Located in the famed sunny southeastern region of Ireland, Courtown Golf Club offers a testing round of golf in a pleasantly mature, wooded environment. Founded in 1936 as a nine hole course, Courtown boasts a superb layout, which threads its way around and through a huge variety of large trees. Each hole demands something different from the visiting golfer, with accuracy almost always essential, while the four lengthy par 3's are very highly regarded.

Length, as you will first realize when stepping onto the first tee, is not the most important aspect to your game in playing at Courtown Golf Club. Rated as the easiest hole on the course, the first is a short par 4, which is no more than a well hit drive and a flick with a wedge. But end up behind the trees or in either of the large greenside bunkers and you may be setting a worrying trend for the round. The holes get significantly tougher after this opening, with the key throughout the round being placement off the tee. If you are accurate from the tee, you give yourself a chance, if not and you will spend a frustrating amount of time extrapolating yourself from behind trees or chipping out to leave an approach to the green.

One of the finest holes on the outward journey is the long par 4, second hole, which requires a straight drive and long approach iron to a wickedly bunkered and undulating green. The par 4, sixth at Courtown can prove a real Waterloo. The depths of Courtown Woods guard the right side of the fairway - land here and reload for three, while a patch of dense growth and more trees lurk on the left. The advice here is to be down the middle in order to give yourself a chance on another well bunkered and contoured green.

The homeward journey is more of the same at Courtown. The long, gently bending par 4, 11th is a real tester - make par here and walk off the green happy. Things get tough on the 13th tee, where (for the right hander) you need to draw the ball around a huge tree right in the middle of the fairway. Your approach from a slanting fairway requires a similar shot over a giant fir tree to an un-bunkered green. The finishing holes are each exceptional, with the long 17th hole standing out, while the last hole is a six or seven iron par 3, over water - a fitting finish to a great challenge.