On the southern shore of Dingle Bay, a promontory of sandy ground runs out toward the water, and on it lies a golf course that sits in easy harmony with everything around it. Dooks lies about thirty minutes west of Killarney, flush against an inlet of the Atlantic. The MacGillycuddy's Reeks stand guard to the southeast. To the north and west the sandy peninsulas of Rossbehy and Inch Point stretch across the foreground, and across the water you can pick out the town of Dingle. Nearly every hole looks out on both water and mountains. The game came here in 1889, when officers of the Royal Horse Artillery laid out a short nine holes and introduced the local gentry to golf. That makes Dooks the oldest course in Kerry. It took the club some time to decide what to call itself. It was Caragh and Dooks, then Glenbeigh, then Dooks and Caragh, and finally plain Dooks, as if the place had worn the extra words away over the years. Around 1900 the course grew to eighteen holes, but the costs climbed beyond what a small membership could carry, and it soon went back to nine. Then in 1963 a letter came from the land agent, serving notice that the course and the club were to be handed back. The course had been laid out on leased land, and the original lease had never been signed. A "Save Dooks" campaign began at once, and for two years the club was front-page news. In the end £7000 was raised, and in 1965 the members became the proud owners of their own links. All that attention brought more golfers than nine holes could hold. Money was tight, so the members found another way. After much debate, nine of them volunteered to form and lead teams to build nine new holes, working under the guidance of Eddie Hackett. In September 1970, against all odds and inside a budget of £3000, an eighteen-hole Dooks opened for play. The members had designed and built it themselves, and the new holes blended so well with the old that it was hard to see the join. In time the club grew healthier, and with golf tourism gaining popularity in the region, the membership voted to bring the course up to modern standards. Early in the new millennium, Marc Westenborg, working with Martin Hawtree's design firm, renovated all eighteen holes over five winters starting in 2003. Sixteen new greens were introduced, some close to where the old ones had been and some on entirely new sites, and every tee complex and bunker was renovated in the same spirit. What you play now is far from what was laid out long ago, yet the local character still shines through. At a little over 6,500 yards it is not a championship test, but it is a true and traditional links: tranquil, engaging, fun, and a thoroughly enjoyable challenge. Many of the greens undulate, and the par-three 13th is the wildest of them, the big dipper of the round, a green that stays etched in the memory long after the last putt. Before the first tee stands a sign that sets the tone with all seriousness: "Bona Fide Golfers Only. No Sharing of Clubs." The welcome inside is among the warmest and friendliest in Ireland, and that softens it. The warm, sandy linksland is home to the Natterjack toad. This is one of its last remaining habitats, and the club has made it the emblem. The toad is a creature of the night, emerging when the golfers have gone home, and yet at certain times of year it can often be seen out on the course. It suits the place. The truest residents of Dooks keep their own hours and share the ground quietly with the people who saved it.