Photo: Kieran Ryan-Benson 61 Set immediately south of the club’s famed Old course, and occupying even more dramatic dunes, the Cashen was laid out by Robert Trent Jones and opened in 1982. At the time, he described the site as “the finest piece of linksland that I had ever seen, and perhaps the finest piece of linksland in the world”. Jones was in his 70s and reportedly took to a donkey to survey the land. “The boldness and variation of this terrain made it not an easy piece of land upon which to route a golf course,” he said. “But, it was done, and you will play eighteen spectacular holes, each with its own beauty and challenge. There is no similarity on any holes on the course. There are no weak holes on the course.” Working with a budget that limited the scope of the project, Jones was clear at the time that more work would be required to fulfil the course’s potential. “I left you a rough diamond here; it’s up to people in future to look at it and polish the diamond.” Buoyed by five-time Open champion Tom Watson’s proclamation in the 1980s that “nobody can call The par-four fifth on Ballybunion’s Cashen course plays directly alongside the Atlantic
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