Although it does look ancient (and the dunesland certainly is), this is actually a fairly new development. The late Eddy Hackett's final design consists of 14 roller-coasting holes and perhaps 4 on the front 9 that are merely undulating, but great links golf all the same. Another 9 holes have been added recently and christened the Kilmore loop. These are routed through some of the wildest terrain imaginable and are on the brink of playability in places. The towering dunes on the 5th Kilmore are not to be missed, though, as they could be the highest in all of golf.

As a contiguous course the Hackett 18 works better, especially because the connections between the holes are nearly perfect, whereas on the Kilmore 9 a bit of walking is necessary. Thus the ideal day of golf is a match played on the Hackett in the morning, then lunch and in the afternoon the Kilmore dessert with a few extra balls in the pocket. A couple of those holes have definitely never been seen before.

This is not to say that nothing unique exists on the Hackett course - far from it. The par 3s alone are a bunch of masterpieces, except perhaps the drop shot 16th - love it or hate it. The stretch from 11 to 14 is particularly exhilarating, as it winds its way towards the ocean to reach one of the most scenic spots anywhere. A golfer could be forgiven for sitting down at the 14th tee and letting others play through. While the Kilmore is still a work in progress, conditioning on the Hackett strikes a perfect balance between natural and playable.

There are some caveats at Carne, of course, but they seem a bit petty in the face of the magnificence provided in turn: getting into the dunes is easy and getting out is hard, if the ball can be found at all. Due to the twisted terrain wayward shots can disappear very quickly, leaving behind a group of players without any idea where to look. Keeping in mind that this is one of the world's wildest and most exciting courses should alleviate any pain points with respect to the scorecard.