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Captain William Bligh of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame was, in the early 1800s, one of those invited to solve the long standing problem of providing shipping with a safe, straight and deep approach into Dublin, and as a result it was decided to build a sea wall 3km out from the shore. The Great North Wall, more popularly known as the Bull Wall, was completed by 1823. The resulting sand bank, "Bull Island", now plays host to this particular golf course. Different to most links courses, Royal Dublin is laid out almost entirely on flat land but still represents as formidable a links test as you are likely to encounter. The layout is in the traditional out and back format so the two nines must be handled quite differently due to the prevailing winds. What can sometimes be a good score in the making is often quite literally blown off course during the return to the clubhouse. Greens are firm and fast while the inward nine tend to be tougher, most famously the 18th or Garden - a right angled par four.
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