There was more to Ardglass than the hospitality. There are some memorable opening tee shots in golf around the world, but no first tee that has the sea to the left, the remains of a castle behind you and the waves and the rocks of the Irish Sea in front of you.

We teed off into a howling wind and sideways rain. I opted for the 18th fairway, a safe haven in the storm. The second hole was a 165-yard par 3 over more rock and ocean and with no real bailout area, reminding you of No. 11 at Pacific Dunes. I hit driver straight into the wind, bravely caught the right side of the green and made par.

The start is staggering, but the course has other great holes, including one, the 11th, that has everything, a blind drive over the gorse and beach, a second shot if you find fairway is bordered by an ancient rock wall and bisected by a burn that has its own rock bridge, just like St. Andrews.

The hole before it is a wonderful, 190-yard par 3 down the hill to a location near the beach with a village in the background. At a couple of different points you have to play around or over small cottages that definitely prove to be obstacles.

The members claim no one anywhere has yet to come up with an older clubhouse than the castle that has mostly given away to new buildings, although even those date back a couple of centuries.

Ardglass is about 30 minutes up the coast road from Newcastle and the home of Royal County Down. Green fees are a fourth of what they are at Royal County Down, about $70 during the week.