Fota Island Resort – Platinum Grade.
By Kevin Markham:
Fota Island Resort boasts 27 holes, exceptional practice facilities, a fine hotel and an equally fine clubhouse. It has hosted the Irish Open on three occasions and the beautiful maturity of its island setting suggests that it has been here for decades… yet it only opened in 1993.
The resort covers 580 acres of the island, with Fota Wildlife Park the island’s only other resident. This is a lovely lazy round of golf. Despite all the trees (enjoy the drive up to the hotel… you’ll be lucky to see daylight) and lakes, the fairways are big and generous. Fota Island is laid out to be pleasurable and there is so much pleasure to be had… off the tee, on approaches and on the smooth putting surfaces.
The attractive surroundings are just the icing on the cake. Significant elevation changes show off holes to full effect: the par five 10th and 18th are obvious examples, where tree-lined corridors lead to greens set in lakes.
Favourite Hole: The par five 18th is not long (480 yards from middle tees), but when the tight tree corridor ends the view down to the water-wrapped green is stunning.
What’s in the Bag? There are enough subtle doglegs to make positioning off the tee important, but you’ll look forward to big driving opportunities.