Amelia Earhart to cider and fairy forts: 40 things you never knew about Ireland's golf courses

Kevin Markham reveals 40 little-known facts and stories about some of our favourite tracks around the country.

The Kilmore nine at Carne Golf Links cost roughly €200,000 to build

I was chatting to the Captain of Claremorris Golf Club, see below, on the terrace above the ninth green when he revealed a nugget of information I never knew. Not only was it an entertaining tale but it also answered a certain question that had been bouncing around my head since I first played this Co Mayo parkland some 15 years earlier.

Why are the greens so small?