How Special is the K club?

The Luxurious K club

No 疑問 it is nothing to the 支持する／優勝者s whoo've graced the greens recently, but for me and my ゴルフing partner, the 13th green on 郡 Kildare's K Club ゴルフ course, 発生地 for this year's Ryder Cup, seemed, at 545 yards, an awfully long way.

Even if our 運動s got to half of that distance, our second 発射s would have to 'carry' the River Liffey if we 手配中の，お尋ね者 to get の近くに to the green - or on it ― in two.

Both of us 攻撃する，衝突する respectable 運動s. From where our balls landed, the 13th green now looked temptingly の近くに. Should we ― feeling like masters of the universe after our 運動s ― go for it?

Yes, said the bold monkeys on our 支援するs. Carry the Liffey and you could be 負かす／撃墜する in four. Birdies! No, cried the 臆病な／卑劣な monkey, it's too far ― you'll never make it. Play 安全な.

We 注意するd our 臆病な／卑劣な 助言者 and decided to 'play up' to the river's 辛勝する／優位. From there, it was a short 半導体素子 on to the green or 近づく it. We could still be 負かす／撃墜する in five, giving us pars.

My ゴルフ partner, known as 'the captain' ― an ironic 愛称, given his 欠如（する） of ゴルフing 技術s ― lofted his third 発射 into the middle of the Liffey. Trying hard not to laugh while concentrating on 避けるing the same 運命／宿命, my third 発射 also ended up sleeping with the fishes.

The humiliation! Both of us in the river after 発射s that should have been 平易な. Our bitter reward for cowardice. Had we gone for it on the second 発射, it's almost 確かな we'd have gone into the Liffey, but at least that would have been the result of our 無謀な courage and more bearable.

We had dishonoured the magnificent setting in which we were playing by 辞退するing the challenge of the 13th. What 肉親，親類d of 哀れな creature plays 安全な at the K Club?

以前は Straffan House, a roost of the Irish gentry ― film 生産者 Kevin McClory once lived there ― the K Club, created by 実業家 Michael Smurfit, is an oasis of 楽しみ in the blameless 田舎の 近郊 of 郡 Kildare, about half an hour's 運動 from Dublin Airport.

It has 69 rooms in the main house, each with beautiful 手渡す-painted bathrooms. The 皇室の 控訴 has two bedrooms, a sauna and a kitchen in which a chef 供給するd by the hotel will 準備する the gastronomic delicacies you 要求する.

The Viceroy 控訴, featuring a four-poster and Jacuzzi, is considered suitable for honeymoon couples. There's also the 25 Garden and Fountain 中庭 控訴s, linked by a covered walkway to the main house. The service is impeccable.

The Irish excel at 存在 hospitable without ever seeming obsequious. It's not cheap. Nothing is cheap in Ireland. In high season (June to October) rooms cost from £333 to £2,559 (Penthouse 控訴); in low season, November to March, these 人物／姿／数字s are £178 and £1,026.

The K Club is a perfect 週末 目的地 for ゴルフ partners whose spouses either play the game or fancy amusing themselves in the spa and Dublin shops and nightlife.

But remember: playing 安全な at the K Club isn't an 選択. It'll cost you, one way or another.

Travel Facts:

The K Club: 00 353 (0)1601 7200; kclub.com

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