63 The previous greens were generally small with pinched entrances. Even very good players could struggle to hold them, particularly with a tailwind. “The redesign has opened up approaches, creating more options into the greens and restoring a stronger ground game element to the course,” says Webster. “In addition there were no meaningful surrounds to speak of on the old greens – a shot missing the tightly defined targets would often finish up against the face of a dune embankment, leaving little opportunity for recovery.” The redesign has addressed this and the Cashen now provides a stringent test of the short game. Swales, ridges and hollows blend naturally into the putting surfaces, creating more varied green complexes with a greater range of recovery options. Several green sites have also been significantly lowered, “helping them sit more comfortably within the surrounding dune landscape and improving the quality of approach play,” says Webster. The design team has made just one tweak to Jones’ routing, switching the fifth and seventh holes. This eliminates the need for a long walk between the seventh green and eighth tees, while also meaning the first visit to the wild Atlantic coast comes a little earlier in the round. The short par-four that is now the fifth runs alongside the ocean to a long, narrow green where moving the pin from front to back can add close to fifty yards to the length of the hole. The preceding hole provides perhaps the most iconic view on the course. A par four from an elevated tee, the fourth plays towards the mouth of the river that gives the course its name. The backdrop changes with the tide, and is a picture of Ireland that could be lifted straight from the pages of a travel brochure. Those who played the Cashen before the renovation are as likely to remember the fourth for a steep, deadstraight gravel path from the teeing area to fairway and was something of a scar on the landscape. Thankfully there is now a replacement that snakes more discretely down the hillside. All pathways have been rebuilt; the club considered grass surfaces, like those that have been so well received on the The drop-shot par-three sixth hole and short par-four seventh, which plays back up the dunes Photos: Kieran Ryan-Benson
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