Douglas Golf Club: Centenary History 1909 – 2009

Douglas Golf Club, located on the fringe of Cork City, was founded in 1909. The original course was designed by the legendary six-time British Open Champion, Harry Vardon, along with Club Professional John McNamara. The course was later extended and re-modelled by the renowned course architect, Alister MacKenzie, in 1924. Major Charles MacKenzie, Alister’s brother, of the British Golf Course Construction Company carried out the construction work.

MacKenzie has so altered the confirmation of the ground about the greens in Douglas as to give the whole course a very pleasing appearance… it bears at every turn the impress of his golfing genius. The ‘Irish Field’ – 1 May 1926

Sporting Concepts Ltd. were engaged in the nineties as all holes underwent alterations with 18 new, large sand-based greens, as well as new tees and bunkers. In 2005 Jeff Howes was selected for further modifications to maximise the length of the course and this involved removing twenty eight bunkers and re-modelling existing bunkers.

Douglas Golf Club is known for its challenging yet enjoyable golf course. The course is set on a plateau overlooking Cork City and Harbour providing specular views on the 115 acre woodland. The course has a par of 70 and a total length of 6089 meters.

In 2007 the property developers had honed in on this elevated site on Marlborough Hill and the membership had voted to sell their land and relocate to Ballinrea on the Carrigaline Road. The property deal was estimated at €150m and included a non-refundable payment of €5m which remained in the club’s coffers once the property crash happened soon afterwards and the deal never progressed. The windfall went to further develop the existing facilities, a six-hole short game course designed by Jeff Howes and a refurbished clubhouse.

The Douglas Golf Club has had over the past 5-10 years an much envied junior program which has spawned some of the most talented golfers in the country under the watchful eye of John McHenry, the Director of Golf. The new facilities and players like Peter O’Keeffe and Karl Bornemann probably brought their experience to bear as a growing stable of successful golfers like Sara Byrne, Jack Murphy, Sean Deasy, James Walsh and Justin Dennehy appear on the scene. The club hosted the European Senior Men’s and Ladies’ Championship in 2023 and the Irish Senior Men’s Amateur Open Championship in 2022 together with a U16 International Match (Boys and Girls) in 2021.