, and you can see why - it’s outrageously gorgeous. It’s remote, but not so remote that you can’t imagine driving there on a day trip. Before we left, I did a little research into what MIGHT be my favorite course by the end of the trip - as I noted, my expectations were that Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Ballybunion, Carne, Lahinch and St Patricks would be at the top. But I also noted how many folks said Waterville was their favorite.
It’s not hard to guess at the reasons - the course is gorgeous, challenging and feels special. But it’s also … kind of designed to elicit that kind of response. I think 95% of the people on the course are Americans, and more than a few traveled in via helicopter.
The course is absolutely lush, pristine and in some weird way feels like it’s designed for wealthy Americans to swoop in and drop a boatload of cash, which is exactly what happens. So, congratulations!
This also signalled the start of, “Oh RIGHT there’s a Notre Dame game in town next weekend” week. Because starting at Waterville, we saw busses of folks in their ND gear showing up to play every course we were playing on our way back to Dublin. It is clear it’s a good thing for the Irish economy but on my next trip, I think I’ll check the NCAA schedule first.
All complaints aside, this doesn’t mean Waterville isn’t legitimately great. And it’s positively littered with great holes.
Famously, Waterville’s 12th hole is called the “Mass Hole,” which turns out NOT to be a tribute to obnoxious Red Sox fans, but instead is a par-3 that the green sits above a depression surrounded by dunes. This is where the Catholics could practice their religion without being seen and is still an important site that yearly celebrates a mass service here to pay homage to a time when being Catholic in a country ruled by the Church of England was literally a crime.
The course is full of gorgeous holes, and surrounded by water on three sides.
Like many other spots towards the Southwest of Ireland, there’s an almost tropical feel that we couldn’t decide if it was natural or imported.
The 16th hole is a 340-yard par-4 with a fairway that rises from the tee, then drops down into a gully with a green sitting up on another hill. It’s called “Liam’s Ace,” after a supposed hole-in-one by the club pro, Liam. He reportedly had four ministers ahead of him who attested to this.
I’m sorry, but … I don’t buy it. This was also reportedly in the 1970s with that club technology and … nope. Sorry, Liam. You might just be a liar.
If I had any other critiques it would be that the par-3’s aren’t that distinctive in terms of distance (the history of the Mass Hole notwithstanding) and that the greens themselves weren’t all that interesting, quite flat overall with not a ton of interesting shapes and contours.
That said, it’s a tremendous golf course.
We headed out and drove back up to Lahinch, grabbing dinner at The Cornerstone, then heading back to the Nineteenth. We had a bit of a tamer evening than the last one there, but we did strike up a long conversation with a married couple on holiday who were absolutely lovely and were delighted with our trip. The husband also wanted to talk a lot about American football, which reminded me about my upcoming fantasy drafts for which I’m woefully unprepared. These are the prices we pay for a bucket list trip like this.