Steeper, harder and less loveable than the Old Course, the Cashen at Ballybunion was designed by American Robert Trent Jones Sr and a study in how not to use heaving sand dunes for golf. Though the views are undeniably beautiful and some of the par threes take a nice photograph, the crazy narrow or crazy steep playing corridors on the longer holes are so disappointing and so tiring to play as to leave all but the most positive golfer wishing they hadn't bothered.

Across the property the dunes are massive, and the critical mistake made with the routing was for so many of the holes to be set down in the deep valleys between the hills. Not only are the fairways often anorexic and the greens on the edge of severity, the constant climbing out of the hollows makes the round feel more like a test of survival than a pleasant seaside walk.

If you can, a second round on the Old Course is recommended over a game here.