#899 Green Valley CC

Green Valley CC in Clermont, Florida started out in 1966 as a 9 hole course, in 1989 Lloyd Clifton expanded it to 18. Living in The Villages, I have played more Clifton Group courses than any other architect. Of the almost 750 holes in The Villages, they have designed all but 45 holes. I once lived on a very playable Clifton course for 11 years prior to The Villages. Bunker design to me is the fingerprint of every architect. I would characterize their style as middle of the road resort. I have yet to play an exceptional Clifton course, even Tom Bendelow produced a few notable courses.

I was told that at one time Green Valley was the club to belong to in this region. As many courses often do they bring in a management company to operate the club and unfortunately some suck the blood right out of them. The story here was that about a year and a half ago, after the annual dues had been collected they skipped town. The members were left with a very poorly conditioned course and no chemicals on hand to revive it. Fortunately, members united and today the grass is growing again and filling in the bare spots. This site has something that most other Florida courses don't have- elevation change. The majority of holes here are interesting, I especially liked #7, #9, and the risk/reward short par 4 #10 that is all carry over the lake. Even though I birdied the 10th, the next time I'm driving directly at the green. GOLD

"Kids are hard--they drive you crazy and break your heart--whereas grandchildren make you feel great about life, and yourself, and your ability to love someone unconditionally"- Anne Lamott

#898 Richmond Pitch and Putt

Richmond Pitch and Putt is the latest addition of golf to The Villages, Florida portfolio. These 18 holes brings the total now to 729 holes. This is the second pitch and putt and more enjoyable with the challenging, contoured, firm greens. Holes range from 60-110 yds with only two bunkers and water in play on 8 of them. It is a nice venue to sharpen your short game, especially if you have time to drop a couple of balls on each hole. The holes from 7 thru 9 are the most challenging stretch with all involving water and over 100 yds. Pat your self on the back if you play these at even par. It takes about two hours to play and is walking only. I enjoy it very much. GOLD

#897 The Links at Hunters Ridge GC

The Links at Hunters Ridge GC is a 1995 Jerry Matthews design in Howell, Michigan. It is well conditioned, playing over a rolling terrain with wetlands to give you a very picturesque setting. It has a nice variety and several interesting holes F9= 2,4,5,6,8,9 B9=10,11,16,17,18. The finishing three holes provide you with a stiff challenge. This a great value and well worth the drive. GOLD

"A true friend is the best possession."- Ben Franklin

#896 Donegal GC, Ireland

Photos of Donegal GC, Magee's Tweed, and Harvey's Point Resort in County Donegal, Ireland. This is the last of the photos from the 2022 Ireland Trip and hopefully all pictures in the near future will be on the new website platform.

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"Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace."- Dalai Lama

#895 Bundoran GC, Ireland

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Narin and Portnoo Links, Ireland

Narin and Portnoo Links was redesigned in 2018 by Gil Hanse. I retook these photo's below in September of 2022. If you go to slideshows you can view and compare the 2011 photo's of the old version of N & P.

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"Do what you will while you're able, find what it is that you seek."- Xavier Rudd

#894 Coastguard Nine, Ireland

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#893 Old Tom Morris Links, Ireland

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"When the archer(golfer) misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself."- Confucius(the golfer)

Sandy Hill Links, Ireland

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In 2011, I orginally played Sandy Hills in miserable, cold, snowy, weather. The cloudy pictures were taken in Spring 2011. Fall of 2022 the weather couldn't have been any better thus, the clear sky ones taken in 2022. Sometimes things even out.

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is."- Frank Scully

#892 St. Patrick's Links, Ireland

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#891 Dunfanaghy GC, Ireland

Dunfanaghy GC was designed in 1906 by Harry Vardon. This course has two interesting stretches of golf starting with the approach shot to #6 thru the tee shot at #10. Two par 3's and 4's that are all under 300 yds makes for a fun bit of golf with water in play on 9 and 10. #16-18 is a challenging finishing stretch that includes two blind shots, but the remainder of the course was rather lifeless. This is the home course of former Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley. BLUE

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."- C.S. Lewis

#890 North West GC, Ireland

One of the founding members of the GUI in 1891, North West GC was designed by the pro from nearby Royal Portrush, Charles Thompson. It is located on the Inishowen Penisula in Lisfannon, Ireland. North West has been called by some the Old Course of Ireland. It is very flat and on a somewhat narrow parcel of true links land that is threatened by erosion from the North Atlantic. The turf here is firm and fast and produces the bounce that I've found on only a few great links courses. It took me a few holes of approach shots that ended up off the back of the greens to start playing short and enjoy the ground game on this very well conditioned course. The green complexes are mostly very challenging with bunkers that play much larger than the eye perceives from the fairway with many green edges that runoff into swales that makes for difficult recovery shots. Even though the course is fairly level it has many humps, bumps, and hollows in the fairways that provides interesting terrain to play from. NW produced the highest score I posted on this trip.

North West wins my award for the "Most friendly golf club in County Donegal" and the grounds crew does a wonderful job here in maintaining the fun, firm, and fast conditions. It exceeded my expectations and is very underrated in my opinion. Be sure and take a look at my photo's below which show you the contours and great design that squeezed in 18 holes on the limited acreage available for this course. BLUE

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kMmnCGtgrAsd7KC37 Copy link to view photos

#889 Cruit Island GC, Ireland

Cruit Island GC, pronounced Critch, located in Kincasslagh was designed by Michael Doherty in 1986. On my epic 2011 trip I could not locate Cruit Island and moved on to windy Narin and Portnoo. Fortunately, this trip I found the single track road that winds you 4km back to the very remote clubhouse. What I discovered was one of the most rugged, risk reward, blind shot courses I could have ever imagined.

This course is 9 holes, Par 34, 2800 yards, no par 5's and every hole except the two par 3's have a blindshot. The only mundane, level hole is the 213 yd Par 3 #8, everything else is a rollicking, exciting, ball of Fun. The marquis hole is the dramatic 160 yd Par 3 #6, with a spectacular tee location that hugs the Atlantic Ocean and requires a shot over two salt water filled chasms to an uphill green. BLUE

What a year it has been too have played two of the top 9 hole courses in the world, Culver Academy and Cruit Island.

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#888 Gweedore GC, Ireland

It was great to be back in County Donegal, Ireland on the firm and fast conditions of a True Links course. Gweedore GC was originally a 9 hole course when it was designed by James Breslin in 1923. Eddie Hackett had his hand in doing some changes to the course and over the years they acquired more land. In 2014 they added 5 more holes to make it 14 holes, but now you replay 1,2,3,and 9 to make it an 18 hole course.

It was a slow day of play so Peter kindly came out and greeted us and got us on our way. Several interesting holes on the F9 with the blind Par 5 #6 being my favorite. You repeat three holes to start the B9 with the number one handicap Par 4 14th starting a nice finishing stretch. The short 118 yd, uphill #15 is one of the better Par 3's I played on the trip. The tee is jutted out into the ocean and you need at least two extra clubs for the steep inclination. The weather was very nice compared to my trip 11 years ago in this part of the world. GOLD

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You may not be able to change the people around you, but you sure can change the people you choose to be around.

County Donegal Course Color Ratings

County Donegal presents a strong contingent of courses which you can access from the worldclass Rosapenna and Harvey's Point Resorts. I played 5 courses in 2011 and 9 new ones in 2022. There are two Black rated courses followed by 10 Blue courses. In my world of rating you get at least a half color boost if you qualify as a TRUE LINKS golf course, which these 14 do.

St.Patricks Links Bk**
Sandy Hills Links Bk**
Ballyliffin Glashedy B
Narin and Portnoo B
Ballyliffin Old B
Old Tom Morris Links B
Port Salon B
Donegal B
Cruit Island (9) B
North West B
Bundoran B
Dunfanaghy B
Gweedore G
Coastguard Nine (9) W

Return from County Donegal Ireland

"If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."-- David Livingstone.

The golf in County Donegal, which is part of the province of Ulster and is located in the far NW corner of Ireland is fun and exciting. The accomodations at Rosapenna Resort and Harvey's Point are worldclass. Livingstone would have loved most of the roads in Donegal as they are remote, very difficult to access, and stressful to negotiate. The Wild Atlantic Way is a tour route of the rugged coast that is true to its name. There were several incidents of roads I needed to traverse to get to my destination being only a single track. The worst stretch was on the way back to Dublin, when we had 18 km of single track that we shared with sheep and cattle. There are very few roads that two cars can pass each other without the possibility of being side swiped. So my suggestion if you want to experience this great golf region of the world would be to hire a driver, and close your eyes until you arrive at your destination.

Eleven years ago, after being inspired by Tom Coyne's book "A Course called Ireland" I embarked on a 23 course tour around the top of Ireland from Dublin to Carne. I got a little taste of Donegal by playing 5 of its courses, so the roads were not a surprise. As I stated previously, three of those rounds I played in the worst weather of my life. If I hadn't prepaid I would have NEVER gone out in that severe of weather. This trip of 11 rounds in County Donegal the weather was fantastic, 12 days and NO rain!! I actually prefer to play in wind, cool temps, overcast weather and planned accordingly for that attire. I could have played in shorts on several days but didn't pack a single pair.

I have now played every TRUE LINKS course in Donegal, 14 courses in all which is a third of all my Irish golf experience. My second trip, 10 years ago, I played the 12 top courses around the South of Ireland where the roads are very good. Once I return to Florida I will start editing the over 1000 photos and write the accompanying articles.

"If you see what is right and fail to act on it, you lack courage."- Confucius