Sand, Seas & Sunsets: One Hundred Years of Enniscrone Golf Club

Enniscrone Golf Club was founded in 1918 by a group of local golf enthusiasts but there is little by way of records until the thirties and may have to do with having no permanent home, being played at Kilcullen’s Field and Scurmore, during this period. The maintenance of the nine-hole course was down to voluntary work and grazing livestock. In 1938 the nine-hole course was redesigned by Thomas McGrath, the professional at Ballina G.C. and the course would remain that way until 1974. A clubhouse in 1947 at a cost of £400 was another milestone and paid for by a loan from the Provincial Bank on foot of members acting as guarantors.

The membership new there was a massive dunescape beside the existing golf course that would be ideal but it was a question of know-how and resources to extend the course to 18-holes. Hackett visited the site on 12 March 1970 and spent four days carrying out a preliminary review of the 400 acre property where they had secured a 25 year lease. Only 5 holes would remain of the existing course. A over-subscribed debenture was used to fund the project as local businesses could see the future benefits of such a facility. Inexplicably the club didn’t receive much state funding unlike similar projects. The new 18-hole course and clubhouse was officially opened on the 4 August 1974. Hackett would propose further improvements in 1977. In the eighties and beyond the club began to thrive with an influx of societies and tourists. Further improvements saw the tenth being redesigned by Eddie Connaughton and subsequently Pat Ruddy. It was obvious that some of the higher dunes needed to be exploited as there were weak holes on the course. It was Donald Steel and Martin Ebert who designed six new holes with the former stating that “in terms of scale, they weren’t the Alps or the Apennines they were the Himalayas”. They eked out a passageway through the dunes which wouldn’t compromise their structure. It would take five years to get the final permissions needed from the parties involved including Sligo County Council and SOL Golf Construction would carry out the work. SOL employed hydro-seeding for its high germination rate. The club now had 27-holes when the new routing and additional holes were completed and resulted in the 18-hole Dunes course and the nine-hole Scurmore course.

Promotional strategies like the ‘West Coast Four’ (Connemara, Westport and County Sligo) mimicked the SWING initiative in Kerry. The club has hosted the Men’s and Women’s Irish Close Championships and stepped in to host the West of Ireland Championships (1997-1999). Notable golfers have included David Shiel, Sarah Helly and Iain Hall.