Monty has gone back to his Scottish roots with his Carton House creation and has put together an inland links of sorts, with very clear inspiration being taken from the great seaside courses of yesteryear. The course has been sculptured with plenty of earth being moved to create mind boggling undulations that certainly add to the overall challenge.

Add to that countless deep pot bunkers, fescue rough that sways gently in the wind and a design that is intended to use the prevailing wind to challenge the player from the tee and you have a fantastic test of golf. Stretching to well over 7,000 yards from the tips, the Montgomerie Course at Carton House hosted the 2013 Irish Open won by England's Paul Casey. 

Mark O’Meara’s design at Carton House is the original course on the resort. This course is vastly different to its younger sibling, something that will appear to visiting golfers because, as they say, “variety is the spice of life”. Thanks to Lady Emily Leinster, who is credited with adding a wide variety of non-native trees to the property in the middle of the 18th century, the O’Meara Course is a more parkland affair than the Montgomerie Course. Blue Cedars, Lebanese Cedars and Copper Beeches, as well as the native sycamores, firs and pines, skirt the fairways and demand accuracy from the tee.

Skirting gently undulating terrain along the banks of the River Rye, which comes into play frequently on the back nine, the O’Meara Course is a picturesque delight and the perfect foil for its more demanding sibling. Get the camera ready when approaching the 14th as this is the start of Carton House’s very own Amen Corner. Ending at the 16th, this stretch of the course is beautiful and treacherous in equal proportions.

Carton House has been recognised by the prestigious ‘Committed to Green Award'.