Hole 4
Par 5
475 | 472 | 463 | 423 yards
The golf course's most famous holes are the next two holes. As you finish up 3 you turn away from the water to one of the most daunting tee shots on a par 5 I have experienced. The 4th hole looks like there is only a walking path running up in the valley between two hills. This is actually the fairway!.
The winds off the ocean are at least at our backs as we prepare to take on the 4th.
Right down the coast, this tee box offers a great view of the town of Lahinch and the beach running below.
This is a par 5 that plays straight away off the tee. Its length is not the primary defense, rather it is the ultra-demanding tee shot into the smallest fairway of all time. If you manage to hit this fairway, you can get home in 2, provided you know where to play your next shot.
This hole is nicknamed the "Klondyke" after the treacherous hill that blocks the view for the second shot. Standing on the tee I remember thinking to myself, there is no way I am going to hit this fairway, so just put a good swing on it so I'll at least be up a ways when playing from the rough. I made my swing and, surprise, surprise I see my ball tracking right down the middle into the heart of the fairway!
Lisa takes her chances off the tee.
The fairway does get a bit wider than this walking path, but just barely. It is an amazingly difficult hole.
Lisa found the hills to the left of the fiarway off the tee and this was her second from the wildflower dotted grass.
Out playing partner found the right hills and had to make a horizontal swing/chop to advance his ball down onto the fairway.
This is a view of the tight fairway as seen coming up the 3rd hole.
And one more shot of the valley. The person standing on the hill is a ranger whose job is to signal when it is safe to hit your second shot- a completely blind hit over the top of the hill on which he stands. The ranger has two flags, a red and green one. When it is safe to hit he puts down the red flag and holds up the green one.
When we were in position to hit, the ranger held up the green flag for Lisa who launched a good drive over the hill which is when the ranger started waving his hands and held up the red flag again. Apparently he didn't think Lisa was going to take on the hill and was not expecting her to hit as the group ahead was just over the hill.
The best line at the green is right at the V atop the Klondyke hill.
In this picture you can see my ball which found almost the exact center of the fairway. I still have no idea how that happened!
If you get too close to the hill your shot becomes even more difficult. I hit what I thought to be a good shot only to find I had hit it into the left rough over the hill.
A plaque next to the fairway warns you as you play up this blind hole that if you kill someone it is on you.
Once you get around the hill, the hole opens up to a generous landing area. The green runs almost right up against a low stone wall framing the out of bounds margin of the course.
Looking back at the hill, you can see the course at least furnishes a primitive shack for the ranger to hide in during inclement weather.
The third shot into the green is a little nervous, with the OB right behind your line of site. The green is some 30+ yards wide but not as deep. It also falls off in the front right quarter.
I hit my shot to the middle just 20 feet or so from the pin. I managed to 2 putt for a par I will remember for a long time.
Walking off the green towards the 5th hole, one last look at the green showing how wide it is.
Hole 5
Par 3
154 | 148 | 143 | 118 yards
Perhaps the most quirky of all the holes on the course, the 5th is another infamous signature hole of Lahinch. This hole, known as The Dell, gathered a reputation as one of the highest percentages of hole in ones around. Apparently caddies used to volunteer to go up ahead to the green, just in case their player's ball should find the rough. Believing a hole-in-one would mean a big tip, it became common practice for caddies to jump up and down crying "it's in, it's in" before kicking in any ball that had landed close to the hole.
This hole is almost a completely blind shot into the green. A large hill covers all but the far right corner of the green. A white "aiming" stone sits on the hill to mark the center line of the green from the tee.
Today you could see the flag if we moved to the far right of the tee grounds. I was just completely floored by this hole. Definitely a first, and a hole that would never be built today.
Lisa tees off on the 5th. She hit a great shot to the back edge of the green.
We were playing this hole at right around 150 yards. It was straight into the winds were were really going at the time. I hit a hard 6 iron (which is normally a 170 yard club) that caught the wind and seemed to hang suspended as the winds knocked the forward momentum off the ball. My shot landed directly atop the hill to the left of the flag.
My view, looking down from above the putting surface. The caddie we were playing with told me to hit it to a certain spot so that the ball would funnel towards the hole. I hit it right where he said, but the ball didn't funnel at all. I ended up carding a bogey after missing my par chance.
A view back towards the green taken after climbing up towards the 5th tee.
Any pins place further left (closer to the camera) would be completely blind from the tee. A far left pin would be just ridiculous as you would have no idea where to hit your tee shot.
Lisa pauses to regale her par on the 5th.
Hole 6
Par 4
424 | 412 | 393 | 331 yards
A serpentine series of walking trails leads from the tee boxes on the par 4 6th hole. Another blind tee shot very similar to the 3rd hole. I think not being able to see what's ahead on this hole may have been a blessing.
The people ahead atop the hill show the best line from the tee. The hole turns atop the hill to the left but cutting off any of that side is not worth the risk. The intended play is to favor the right half of the fairway with your tee shot to have the flattest lie for you next shot, which is a doozie.
Lisa tees off from atop the thick grasses that surround these tees. It is around 180 yards to the fairway from my tee. People who have trouble carrying the ball would have a really hard time on this course.
Once you climb the hill you can see the fairway is actually pretty generous. The fairway does run out about 280 yards from the tees though so you can't just bomb it up here.
My tee ball found the far right of the fairway. I had about 180 yards into the green which you can just see here, below the fairway and seemingly dangling out on the water. Again the winds here were straight into us. I hit a really good shot right at the pin.
Once the fairway ends, the hole features what has to be the most penal bunker I have ever seen. I knicknamed it doomsday. It has to be 40 feet down to the bunker. It would require an amazing shot just to get it back into play from there. I was glad I knew nothing about that hazard until I saw it.
Another view into the green. This was one of my favorite shots I took at Lahinch and think it really summarizes the feel of this course well in one shot.
My second shot which was right at the pin, landed about 3 feet short of the pin and ended up spinning back and coming off the green a good 20 yards. It was an unlucky bounce on such a tough hole.
The downhill approach, along with the furious winds makes judging the appraoch on this hole all the more difficult.
This is where my ball came back to. I was thinking birdie when I hit the shot, and still when I saw it land. Then it started its slow creep back. Maybe aided by the wind, I am not sure. I did chip up OK but missed my par save and got another bogey.
The Old Course Part 1
The Old Course Part 3
The Old Course Part 4
The Old Course Part 5
The Old Course Part 6
