Course Development/New Forest GC: Philip Reid samples the delights of a fine addition to Ireland's ever-growing number of courses

Heck, this wasn't what he'd planned. The weather gods are having some fun with Peter McEvoy, dark clouds overhead drenching those of us standing on the golf course architect's newest creation, called New Forest Golf Club, outside Tyrellspass in Co Westmeath. A seasoned visitor to his father's homeland, though, McEvoy - fitted out in Wellington boots and waterproofs - is not only prepared for the deluge, but seemingly oblivious to it. His sole preoccupation is with the golf course that has evolved on this terrain in an old country estate and which he considers to be his best work yet.

So, even on a miserable old day, McEvoy's enthusiasm is undiminished. In truth, the Englishman - two-time British amateur champion, five-time Walker Cup player, record holder of English caps - who has made a major contribution to Irish course design in recent decades, with courses the length and breadth of the country, has produced what appears to be another fine addition to Ireland's ever-growing number of courses.

Scheduled to open for play in July, with a membership drive due to commence next month, New Forest - located just off the N6, three kilometres on the Athlone side of Tyrellspass - is a parkland course built, as McEvoy put it, "on a fantastic site, (on) one of these estates that you don't get anywhere but in Ireland really".

What he has done is allowed the estate's natural terrain to dictate the course's routing while retaining his own design characteristics, including a Par 3 in a walled garden, a la Coollattin.

"I think the course has fitted in really nicely. Sometimes, there is an element of chance about that, that it just happens. I've gone with the lay of the land here but the variety was such that I could have had eight different types of courses. In the end, I've obviously had to plump for one routing and you're always going to miss all kinds of holes. There was one hole in particular I desperately tried to get in, but I couldn't get in and get back (out) again. That's my one frustration, that there are holes left out there . . . but I honestly think, as I walk around this course, that I look at it with a deeper sense of satisfaction than any other course I have done," said McEvoy.

It's a project that has taken some four years to bring to fruition, the first phase involving over 18 months of "fiddling about and planning" and then two years of actual construction and the sense of pride on McEvoy's part in the finished product is obvious as he has attempted to make it playable for high handicappers as well as providing a severe test for the very best players in the game.

The site for this new course consisted of a glacial deposit of pure gravel and sand - confirmed by the presence of a quarry adjacent to it - which didn't require too much earthmoving, as the natural hillocks and mounds augmented areas of forest and marshland. The greens have a mix of A4 and B6 bent grass cultivars and measure an average of 500 square metres, with the Par 3 16th featuring undulations that will put the hearts crossways in anyone with any insecurities in their putting stroke. "I couldn't resist myself," remarked McEvoy of his decision to have such a contoured green.

One of the genuine fears about some of the modern golf courses is that they are simply too tough for the average player. McEvoy's philosophy in designing this course was to ensure that it will provide a very tough examination for the low handicapper, but that it would be playable also for the high handicapper or newcomer to the sport.

At New Forest, the varying tees provide for contrasting lengths up to 6,959 yards off the back tees. "The trick nowadays is to have multiplicity of tees to make everyone enjoy it. What's happened is techniques have changed. Speed is now the thing.

"They're creating speed, which is why fitness is such a bigger issue . . . . high handicappers haven't really improved, so what you have had is a polarisation of standards and all you can do is have a polarisation of length. The fairways are reasonably generous, but what we have done is try to fairway bunker this course so that anybody trying to overpower it is really taking a big risk. We've bunkered further up the fairways and it (also) narrows. You can do it, but you've got to take a big risk."

This is especially true on the Par 4 fourth, a hole of 455 yards which McEvoy unashamedly claims will be considered "one of Ireland's hardest Par 4s, it is definitely a contender".

The hole in question has more than length as its difficulty. "No," conceded McEvoy, "the length doesn't tell the whole story. The funny thing is that if you think of it as a Par 4, it's a nightmare; but if you think of it as a Par 5, you'd think of it as a birdie chance."

This fourth hole requires a tight drive positioned on the fairway between bunkers on the right and trees and out-of-bounds down the left. In some ways, that's the easy part of the equation. For the vast majority of players, reaching the green in two is out of the question; and even those with the power to get there are faced with a creek running across its front.

What McEvoy has done is offer a generous lay-up area some 100 yards short of the green. " The green is very difficult to hit in two but easy to hit with a wedge. So much of golf is a test of accuracy, this is meant to be a test of weight more," he said.

McEvoy's latest Irish creation - adding to an impressive list that includes Rathsallagh, Powerscourt, Glen of the Downs and Seafield - is the process of continuing to learn. "I don't think golf courses need softening for good players. If anything, they need toughening to be honest in some cases. What's happened is that high handicappers and beginners have stayed the same, so you have to be accommodating of them and tough for the good players. That's the trick.

"I'm trying to get to the point where you create a golf course that's tough for the good player but alright for the high handicapper. You've got to test them, to set them some sort of an examination. I think modern equipment has changed techniques because now the club heads are more accommodating for the strikes that you can take more risks in creating speed. That's why there is the emphasis on fitness. When I was brought up, you tried to put the club in a good position, and you tried to hit the small sweet spot but that's no longer the case. Now, you're trying to create speed so that you can hit the ball a long way."

In this instance, what McEvoy has done for the low handicapper is to say go on, try and overpower the course . . . but do so at your own risk.

Although the course is a Par 72, the order of holes is one designed to provide variety. Three of the holes - the sixth, 12th and 14th - have what are effectively island fairways set in marshland, while the second is a Par 3 and you don't reach another short hole until the ninth, which is beautifully set in a walled garden. Also, there are back-to-back Par 5s at the fifth and sixth. "I don't like symmetry, I like asymmetrical courses," observed McEvoy.

The ninth is a Par 3 set in an idyllic garden setting. It measures only 128 yards off the back tee, but the large green offers different types of challenges. If the flag is on the right, where there are no bunkers, it is a relatively straightforward challenge. But the left of the green is surrounded by bunkers.

"What I love about holes like this is that when you hit to the left-hand flag, and you hit a good shot and it is in the air, you still don't know you are alright," said McEvoy, almost with a boyish mischievousness.

For sure, the end product at New Forest - where the 17th century estate manor house has been converted into a clubhouse - is out of the top drawer. McEvoy, for one, would have it no other way.