Ballyneal

Evan Schiller
3 Photos

Ballyneal

  • Course Type

    Private
  • GOLF Top 100 World Rank (2023-24)

    51
  • Year

    2006
  • Architects

    Tom Doak
  • Par

    71
  • Yardage

    7,147

Course Overview

Founding a private club in a remote destination is not without peril and it is reasonable to expect a club to take some time find its footing. Now deep into its second decade, Ballyneal enjoys its finest playing conditions since opening. Fescue fairways help the ground-game options flourish as balls release across the rumpled ground. Often on a Tom Doak course, the best way to get a ball close to the hole requires both imagination and creativity. That’s true in spades here as players delight in finding creative ways to use banks and punchbowl features on such holes as at the one-shot 3rd, the drivable 7th and the bruising 15th. (Photo: Evan Schiller)

3 things to know

  • Hole everyone talks about

    No. 3, par-3, 145 yards: At less than 150 yards, one would think you can play this one-shotter by taking dead aim at the flag. But the green, which sits in a natural bowl surrounded by sand and brush, tilts from front left to back right, making the prudent shot one that lands short left and runs up.
  • Best non-golf amenity

    After your round, enjoy one of Ballyneal’s famous steaks, which they source from the cattle ranch right next to the property, Bledsoe’s Corner.
  • Insider tip

    Leave time to play both the Mulligan course and the one-acre putting course, the Commons. The Mulligan Course is comprised of 12 greens that can be played in any order you like, making it your own personal playground.