a — Golfing Gems on the Emerald Isle —

Portmarnock Golf Club
Portmarnock, County Dublin, Ireland

photos courtesy Portmarnock G.C.

        Rated #24 in the world outside of the USA by GolfDigest.com, Portmarnock follows only Royal County Down, Ballybunion Old Course, Lahinch Old Course, and Royal Portrush Dunluce on the magazine’s list of top courses in Ireland. The peninsular course is a traditional seaside links with a long and mostly positive history. The jury remains out on whether that history becomes stained in 2003.
        Finding itself mired in a remarkably similar controversy to that of Augusta National Golf Club in the U.S., Portmarnock is a private club that not open to women members—unless the President of Ireland be female, which, ironically, current Irish President Mary McAleese is. And, like Augusta and the Masters Tournament, Portmarnock is under attack over its hosting a major golf tourneys but excluding women from its membership.
        Controversy aside, Portmarnock has earned its reputation as a great place to play golf. Now boasting 27 holes, it was first developed in 1894. Within two years of the opening of the original 18-hole course, Portmarnock hosted the Irish Open Amateur Championship.    The course has also hosted the Walker Cup.
        Portmarnock’s scenic peninsular course is surrounded by water on three sides with expansive coastal views everywhere. The course has been designed such that no two successive holes play in the same direction. Wind direction, therefore, is frequently a major factor here, presenting a different challenge on every hole.

Length & Par: 
    Championship Tees: 7283 yards, Par 72, SSS: 74
    Middle Tees:           6902 yards, Par 72, SSS: 72
    Forward Tees:         6675 yards, Par 72, SSS: 71

FACILITIES:
    Clubhouse with Bar and Lounge
    Pro Shop
    Practice Green and Driving Range
    Equipment Hire:
        Clubs
        Shoes
        Trolleys (pull carts)
    Caddies available

Open & Playable Year Round

Visitors Tee Times Available:
    (apply to holes 1-18only)
    April–October:
            Mo, Tu, Th, Fr:
        Singles/2 Balls: 8–8.30AM
        3 Balls/4 Balls: 9–10.30AM & 2:30–4PM
            Saturdays:
        3 Balls/4 Balls: 3:30–4:30PM
          Sundays & Bank Holidays:
        3 Balls/4 Balls: 2:30–4PM
    November—March:
            Mo, Tu, Th, Fr:
        Singles/2 Balls: 8–8.30AM
        3 Balls/4 Balls: 9–10.30AM & 1:30–2:30PM
       Sundays & Bank Holidays: All day

GREEN FEES:
   €165.00/person per round - Mo–Fr
   €190.00/person per round - Weekends & Public Holidays.

Bookings: Tel (from the USA): +353 (0)1 846 2968
                Fax (from the USA): +353 (0)1 846 2601
                e-mail: liz@portmarnockgolfclub.ie

Web Site: www.portmarnockgolfclub.ie/

BOOKING A TEE TIME: Tee times may be reserved with the submission of a completed booking form with a non refundable deposit of 50%. Cancellations must be made writing.

PAYMENT: Credit cards or checks are acceptable.

Course Location: south of Portmarnock on a private road.

GETTING TO THE COURSE:
        Directions from Central Ireland or the Dublin Airport: take the M50 motorway northbound. Follow signs first for Malahide and Portmarnock, then to Portmarnock. Follow the sign for the golf club to the right in the village.
        Directions from Dublin city: take the Coast Road to Baldoyle and travel on to Portmarnock. Take a right at Statoil service station and continue 1 mile up the private road.

Nearest Home at First lodgings: in County Tipperary, Central Ireland, approximately 3 hours southwest of Portmarnock.
More information about HOME AT FIRST's central ireland travel program.

HISTORY OF PORTMARNOCK GOLF CLUB: Christmas Eve of 1893 a Scottish Insurance broker named W.C. Pickeman and his friend George Ross rowed over from the Irish mainland to the peninsula of Portmarnock to scout out the land as a possible golf links and liked what they found.
        Portmarnock peninsula is about two miles long and covers some 500 acres of ideal links land: low sand dunes, small green hollows and long valleys. It had been used for golf as early as 1858 by the Scottish Jameson family of distillers who lived nearby. Their private golf course counts as one of the earliest in Ireland.
        Pickeman and the Jamesons agreed to form a new golf club and nine holes opened for play on Stephen’s Day 1894. Early on Portmarnock could only be reached by boat and the bell that signaled the last boat of the day still hangs at the caddie master's pavilion near the first tee. The course grew from the original nine holes to eighteen holes two years later, and added nine more in 1971. The original course design was by committee with Pickeman the guiding spirit. (He went on to design 27 Irish courses.) British architect Fred Hawtree designed the third nine extra holes in 1971. The original 18 holes continue to be used for championships like the Irish Open.
        Over the last 100+ years Portmarnock has hosted some great golf events: the British Amateur in 1949, the Canada Cup in 1960, the 1991 Walker Cup and 18 Irish Opens. 1960’s Canada Cup gave young Arnold Palmer his first real links golf experience when he and partner Sam Snead captured the trophy for the U.S.

THE COURSE AND SOME NOTABLE HOLES: Tom Watson—who admittedly is a fan of Irish links golf—has said of Portmarnock: "There are no tricks or nasty surprises, only an honest test of shot making skills."
        So venerated is Portmarnock’s original 18 that Britain’s great golf writer, Bernard Darwin, concluded, "I know of no greater finish in the world than that of the last five holes at Portmarnock…"
        Golfers Henry Cotton, Arnold Palmer, and Ben Crenshaw support Darwin’s conclusion. Cotton rates the 385-yard par-4 14^th at Portmarnock the best hole in golf. Arnie calls the 15^th the best par-3 in golf, and Crenshaw called the same 192-yard 15^th "the shortest par-5 in the world" when windy. Portmarnock’s longtime pro, Harry Bradshaw, thought the 407-yard par-4 5^th hole tops on the course.

THE REGION: Although Portmarnock Golf Club is within extreme reach (3 hours) of Home at First’s cottages in Central Ireland, we recommend combining a golf outing there with time in Ireland’s most exciting place, Dublin.
        Dublin city center is but 10 miles from Portmarnock’s exclusive club house. With 25% of Ireland’s population, Dublin is more than a major city—it is the center of the Irish universe in all ways except the traditional rural beauty and ways of life of the Irish countryside. In this regard, Dublin is the heart, but no the soul, of Ireland. In Dublin you will find the widest variety of activities, restaurants, entertainment, and distractions available in Ireland, including the country’s best shopping, its greatest monuments of political history, its finest culture (including museums, universities and libraries), and its biggest brewery.
        Read more about the region and Home at First’s travel program to County Cork here: central ireland.                        HOME AT FIRST photo

Want to learn about other courses throughout the British Isles
including some of the greatest tests of golf in the world?
See our SCOTLAND, IRELAND, ENGLAND, and WALES Course Guides for more information.