Dunfanaghy Golf Club 1906-2006 – Celebrating 100 years of Golf in Dunfanaghy

Dunfanaghy Golf Club was founded in 1906. The club has a rich history dating back to the early 1740s when a founder member of the Royal and Ancient Golfing Society, Mr. Stewart, is said to have laid out a 6-hole course among the sand dunes. The earliest recorded evidence of golf being played in Dunfanaghy dates back to 1886 when it was played in connection with the links owned by the Stewart Arms Hotel. The itself wasn’t officially formed until 11 July 1906 at a meeting to the town’s Courthouse.

The course was designed by Harry Vardon, a six-time winner of the British Open and has remained relatively unchanged since his design. In the mid-seventies a major drainage programme which involved digged a new ditch was carried out to resolve the flooding. The course is an 18-hole links course with a par of 69 and a length of 5307 meters from the white tees. Dunfanaghy Golf Club offers a true links golfing experience with spectacular coastal scenery on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way and it is a members-only club, owned and operated by its members. McGinley Golf Design have initiated their Sheephaven Bay Project to redesign the course increasing the par to 71 and opening up the views from the golf course across the Wild Atlantic Way.

The McGinley family were notable players at the club but the stand out was Paul McGinley, the 2014 Ryder Cup Captain who learned to play golf on the fairways of Dunfanaghy and remains a regular visitor and supporter of the club. In 2025 he officially opened the €150k McGinley Golf Academy. Ciaran McMonagle the 1999 Irish Amateur Close Champion was another notable member of the club.