Overview:

Royal County Down (ranked #6 by GOLF Magazine): the very words are enough to send a shiver up your spine. Designed by Old Tom Morris back in 1889, Royal County Down is not only one of the most beautiful courses in the world, it is also one of the most challenging. Laid out beneath the Mountains of Mourne and along the shores of Dundrum Bay, this strip of dune land was 90% along the road to being a golf course before some key man-made adjustments. Within four years, Royal County Down was considered good enough to stage the Irish Open Amateur Championship, and by the dawning of the 20th century, the course was rated as the finest course in all of Ireland.

Unlike many of the great natural links courses, Royal County Down doesn’t have the traditional out and back layout; rather, there are two distinct loops of nine holes. The outward half is closer to the sea and offers consistently larger dunes than on the homeward loop. Walking down the first fairway with the sound of breaking waves in your ears is a truly memorable occasion. First time visitors to Newcastle are easily spotted, as they can be seen walking up the first fairway backwards.

Many people consider the front nine of Royal County Down as the finest nine holes in golf. Among the most memorable are:

• The par 4, 3^rd, with its split level fairway
• The par 3, 4^th, measuring over 200 yards
• Both the doglegged 5^th and the long 9^th have an uphill drive followed by a long second shot to a plateau green

The back nine may not have so many enormous dunes, but there is an overgenerous supply of heather and gorse. A few holes that stand out from the rest are:

• The par 4, 13^th, where the fairway curves its way through a beautiful heather-lined valley
• The par 4, 15^th is one of the more difficult holes
• The recently remodeled and re-bunkered par 5 18^th hole