Waterville

Our routine includes reviewing a variety of different weather apps trying to discern what golfing wardrobe will be necessary the following day. Waterville did not look good with rain likely the entire day. We woke up to sunshine in Killarney and hoped for the best.

Waterville is on the western edge of the Ring of Kerry. We had the option of being part of a tourist convey of cars on the ring taking 90+ minutes or going straight through the middle of the peninsula (or over the mountain as the locals say). The latter indicated a time saving of over 30 minutes so off we went despite the uncertainty of what we would face.

Well that was a mistake! It was whatever is below an “L” in the roadway hierarchy.

Fortunately we only had to deal with a few oncoming cars which meant finding a sliver of space to the side. And apparently, sheep have the right of way.

Our fears about the weather hadn’t materialized upon arrival and in fact the sun shone brightly.

The earliest golf at Waterville has been traced back to 1889 where a modest nine-hole layout occupied the flat eastern section of the present championship links. In the early 1970’s the original nine holes were reconfigured and expanded by Eddie Hackett to create today’s front nine with the full 18 opening in 1973. Tom Fazio subsequently redid the course by changing thirteen holes and building two new ones, finishing up in 2006 by making further amendments to two more.

It’s difficult to describe Waterville as we all initially questioned why it has such a stellar reputation. Perhaps it was because it was very subtle and not punishing in the manner of other courses we’ve played. Its unique location on an isthmus bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Inny river, the Inny Estuary and native bogland provide an open view and feeling of space. Fazio talks of the unique routing with the front nine mostly flat with no imposing dunes.

The back nine more than makes up for this with very strong holes having elevation changes, big dunes and many more pot bunkers.

Still it never felt that a small miss would end in disaster. Balls actually rolled away from bunkers and bounces off hillsides found the fairway.

The sun continued to shine although rain storms were on the horizon. We even witnessed a special cloud formation – directly above Peter!

Collectively we agreed Waterville was enjoyable and playable but less dramatic in both design and vistas versus our previous stops.

Oh, and we drove home on the Ring whose roadway felt like a super highway in comparison to the morning drive. Ballybunion Old Course tomorrow. Truly a global icon awaits.