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In Ireland golf courses abound, both links and parklands varieties, about 410 in total, and this is a good number compared to the population of almost 6 million (4 million people in the Republic of Ireland, and 1.8 million in Northern Ireland). Ireland is one of the world's great venues for a dream golfing holiday.

links golf courses are usually found around the coastline where they've been scratched out of the abundant sand dunes, where the wind often challenges players, especially on the west atlantic coast side of the island. Their designers have also used the proximity of water to make the game on these courses more interesting. One of the most famous links courses is the Ballybunion old Course, whose contures and sea breazes challenge every player.

Parkland golf courses are mainly inland amongst the naturally hilly landscape where woodlands provide tree-lined fairways, which are used to advantage by their designers to test the competence of even the best of the pros. A notable parkland's course is the K Club just outside Dublin, which has been chosen to hold the Ryder Cup in September 2006. The Slieve Russell course in the Irish midlands is also another fine example.

seven of Ireland golf courses are included in a list of the best 100 golf courses worldwide (Golf Digest)

They are:

In Northern Ireland: royal Portrush Golf Club (Dunluce) and the royal County Down.

In the Irish Republic: the "old" club of Ballybunion (in the 1st ten world ranking), Lahinch, Portmarnock, The European Club and Waterville.

Golf high season: June, July, August.

Golf mid season: May, September, October.

Golf low season: November through to April.

book tee times well in advance of your vacation. about 20% of Ireland golf courses have their own website on which you can make a booking. Visit the author's website to see a list of them.

Take care of how you dress. You may have difficulty at some venues if you do not take notice of the following advice regarding clothing. Wear proper shirts with sleeves and collars, golf shoes and sports socks, trousers or smart, tailored shorts. Clothes not TO WEAR include - denims, short shorts, trainer shoes or runners, track suits, sweaters without shirts, clothing with slogans.

Always be at the course well before your tee time. Most courses allow spikes - some encourage their use in wet weather. many links courses do not allow motorised golf buggies because of the hilly terrain.

Take your handicap certificate with you as many golf courses will insist on visualising it. The handicap limit will usually be 28 for men, and 36 for women.

If you are taking your own golf clubs with you, you'll need to acquire a very strong golf bag to protect them during manhandling by luggage personnel. Some find an easier solution is to hire golfing equipment in Ireland, in which case this should be done at the earliest time, when booking tee times.

You'll find a friendly welcome not only from the Irish golfing community, but also from the population in general. Ireland has now become a very popular venue for a stimulating golfing vacation.

(Ron mills is an amateur providing information on his Ireland Golf Vacation website, endeavouring to raise funds for TEAR Fund, a worldwide relief agency.)

Larry Mize won the 1987 Masters tournament in a sudden death playoff against greg Norman when he hit a 140 foot chip shot that went in the hole. Never underestimate the power of your chipping! Tournaments are won and lost with this shot and players often struggle to understand what they are doing wrong when it comes to such a "seemingly" easy shot.

The Right Club - One of the most important parts of being a good chipper is choosing the right club. This depends on how your ball is lying and how high in the air you want the ball to go before it hits the green. Starting with your 7-iron and working down to your pitching wedge is one way to master this shot. Other golfer's use their sand wedge in certain situations or simply settle on one club and make adjustments depending on the distance from the green. These differences depend on personal choice but there is one thing that affects all golfers and is very important. This is the error concerning follow through.

Control at impact - The most common error in chipping comes about when you fail to control the tendency of the club at impact. This means that you start to swing the club downward but you give up right before you hit the ball. Never give up! This is called failing to "follow through" and it plagues many golfers who don't realize they are doing it. Failing to follow through is a huge mistake. You have to make sure that your hands lead the club through the impact of the shot. If the golf club overtakes your hands and begins travelling ahead of you n its own, anything can happen on impact and it usually won't be good.

Follow through Secret - In order to insure that you follow through your shot, try to put most of your weight on your left foot when you address the ball. Your hands should also be just a little bit ahead of the ball before you swing. Take your swing and make sure to follow through! You don't need to "slide" the club under the ball or "scoop" it into the air. Just keep your hands ahead of the ball as you swing and always follow through.

On Mastery - You may not turn into "Larry Mize" overnight but some good practice sessions with these basic tips will likely get you on the road to some good chipping. Following through can be one of the best ways to bring down your score as it will set you up for less putting on the greens and even give you the occasional chip shot into the hole just like Larry Mize!

Aidan Sugrue is a Golf Enthusiast and creator of hot Golf Secrets the Internet's hottest resource for free golf tips. If you would like to turbo-charge your game then go to hot Golf Secrets now and Claim Your free online golf tips and start having more fun on the fairway today! You can also visit Golf Tips Blog for more fun stuff.

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