Carton House Golf Club, O'Meara course

Slightly shorter than its mammoth sister course the Montgomerie, Mark O’Meara’s course at Carton House has a classic parkland layout.

The 1998 Open and US Masters Champion lulls you into the course with its beauty but hits you hard with a stern challenge as soon as you step onto the first tee. The course itself explores the swooping pastures of the estate and tiptoes around ancient specimen trees.

O;Meara describes Carton House as a “magical place” and his course certainly explores its beauty and history as it see you skirting the banks of the River Rye, sending the ball soaring over its golden waters.

Perhaps by magical the course designer is referring to the magnificent turf on the greens where it seems as though you are floating on a thousand velvet kisses, so soft are the blade of grass.

Feature holes include the 14th, 15th and 16th, a pair of par-3’s wrapped around a heroic par-5 that crosses the lazy loops of the River Rye. Tough but designed to give pleasure from start to finish.