Ryder Cup Course at the K Club near Dublin: Come and play a real Ryder Cup golf course

STRAFFAN, County Kildare, Ireland -- The Palmer Ryder Cup Course at the K Club, located 30 minutes outside Dublin, will always be a historic parkland playground for golfers.

The 2006 Ryder Cup was dominated by the Europeans, who were motivated to play for Northern Irishman Darren Clarke, who lost his wife to cancer just six weeks earlier.

William Stewart, a Northern Ireland resident, captures the sentiment of the course when he says: "It is great to play a hole you see on TV. You can't go to Wembley Stadium and kick a goal, but you can play a Ryder Cup course."

The 7,350-yard course is stocked with water on 14 holes. The finishing stretch of the back nine is especially water-logged. The narrow green of the 570-yard 16th hugs the River Liffey, demanding an exacting approach shot, whether it's a wedge or a 3-wood. The river continues to flow up the left side of "Half Moon," the tight par-4 17th. Another lake pinches the left side of the 18th fairway from 150 yards and in. A complex of four bunkers on the right gobbles up many approaches.