The Island Golf Club is one of Ireland's Premier Links Courses. A mere 15 minutes from Dublin Airport, this Championship Links Course is located across the estuary from Malahide, just North of Portmarnock.
The Island Golf Club was established in 1890 and, surrounded by the sea on three sides, it enjoys a unique setting. Until as recently as 1973 the club was approached by boat from Malahide across the estuary.
Fred Hawtree, Eddie Hackett and more recently Martin Hawtree have made course design improvements, ensuring that the true nature and character of the links are enhanced.
"The Island is one of the genuine true links courses. A pleasure to play, with a great variety of shots"
Christy O'Connor Snr.
"One of the finest links courses, very challenging, especially in the wind"
Philip Walton.
"A fantastic links which tests every club in the bag"
Darren Clarke.
The Island Golf Club
The Island Golf Club was among the first twelve Golf Clubs to be founded in Ireland.
There were two unusual features about it's origin for that time - one that it had no military connection as other clubs had - two that it was initiated as a private proprietary club. The ten founder members became the owners of the Club and only allowed members as annual ticket holders. Most of them were already members of Royal Dublin Golf Club which was founded some years earlier in 1885 but a rule in that club which did not permit play on Sundays was not to their liking.
That is why
"In September 1887 four men rowed across the channel which separates the North Dublin village of Malahide from the spur of land to the North known locally as the Island. Their mission was to survey the wilderness and assess its suitably as a golf links."
The visionary boat journey is thus described in the history of the club "A Century of Golf on the Island". The century part of the title as well as denoting one hundred years of delightful golf between 1890 and 1990 also uses the cricketing term for one hundred not out to draw attention to the cricket match in which the legendary player W.G. Grace took part on an area of the links now known as the Cricket Field and which gives its name to the present eleventh hole.
When a lease of the land had been negotiated with the Cobbe Estate a local land owner was engaged to mow the fairways and greens with a scythe in preparation for a mowing machine.
The early course was laid out generously in terms of land as the founder members, precluded from any serious earthmoving, followed the valleys and laid out eighteen individual holes. The course has altered many times since that time to become the championship course of today. The existing clubhouse is the fifth pavilion in an evolution which began with members taking lunch in a bell tent beside the first tee one hundred and eleven years ago this year.
Local Recommended Hotels:
Portmarnock:
www.whitesandshotel.ie
Special Rates available for visitors of the Island. Please contact us for further details or email info@whitesandshotel.ie
Malahide:
www.thegrand.ie
Four star hotel in Malahide Village. Please contact info@thegrand.ie
for further details.
Donabate:
www.watersidehousehotel.ie
Special Rates available for visitors of the Island. Please contact info@watersidehousehotel.ie