What makes a great links course? Location? Great greens? Blind shots? Difficult holes? Fun to play? There are probably loads of criteria, each as individual to you as the next player. We probably thought the length was one of those until we came across the Corballis Links Golf Club, which blew our preconception out of the water!
The first thing to say is that Corballis is a municipal course, not a private club so anyone can play! Secondly, from the tips, it’s only 5,086 yards, yes you are reading that correctly. Thirdly, we couldn’t play off the back tees as the staff were working on them so the course we played was only 4,784 yards. Lastly, it’s located on the same peninsula as The Island Golf Club, so it’s on prime links land and we guarantee it’s well worth the €25 during the week and €35 at weekends. You will not find a golf course anywhere that will be so much fun for that price.
The Course
Corballis Links is over 100 years old. The original course opened in 1906 however it was completely rebuilt in 1971 when it was taken over by the county council. Corballis Links Golf Club was founded in 1972 and you can be a member here for less than €400 a YEAR. What’s not to love about this place?
Looking at the scorecard before our round we were thinking there would be plenty of birdie opportunities today. Seven par 3’s, none longer than 180 yards and five par 4’s under 330 yards, this would be fun. Well, we can tell you it was fun but not in the birdie sense. What we didn’t realise was that this course would test us in many different ways. If you visit and get around with the same ball as you start with, then you are a star. Let us explain.
The Front Nine
We selected three holes from the front nine, and each of them presented a degree of difficulty that we hadn’t encountered before. The 2nd, the 6th and the 7th holes are our choice although others were just as challenging.
The second green
At less than 250 yards, this par 4 is almost impossible unless you have played here before. We can tell you that the line to the green is over the mound on the left, however, we caution you on going for the green off the tee. Do so and you will never see your ball again. There is virtually no landing area apart from the green. The fairway runs out at 160 yards and then it’s into the gully you see in the photo. There is a sliver of fairway on the left but it’s the width of two buggies. We now know that it’s no more than a 7-iron off the tee. We hit 5 iron to play safe and it wasn’t. The green is small so even your short pitch is a difficult shot. A brilliant but bonkers par 4.
Short Hole Perfection
The 6th hole
At 103 yards, the 6th hole is a cracking short par 3. It looks so easy but it’s not. We made the mistake of taking on the pin with a gap wedge. What we didn’t realise is that any shot on the line or right of the flag would end up in the pot bunker. Our tee shot landed about a foot from the pin and still ended up in the sand. It took us two to get out and was the easiest double-bogey of the day. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Stay left of the flag.
The 7th green
The 7th hole is another 250-yard par 4. Like the 2nd hole, you can’t see the green from the tee. If you stand on the tee, you see a sliver of fairway in front of you which runs out at 180 yards. While on the tee, if you look over the dunes to your left, you may catch a glimpse of the red and white marker pole that gives you the tiger line to the green. Do not take it on if you want to find your ball. As you can see, the small green is the only landing area. The best play is to take an iron and hit it onto that sliver of fairway. Do that and it’s only a gap wedge to the raised green, which again is tiny. Another testing short par 4 and it’s never a birdie opportunity.
The Back Nine
We have chosen to feature another three holes on the inward nine. Our choices are the 10th, 12th and 13th holes. There were other contenders but we liked these the best.
The 10th hole
The 10th is the longest par 3 on the course at 178 yards but curiously it’s regarded as the easiest hole on the course, stroke index 18. We can guarantee you will not find this an “easy” hole. We played it in a crosswind and hit what we thought was a very good 5 iron, it didn’t reach the green. A decent chip and a good putt and we did make our par. Miss the green left, right or long and that par may prove to be elusive.
The 12th green
As you would maybe expect from a course this short, there are one or two holes where one hole crosses another. The 12th is one of those holes. What you might not expect on a course this short is that the 12th is a par 5. At 496 yards, it’s not overly long. You may have to wait for your second shot however as players on the first hole have priority. Unless you hit a long drive down the left you will not be able to see the green for your second shot. It is however an easy three-shot hole so it’s better to lay up, then try and pitch and putt for that birdie.
A Tough Par 3
The 13th hole
It’s a common theme at Corballis that the par 3’s all have small greens. This makes them very difficult on a windy day and there are many of them on links courses. The 13th is only 133 yards but the green sits above you and there is no bailout. Its green slopes from back to front and right to left so when our tee shot finished behind the flag but up on the slope, we had virtually no shot that would get us within 10 feet of the hole. Despite a heroic flop shot, we were left with a 20-foot uphill putt with two feet of break from the right. Maybe it was because we had given up on our getting our par, that we didn’t give the putt that much attention and just went for it. In it went for an unexpected par. Sometimes the person above smiles down on you when you least expect it.
In Our Opinion
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Corballis Links. While its length and price point may put off some from playing it, those golfers would be missing out on what is a fantastic links experience. For €35 or less, this is a wonderful course at a bargain price. Everyone we met was very friendly, even though there was a slight look of concern when we said it was our first time playing there. If you are in the area and are looking to play and have some fun, then we highly recommend a round at Corballis.
The course was playing like a true links. The fairways were brown and crispy but the greens were firm and running true. For those who may be wondering, we only lost one ball. That came at the 3rd when we pushed our second shot into what looked like a bomb crater in a dune. See below.
The approach to the 3rd green and that bomb crater
After thinking before the round about the number of birdies we would make, we did manage just two. One at the 5th and one at the 15th and we didn’t even feature those holes! Playing here will live long in our memory and we don’t think we will ever play another 18-hole links course under 5,000 yards. This alone makes it a special and unique place to visit. One to tell your mates about.
Thank You’s
We would like to express our thanks to Gerard Kelly of Carr Golf who arranged our visit to Corballis Links. He didn’t tell us anything about the course before our visit and that made our experience even more special. Thank you also to Brendan, the handyman for stopping to chat with us and to Daniel in the shop for his help and advice.
At a Glance
- Short 18-hole municipal links course with seven par 3’s
- Great value and great fun
- Devilishly difficult the first time you play it. Take plenty of balls!
- 30 minutes drive from Dublin City Centre
- For more info, visit Corballis Golf Links
- We stayed in the Castleknock Hotel, which we will write about soon
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