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K
Club - KILDARE
There are two magnificent 18 hole championship golf courses, the Palmer
Course, and the Smurfit Course . Both are designed by Arnold Palmer
but each has its own characteristics and special set of challenges.Arnold
Palmer Course.
If ever a golf course reflected the personality of its architect,
it is surely this Arnold Palmer designed course. It may seem odd to
describe a golf course as charismatic and cavalier but from the instant
you arrive at the first tee, you are enveloped by a unique atmosphere.
Ireland's First Ryder Cup Venue
You may have been forewarned that Ireland's first Ryder Cup Venue
is no ordinary golf course, and that it is widely acknowledged as
the country's most challenging inland layout, but still you will be
unprepared for the ensuing drama.
The Palmer Course is, quite simply, one of Europe's most spectacular
courses. It charms, it entices and invariably, brings out the very
best in your game. It is unlikely that you will be asked to tackle
the course from the championship tees, but this should in no way diminish
the excitement of pitting your wits against Arnold Palmer, for, in
a sense, this is precisely what you are about to do.
The Smurfit Course at The K Club has already been described as probably
the greatest inland Golf Course to be developed in Ireland. The construction
has attracted attention throughout Europe because of its scale and
the construction.
Developing the Course
The philosophy in developing the course was to ensure that a comparison
with the existing Palmer Course would be difficult and that the golfers
experience would be completely different. When this brief was given
to Palmer Course Design Company, they came up with a concept, which
was radical with regards to golf course developments throughout the
World.
An Inland Golf Links
The best way to describe the Smurfit Course at The K Club is that
of an inland links. However, its true attributes do not stop there.
The Course has many dramatic landscapes with dune type mounding throughout.
This assists in making the Course into a true Championship Golf Course
with many vantage points for spectators to view the Golf Professional
at work.
Coupled with this point, some fourteen acres of water have been worked
into the design especially through the final phase of Hole No's: 13
to 18. A watery grave awaits many a golfer on the home stretch.
In essence the Course is entirely different from the Palmer Course
located just across the River Liffey. From feedback to date golfers
state that it is almost impossible to make a comparison such is the
difference in experience.
Landscaping
Even with regard to the landscaping there is a significant difference,
whereby on the Palmer Course there are specifically planted areas
using cultivated plants presented in a formal fashion are the norm.
On the Smurfit Course wild species of plants have been used such as
gorse, bracken etc. and have been planted in a highly random fashion,
more or less as nature would have intended.
Also four islands have been created within the lakes to promote the
establishment of waterfowl.
The 7th Hole
The most significant golf hole on the Smurfit Course is the Par 5
7th measuring some 606 yards. This hole will probably be regarded
as the most dramatic in Europe. It has a series of water cascades
and water features which are just some factors of this development.
In its construction, the Fairway was dropped some sixty feet below
its original height. A large man made quarry / rockface has been developed
along the entire length of the golf hole. This was done using technologies
developed by a company called Rock & Waterscape who are based
in California. Whilst their primary work to date has included Golf
Courses, their main core business is working with the likes of the
Disney organisation, Seaworld, and Universal Studios. The result is
entirely unique and has never been attempted before in Europe. This
is obviously the signature hole for the golf course.
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