I played the BEST golf course on the planet (absolutely incredible)

Oh my goodness, is this real? This is a dream, this really is a dream. Royal County Down here in Northern Ireland. One of the greatest golf courses in the world. My heart is pumping out my chest. Let's go. It just looks out of this world. Happy days. Bloody tame wreck. It really is. Now this is a special one. Royal County Down here in Northern Ireland. Often ranked either the first, second or third best golf course in the entire world. This is a dream, this really is a dream. I've got a bucket list of golf courses I must play before I die and this is on it. And right now I'm getting the honour to play this golf. Come and look at this. This is the opening hole. I mean, it just doesn't look real. We've got very, very, very, very lucky with the weather. It was throwing it down yesterday when we should have played. We moved the tee time to today. Thankfully, the sun is out shining. It just looks incredible. Now, I'm not going to do this golf course disservice. I'm going to put up the back tees, the blue tees. And that is 7,206 yards, par 72, 71, sorry. However, it's got a rating of 75.9. For me, if I get anything in the 70s today, obviously this is break 75 here at Royal County Down. One of the best golf courses, if not the best golf course in the entire world. Anything in the 70s, I'd be delighted. Now, I'm not on my own today. I'll be on play on my own. I've got the professional services of Brendi. Brendi, are you going to guide me around this beautiful golf course? Yes. How many times do you reckon you've carried around here? I've lost count. Really? Hundreds? Thousands? Yeah. Wow. Okay. And how many have played off the blues? Not very many. But we'll see how we go. I'm excited about this. And this is the home of this year's 2024 Irish Open. It's going to be taking place in September. This is also, Rory McIlroy is a member of this golf club. Yes, he is. And what do I need to know about this golf course? Like, I was very relaxed and chilled. Yeah. And all of a sudden, I'm still in this first tee going, oh my God, I'm having like some interesting feelings going on. What do people normally feel like when they come to play Royal County Down? Yeah, it's, as you can see, Rick, you know, first with two loops of nane holes. Front nane is more on the coast, same here. And then the back nane is a bit more inland. But, you know, if you keep your ball in the fairway today, you know, you're going to enjoy your golf. Just keep it out of the long grass. So, other than that... I love that advice. I love your, I love your... Short stuff. Optimism. Right, let's kick things off here at the best. I mean, this today, in this conditions, if my golf ball plays well and the driver does all right, this could quite easily become my number one favourite golf course in the world. Let's make it happen. Quite easily. Already, it's having that impact on me. So, just down the right side of the fairway. Just right half of the fairway there, Rick. It's a nice opening par five here. This is so, this is just everything about the place is just incredible. It's like so well manicured, but also so natural. Yeah. You know, there's bits of it that just look perfect. And other areas where just nature looks like it's just kind of filling that space, really. White flag in the distance, I guess, but keep it right of that. Oh, no. Is that out of bounds? Not yet. It might be now. The only thing up there are extra views. Come on, look at that. Is this actually real life right now? Look at this. You've got the mountains in the background. They're called the Moor Mountains, right? Yeah. Moor Mountains, the highest one sleeved on. And, do you want to know the really good news? Brendie, with his eagle eyes. Where's it gone now? I should have left the mark on it. Hang on. Brendie, with the eagle eyes, had found it and now we've lost it again. It was on one of these posts. Got it, got it, got it. Oh, there it is. This one. Here we go, guys. Okay, we're in play. Relax, Rick. It's something we've all counted down. It's something of one of the golf courses I've always wanted to play in my life. But, yeah, we're all right. We're safe. Main thing, Rex, just get her back into play. Yeah, this is pretty nasty. What's over that hill? I have a good moorhead here. Okay. Take my medicine. Over my head, Rick. Perfect. All right, let's get us back in play. We're late. All right. We're back. All right, took my medicine. Third shot into this hole. It's 240 pin, but with it being links, it'll probably fire forward. I'm going to try and chase something down there with three iron. Keep drawing. Keep going. Might just get caught up there. Look at that. There's not many courses you get a sea view and the mountain view and just this property, this piece of land to build a golf course on. Happy days. Let's try and do it some service though, eh? Most of our greens, Rex, slope from back to front. So if you're always short of the flag, you leave yourself an uphill putt. Okay. It's a little right to left, but if you go too far right, it actually will break off. Okay. Fourth shot into this first hole. Be a nice little up and down. Save my par. Not much going on. I mean, it's just, I say not much going on apart from everything going on, which makes this hole so fantastic. Short of the green, run it up. At least an up and down. Oh, Rick. Dinned it. Just one hole, let the nerve settle. It's all I need. Oh, that wasn't my finest. Just like so. Just feel a little bit. Just need to relax. Need to relax into this round. Sooner rather than later. Like that line? Pretty good, yeah. Any more left or are you happy with that? No, that looks pretty good. You're talking about two feet left there. Yeah, let's not do anything silly. Roll it close. Go ball. Making tough work of the first hole. Okay, Rick. Come on. I don't want to be making double on the first. Okay. Breathe, everyone. Breathe. Breathe, everyone. Calm it down. All right. Everyone just calm down. Everybody stay calm. Stay f****** calm. I have to take a bogey and just get out of that first hole. Let those, incredible as it is, my chest is pumping out. My heart is pumping out my chest. Wow. Really special. Not bad, isn't it? It's actually unbelievable. How is this a golf course? It just looks out of this world. All right, guys. Just a quick one before we continue with the video. I want to give a huge shout out to my golf group, Travel, who set up this wonderful trip in Northern Ireland and Ireland. They are one of the number one travel groups in Northern Ireland and Ireland. Definitely check them out. Link in the description below. Okay. Second hole, par four, 444 yards. Where are we hitting this, Brendan? Right. See the black and white poster? Yeah. You keep it five to ten yards left of that. Left of that? Yeah. Is there room left or not? There's room left of that. Yeah. Super drive. Perfect. That's it? Yeah, that's good. Okay, let's go. Okay, after splitting the fairway here on number two, that was more like it. 164 yards to the pin. Eight iron, full eight iron in hand. I want to be just left of that pin, apparently. Oh, I pushed it. Watch over there. Okay, safe there. Safe, Mas. Just pushed it. You know what it feels like? I've done, obviously, some of these 10 shot challenges with some of the biggest names in the world of golf. And the feeling I have when I play there is like the feeling I'm having today. But the competitor isn't a world-class tour player. It's this, one of the greatest golf courses in the world. It feels like, I feel like it's like intimidating me. This golf course is like, come on, Rick. You think you can come around here and shoot 75, do you? I mean, by the way, golf course, I don't think I can shoot 75 round there. But that's obviously the goal. It's just, it's, I mean, it's speechless. Okay, so my second shot just found this little runoff area. It wasn't bad for distance, just slightly pushed it. You know, it's going to be putter from here every day of the week for me. Up the hill. Let's roll it close. Yeah, it just needed that a little bit more. A little testing par putt here on number two. Kind of just over six feet, right to left up the hill. Brendan? Yeah, perfect. These greens look absolutely stunning. Pure. Needed hitting. Needed hitting on that line. Okay, bogey, bogey start. Not the finest work, but again, just easing into this round. Third hole. Four, seven, five. Just green light we driver. Little bit of window off your right, but more or less green side bunker left. Not there. Okay. All that fairway to it. All that bloody fairway. It's over reeling. Okay, second shot into number three. Bit of a blind shot here. 195 yards to the front. So I'm going to just try and fly this out with a seven iron. And absolutely rifle it there. Left. I say that's maybe called bunker. Okay, third, second shot found the bunker. Third shot from the bunker. It just sat up on a little old fashioned santee. It's got a good bunker shot. Got to go up and down really. Got to make a par. Totally blind from here. I'm just, I've got a line. I'm just gonna have to guess the distance a little bit. Well, a bit short. Yep. All right, it's bang on line. Just a wee bit short. Okay, big par putt coming up here now on three. Need to get a par on the card pretty quickly. A couple and a half in your left there. Pretty flat. It's always leaking. Oh, Rick. Just trying to force that par stupidly and blasted it through the break. Hold on. Okay. Fighting for bogeys right now. I'm holding a couple of good putts for bogeys. Three over through three. I've not looked yet. I've come up this big steep hill here onto fourth. Oh my goodness. Oh my gosh. What? Is this real? I mean, look at it. It's scenic. It's natural. It's beautiful. It's scary. How do I get a golf ball down towards that flag down there? It's a par three playing about 230 yards. But look at that. So here we go. Fourth hole, par three. Just when I kind of could do with a respite. I've got 229 yard par three with this scenery. But make it count, Rick. Three irons straight at it. Wind just a little bit off the left, Brenda. Just off the left or right, yeah. Come on, get back there. Hold on, release out. Can't quite tell, Brenda. We're 15 feet right. 15 feet right of the flag? Yeah, just short. Good shot. Let's go. Let's start this party here on the most incredible par three. One of the most incredible I've ever played. Up the hill, right to left. For a real opportunity. An opportunity to make par. Let's start with that first. Let's not get too greedy. Oh, I need to react a bit quicker. Spending too much time over the putt. Okay, here we go. This might be a rare feat today. In for par. Good streak. Fifth hole, 440 yard par four. Beautiful. I mean, every hole's beautiful. It's not like a broken record. Keep saying that. But I'm going to go three wood. Need to find fairway. That's number one priority this round. Oh, missed it. But terrible strike. Still 215 in front there. Four iron. Three iron. I would go four, even five. Pin has just left the center. So as long as you're a little right of that, it's good. See the little bunker in front of you there? Yeah. Over the left side of that. Anything else down there? No. Once you get over them bunkers, it's all far away. Okay, after a bit of a week three wood shot there. Just in this rough. 215 yards away. I'm going to stripe a five iron and see if we can get a bit of a flyer out this rough. Good line. If it runs, it's good. Yep. Okay, just shot the green here on hole number five. I'm taking putter. I think you'd have probably guessed. As much as I'm genuinely, I'm more confident of chipping these now. If I need to make par, it's putter every day. Got to be firm, give it a good hit. Uphill all the way, right to left. Go on. Oh, good effort. It just, I didn't expect it to go right then. Yeah, just at the end of turn, but great putt. Listen, think what you want. It would have taken me a hundred chip shots to get closer than that then. Okay, a little two footer, two and a half footer for par. Right to left. Just on that edge and drop it in. Yeah, I like it. I like that. Back to back pars. Let's go. We're rocking. We are rocking. What have we got coming up now, Brandy? Second hole, another Blaine tee shot. One of the shortest par fours in the course, but it's no means easy. There's not been that many short holes so far. Nope. That stone's more or less for these tees, but if you can just go slightly left of it. Okay, the stone on the hill. Yep. Driver? No, three wood here. Yep. That was nice. Good. That was very nice. After a really good tee shot, three wood off the tee. I just finished on this slight uphill, but that's part of Lynx golf. So it's going to just be a little bit elevated. I've got 119 flag. This is one of the shorter holes on the golf course. So we just need to capitalise ideally. I'm going to hit a full gap wedge. A bit too far right. Don't spin off the green. Okay, just a bit short. Okay, so it's just off the green. It landed up there and just spun back a little bit, but I don't mind this putt. Just off the right, Brendi. It goes back right at the end. It's right the left at the start and breaks right at the end. Okay, back the other way. Yep. That's a slight double breaker. Roll it in, roll it in. Just needed that extra few feet. Three pars in a row though. We'll take that. Yep, nice one. So Brendi, what have we got here, pal? 124 to the flag there, Rick. Shortest par three out here. Didn't you say it's the shortest par five? Shortest par five, yep. So just left of the pin. Just slightly left of the flag where the pin is today. What's my carry number? You've 99 to carry the bunker. 100 yards to carry the bunker. But hit like a 110. 110 is perfect. That's in the hole. That looks good. Oh, that looks close from here. That's really good. Birdie time, Rick. It's birdie time. It really is. Okay, big putt here after a really nice iron shot. Not an easy green to hit this. For birdie and to get to two over par. Oh, really wanted that birdie. All right, three over through seven. Eighth hole, par four. Stroke index one. I feel like I've played five stroke index one so far. 429 yards. I'm guessing at the bunker in the middle. Second bunker on your left side there, Rick. I'm going to pick a point at the top of that mountain. See it, Dan? I think it hit the path on the right. Yeah, not a bad hit, just a little bit leaky right. Second shot here into eight. Just leaked off to the right hand side, but nothing too dangerous. 155 yards to the flag. I'm hitting nine iron and I need to find the green. Be good. Come on, keep coming. Just maybe leaked right. Hopefully it's carried enough will be on the green. If not, it may have kicked off. Okay, I've actually hit a really nice second shot in there. We both thought, me and Brendi thought we'd both hit it a little bit too far right. But this is perfect. Proper birdie opportunity. I'm knocking at the door, Brendi. Yeah, time to hold one here, Rick. All right, come on. Let's open my birdie account here at Royal County Down. I'm not going to get many opportunities. Right to left, a little bit down the hill. Break. I just stayed there. I think I went a little bit too far right. Yeah, I just wasn't watched by the ball or something, if even. In for another par. I want a bit of a par run though. We'll take that. Ninth hole, 483 yards, par four. Some of these holes are massive, but let's find fairway again. Finish with the front nine with a birdie would be incredible. Too far left. A little bit tight. Just pulled it a fraction. Pulled it a little, but it's good straight. Wow. That's what they were saying, comes from where the mountains of moor and sweep down to the sea. Okay, second shot here into nine. I'm 200 yards to the front of the green, 215 to the pin. I'm going to hit a low flighted five iron and try and chase it up there. I just want to stay left of the pin, Brendi. Yeah, just slightly left there, Rick. Straighten out with the wind. Doing it. Go on. Front left. Yeah, we're on the green. Long, long, long putt now. See the two wee bits of grass there, Rick, on your left? Yeah, I can. On that. The one on the left's pretty good. For another par. Well, this is for birdie, but I want a two putt par as the goal.