Edmondstown Golf Club Golden Jubilee Year 1944-1994

Edmondstown Golf Club was founded in 1944. The club was established by the Dublin Maccabean Golfing Society, who purchased an old dairy farm in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains. The Maccabean had been formed in 1933 and was growing rapidly and were playing their weekly golf at different venues who were generally amenable to golf societies and jews. This nomadic existence together with fuel shortages and rationing during WWII precipitated the idea for a club that would mitigate these issues. Although other locations had been viewed it was not until a dairy farm, owned by the Harisson family, came up for sale at the foot of the Dublin Mountains that they knew this was home. The purchase cost was funded by the issue of debentures to the members. Initially a 9-hole course was designed on 52 acres by John McAllister, the Sottish professional at Portmarnock. it expanded to 18 holes in 1959 after acquiring additional land and further improvements were made in the early seventies by Jack Bloom, the course convenor.

During the eighties the club had considered moving based on proposals for a course neighbouring Carrickmines Golf Club (1979) and another for a land swap presented by Noel Smyth on behalf of developers and the building of a new course at Old Conna in 1982. Neither of the proposals reached final agreement and the club stayed where it was. In 2007 McNamara Group offered a land swap deal with relatively mountainous terrain near Kilmashogue but this never saw the light of day.

As a result of the protracted negotiations with the County Council over the Sourthern Cross Motorway, and the eventual decision in binding arbitration, meant that additional land was needed to replace lands taken under CPO, this they got from purchase of Edmondstown Park land. The course was redesigned by Peter McEvoy and Craig Cook, with significant alterations made in 2002, bringing it up to USPGA standards. The new bent grass greens were quickly proving troublesome as the native meadow grasses were attacking the surfaces and they reverted to poa annua where it took two years to bed in properly.

The club is a member-owned organization, governed by an elected committee and supported by a broad spectrum of members from various walks of life. Over the years, Edmondstown Golf Club has undergone several property deals, including the acquisition of additional land to expand the course and the construction of a new clubhouse and professional shop. In the 1950s the groundsmen uncoverered a Bronze Age burial site on the course and recovered a number of artefacts.

In 1953 Danny Kaye, who was playing at the Theatre Royal, visited the course to everyones surprise. The club hosted the RTV Tournament in 1967, an international matchplay event, which saw six professionals from the home countries (Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales) compete. The most current notable players at the club all belong to the same family, Anna, Liam and Thomas Abom and prior to that there were others like Joe Bryan and Mark Bloom who were no slouches at the royal and ancient game.