Tralee

"The breeze on a late summer's evening brings dreams.

"Of pirates and explorers. From Fionn MacCumhail and his Fians.

"Here you'll dream rich history's past , meet warm and friendly people."

Like Mary O'Connor, it is easy to romanticise as you view the breaking waves foaming on the jagged rocks.

This is Tralee, famous for the rose who is annointed as the finest beauty to bless its international festival in August.

And also for its spectacular links, laid out by the great Arnold Palmer and his design partner Ed Seay in the 1980s.

We found ourselves on the edge of the Atlantic on an April day with a nip of wind, three months before the best American college players were due to face international opposition in the name of the man whose statue stands next to the first tee.

Of Tralee, Arnie remarked: "I may have designed the first nine but surely God designed the back nine."

I played the outward holes well and am perfectly content to blame an otherworldly being for my back nine which had rather less glitter.

We were heartily welcomed before taking a tee time amid the many American visitors who had arrived in coaches during the morning.

I shall leave the question over why premium golf is so expensive in Ireland out there .

Indeed, rather than slip into the quagmire over the politics of our game, we headed to the range for a complimentary bucket of balls and then on to hug with Arnie's statue before the challenge of the first tee.

There was the option to play off whites or even championship blues but our England App showed green to be nearest to the respective handicaps of Podcast Partner and me, so we duly accepted the shorter routing.

"Where should I hit this drive, Paddy?" asked the American behind us. "Exactly where I just did!" , I interjected after striping my opener between the fairway bunkers on the par-four first.

However, my hopes for an opening par were thwarted because the uphill approach was steeper to a raised green than I had anticipated.

The action really begins on the second - a par-five that curves tightly around the coast. A ball that wanders right is likely to find the beach.

Tralee's most famous hole is the par-three third which is played beside a rocky inlet toward a target that has the backdrop of a ruined 14th century castle.

Guides claim that it requires more courage than it did on this calm day, although PP was a couple of feet from the white stakes which divide the course from the frothing tide. Come in from the left and a putt for birdie is likely.

The eighth is another stand-out on the front nine - a par-four along the water's edge. Those going for broke need to be arrow-straight to avoid the brine or the bunkers guarding the hole front and right.

I was rather smug with 20 Stableford points over the links opening half and downed a tuck shop scone in premature celebration.

"The front nine is Championship but the back nine is Premier League," warned the longstanding club professional, also giving a nod to our football team's promotion to dizzy heights the preceeding day.

I was undeterred. Imbued by my pantry staple and a bottle of Club Orange, I whacked my ball from the tenth tee... into the rough down the right.

So, my second nine began and the beacon of my earlier form became an intermittent flicker in the later round.

The tenth is a gorgeous par-four out to sea with a green cut enticingly between dunes.

The par-five 11th is known as Palmer's peak with good reason - its gradient is so sharp that the flag is blind for most of the ascent.

I thought I had struck my three-wood approach well but discovered it in a right-hand bunker that I didn't know was there.

My woe continued when my ball into the green was too aggressive and slid down a run-off. It was complete when my put up the hill didn't make it to the top and sank to my feet. Eight. Tail between legs.

Then came the stroke index one!

This is a scorching par-four that rises before beore falling dramatically beside a dune to the right.

PP and I were then left deciding whether to go for a green that is cut right over a cavernous grassy chasm. He laid up and I slung a three-wood just right, landing the ball just short of the putting surface.

It was certainly not the last encounter with such craters. Indeed, the one on the 13th is more of a ravine.

This is a par-three to a sliver of green above the abyss. Correct club selection and a clean hit are the only way to survival.

The 15th is a memorable par-four that looks very short but was uphill and against the wind with devlish bunkers on the left and a dune straight ahead threatening those who conisder taking on a perched green.

My round was in good health but it foundered on the par-three 16th like the shipwrecks after which the hole is named.

I had no problem striking over the coastline which hugs the right-hand side nor missing the big dune on the left but my ball was slightly pulled and found a shallow sand trap on the left.

My mind was addled, fearing the ball shooting through the green into the Atlantic. In fact, it was saved from a drenching by another bunker. However, this one was deep and fiendish and I failed to score a point.

The par-four 17th is called Ryan's Daughter after the wonderful movie which was filmed on these beaches before Arnie and Ed created their gorgeous links.

There was little problem in avoiding the ravine to find the fairway but then the fun starts because the flag is atop a near vertical bank. It is a hole worthy of comparison with the best Hollywood drama.

The par-five 18th is a surprisingly gentle finale as long as bunkers can be avoided. Neither of us did but PP found himself with a birdie putt which fell agonisingly short.

I wish he had nailed it because this day deserved to have been polished off by a celebratory nip of our birdie whisky.

There was so much to like about Tralee. Indeed, as the song goes about the famous Rose: "‘Twas not her beauty alone that won me."