A History of Wicklow Golf Club 1904-2004

Wicklow Golf Club was founded in 1904 and started as a nine-hole 46-acre course laid out on a farm leased by Judith Byrne but previously occupied by the O’Connor family (their son Peter won Olympic gold and silver at the Athens games in 1906) at a cost of £500. There was evidence of golf years before this but when instituted it was to be the fourth club opened in the County and as a military town it was likely that this cohort was the impetus behind its’ formation. It was John Nolan, a philanthropist and non-golfer, who in 1900 proposed to Wicklow Urban Council, the largest land owner in the area, the idea to further the status of the town. Nolan was asked to present a plan and to do this he approached Thomas Hood, the Royal Dublin professional, in 1903 to view potential sites. Hood identified sites near the railway station as a prerequisite and they eventually decided on the Townland of Dunbur. Nolan got the councils tacit approval and arrange a public meeting, to garner further support and commitment for the venture, at which he presented a prospectus with a financial plan. The club was formed on the 14 October 1904 but was marred by a coup aimed at excluding Nolan from the committee. The club was set up with equal rights for men and women with one class of membership.

It was a near Herculean task to extract a course from this tract of land which was overgrown with furze but it developed into a challenging course renowned for its tight holes and tricky greens. By the late sixties the club and advances in equipment had outgrown the course and they engaged Eddie Hackett who managed to add an additional 520 yards of length and the project for the seventies was to implement the plan on a phased basis to increase length from 4,910 to 5,430 yards. Even during this period the idea of an eighteen-hole course was being floated and Hackett was again enlisted for his view on the potential of new land becoming available but he felt it would still need additional land and the idea was put on hold. At the same time the membership was capped at 350.

In 1991, the land to the south of Dunbur Glen Strand was acquired for £175k with projected development costs at £325k to be financed by a three year annual levy of £300 and an increase in membership of 170. The course was redesigned and extended to 18 holes by Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock and officially opened in 1994. Their design retained the difficulty factor, requiring accuracy with almost every shot. The new clubhouse was opened in 2002, providing a comfortable lounge bar and first-class restaurant facilities.