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".
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