My Favourite Hole: Number Eight"It's one of the nicest holes I have ever played. I grew up playing in the Hermitage and the 11th was where I used to go and practice because the club had an older membership then and some of the members were too old to walk up the hill by the 12th so they stopped after nine holes.

"I really feel at one with nature down there, the beautiful scenery with the Liffey on the right and the splendour of the trees. In March the cherry blossoms are in bloom while in the late autumn, it is the colour of the leaves on the trees that catches the eye. It is one of the best par fives in the country and a slicer's nightmare.

"A friend of mine had that particular problem and he used to traumatise a dog that lived in a house on the far side of the Liffey.

"Most Saturday mornings you could hear the dog barking as he hit another ball into the garden. It's a real three-shot par five, a very demanding hole.

"After a good tee-shot most people lay up short of the cross bunkers and then hit into the new green (two years old) that tilts left to right.

"If I'm playing the hole off the blue tees, I'd hit drive and three wood to leave about 70 yards. It's a great test of any golfer."

Stephen Browne is in his rookie year as a professional and is a regular golf columnist with The Irish Times. He has been a member of Hermitage for 15 years.