Mount Ober Golf & Country Club

I find this course one of the nicest to play in Belfast. The views over the city are fabulous and take in everything from Cave Hill to the big Harland & Wolfe cranes - Samson & Goliath. The course is always in very good condition - even in the depths of winter. It will definitely get the heart pumping with all the hills that there are as well.
The first is a pretty daunting 180 yard par 3 over a large pond to an elevated green.
Number 2 is a par 5 with a treacherous out of bounds along the right hand side of the fairway. The hole dog legs to the right and your second is blind into another elevated green.
Hole 3 is one of those par 4's where the green can be reached with the drive. You start on a very elevated tee and the green is just less than 300 yards away - and some 150ft below you. The only things that can catch your drive are 2 large bunkers in the middle of the fairway about 230 yards from the tee.
Hole 4 is a pretty unspectacular par 4 with the only real danger being some trees and gorse on the left of the fairway. There is a large pylon beside the green which is slightly off putting.
Hole 5 is a nice 120 yard par 3 which is well protected by bunkers all around the green.
Number 6 is a dog leg left to right par 4 and considerably uphill. If you can keep it in the fairway there is little or no danger.
Number 7 is a short par 4 that tempts the brave. Again, it is a dog leg left to right. You can lay up to around 180 yards from the tee and have a 90 yard chip in to a 2 tier green. The alternative is to cut the corner with the driver - it only requires a drive of around 250 - 260 yards to make the green. If you miss or go slightly too far right you are in deep rough though.
Hole 8 is another 180 yard par 3 with nothing too spectacular about it.
Hole 9 is a par 4 where the key is to stay left as - you guessed it, the hole dog legs left to right. A shot down the left side leaves a good line in to a quite large green.
Hole 10 is another short par 4. The only problem here is the elevated green with large slopes on the 2 sides, front and back. The temptation is to land the ball fairly close to the front of the green but there are 2 large bunkers protecting the front edge.
Hole 11 is a downhill 170 yard par 3.
Number 12 is an uphill par 5 and the wind is quite often in your face which makes it a difficult hole to reach. Having said that it is fairly free of any danger apart from out of bounds on the right the whole way up but this is easily avoidable.
Number 13 is a 160 yard par 3 which has a very sloped green and lots of slopes around the green which means unless you hit it from the tee you can take a high number.
Number 14 is a blind par 3 of about 210 yards. You can only see up to around 160 yards and then it is substantially downhill for the last 50. The green is also very sloped.
Number 15 is another dog leg left to right with out of bounds the whole way down the right hand side. The fairway is like a rollercoaster ride with numerous humps and dips. Not the kind of hole you need at this stage in the round. The green has a severe run off to the left so it is very important to hit the green with your second (or third !!) - However, this takes you very close to the OB mark on the right.
Hole 16 is a 110 yard par 3 which if you can hit the green, leaves a good birdie chance.
You can't see the green from the tee on the par 4 17th but there is a pretty wide fairway and a nice big downhill slope about 220 yards from the tee which adds a few yards to the drive. From here the green is then slightly up hill and is very hard to stay on as it has a severe slope back to you. You really need to pitch the ball past the flag and hope it runs back down towards you to give you an easier uphill put.
The 18th is a lovely driving hole to finish. From a tee about 100ft above the fairway there is a nice wide space to hit. There is OB all the way down the left and about 250 yards from the tee, some bunkers just off the fairway on the right for those who go too far right in an effort to avoid the out of bounds. Your second is then a nice straight flat shot into a large fairly flat green.
I have just read over this review and am thinking how easy it sounds when you are writing / talking about it.