Hawtree’s vision spawns new dawn for Dooks

DINGLE BAY, a sandy beach, the McGillicuddy Reeks and a hundred acres of some of the most glorious piece of links land imaginable.

What more could anybody ask for when it comes to creating one of the most delightful golf courses on the planet. Well, Dooks has never seen itself in that light. Not when it was founded in 1889; nor when it was extended to 18 holes in 1970; not even when the celebrated golf writer Peter Dobereiner spoke of “a dreamlike experience, playing over the rollings hills and guessing, often wrongly, which hollow would harbour a green” - and not even now, when it has been almost totally revamped and reconstructed so that the golfing challenge is equal to the majestic surroundings.

There are always fears that mistakes, often of serious proportions, can be made when it is decided to tamper with or alter something that has stood the test of time. Much the same could have been said of Dooks (an Irish word meaning Rabbit Warren) but they were allayed by a recent visit to this heavenly place.