As for the first point of view, those who endlessly sing Tralee’s praises, a large part of their reasoning lies in the course’s setting. Its appeal is impossible to overstate but Peter Dobereiner did well when he wrote, ‘Robert Louis Stevenson was wrong, and by a long chalk, when he described the Monterey Peninsula of California as the finest conjunction of land and sea that this earth has to offer. As a spectacle Tralee is in a different class.’ In recent times, Old Head of Kinsale has received considerable attention for its setting but it too falls visually short of the diverse glories on offer at Tralee. Though the biggest dunes are found on the second nine, the views afforded when playing the front are every bit as captivating.

Though the biggest dunes are found on the second nine, the views afforded when playing the front are just as captivating.

Pictures will never capture the sight that awaits you upon first seeing the course and no man could be faulted for falling under its charms. However, the important thing is the golf, so how about the specific holes themselves? Are there compelling shots and does the course strategy draw you back again and again?In analyzing the course, the Club’s instructions to architect Ed Seay should be considered: build us as many spectacular holes as possible. On more than one occasion, Seay had to be talked into some of the final green placements. He advised them that the third green out on a promontory would need to be replaced virtually every year. He thought the twelfth green located directly above an eighty foot chasm on a 440 yard par four was excessive. He worried that the back markers on the sixteenth tee would require a driver on some days, and even then the ball could still end up in another deep chasm.

And yet the Club told him to press ahead with all of them. The biggest reason? They, like most in Ireland and the United Kingdom, prefer match to stroke play. As Archie Baird, the curator of the golf museum in Gullane, Scotland recently remarked, ‘Americans are killing the game. Look at them after a match. You have four unhappy men bent over their scorecards frowning. With match play, at least two men are always smiling!’

This same belief helps explain why the members of Tralee swear by their golf course. Who can blame them? The course offers many incomparably thrilling moments; only a scorecard and pencil mentality could ruin the day’s fun.

Read the full article at GolfClubAtlas.com