ENNISCORTHY’S 110-YEAR GOLFING JOURNEY
Pristine parkland course is testament to impressive collective effort down through the years.
IRISH golf is blessed with many storied venues, but while Enniscorthy’s name is writ large in Irish history for the men and women of the 1798 rebellion and the battle of Vinegar Hill, its golf club has risen from modest beginnings to become one of the great triumphs of collective spirit.
Founded in 1907, its beginnings were so humble that an early description of the course in the Irish Field in 1913 would have been the marketing man’s nightmare: “Most unsuitable and play only from December to April” was the thrust of the write up of a course that was used as farmland during the other seven months of the year.
Today, Enniscorthy golfers enjoy a pristine, 18-hole parkland course not far from the original fields where they first planted a flag and started swinging away.
And over the past century, they have learned to swing those clubs very well, winning the Provincial Towns Cup and FBD Barton Cup in the space of a fortnight this year to become the first club since Dundalk in 1961 to do that famous double.
It was a major achievement for a club that will never find itself on any lists alongside Pine Valley, Augusta National or Royal County Down but instead prides itself on its club spirit, its camaraderie and great natural beauty.
Set in the foothills of the Blackstairs Mountains, overlooking the town towards historic Vinegar Hill, Enniscorthy Golf Club is renowned for its warm welcome.
But don’t be fooled by the course’s absence from any lists of great championship layouts. This is a test that can jump up and bite the very best while also offering the ordinary mortals of the world some hope that they can play the game.
It’s no surprise to learn that some of Irish golf’s most influential architects had a hand in its creation — from WC Pikeman of Portmarnock fame to Eddie Hackett, Pat Ruddy and Jeff Howes.
“I was thrilled to be invited to do a little work on the Enniscorthy course as I had enjoyed many happy hours there since the early 1960s when I took to the roads of Ireland with my golf clubs and portable typewriter as a sort of rambling golf explorer and recorder,” the inimitable Ruddy reported from The European Club this week.
“The course was a lovely nine-holer back then with an entrance off the New Ross Road, the current seventeenth hole was the first hole in those days, and it was impossible not to pop in for a chat and a few holes whenever travelling to the great venues of Waterford and Tramore.
“The welcome was always perfect in the clubhouse in the trees as it was during my working visits to discuss plans with sweet-swinging and sweet-talking Michael Dee and it was so nice to pop into the pro shop and have good chats with former Irish champion Martin Sludds.
“The golf course is not Augusta. But it provides the same pleasures and better views with great vistas of the Blackstairs Mountains and it is challenge enough for anyone while giving hope for good things.”
Enniscorthy is a nature lover’s dream venue, teeming with wildlife all year round.
A kestrel patrols its skies by day and a barn owl can be seen at night while migratory birds can be spotted regularly on their travels - happily mixing with the local jackdaws, ravens, magpies, pheasant, thrushes, blackbirds, sparrows, robins, wrens, woodpigeons, wagtails, yellowhammers, finches, linnets and snipe.
Few seasons in its 110-year history have been as memorable as this one as the club followed that maiden Provincial Towns Cup win with a third Barton Cup to go with previous wins in 2008 and 2011.
Their golfing pedigree is a compliment to the course, which is a far cry from the rudimentary holes that did so little to impress the Irish Field in 1913.
Following those modest early years, the club moved a mile to its present location, then part of the Farmer Estate, where a nine-hole layout was designed by Pickeman in 1916.
Up to 1970, the land was leased from the farmer Estate. But the purchase of the new terrain allowed the club to tackle drainage and irrigation problems and make huge strides towards becoming the 6,104-yard, par-72 test that’s loved today.
Following the relocation of the clubhouse to a new, two-storey building in 1976, the next major change came in 1982 when the club purchased land that would allow the members extend their course to 18 holes.
A decision was made at the 1987 A.G.M to call in Hackett to draw up the plans and the project proceeded under the stewardship of the late Jim Whitney, who is remembered in the club as “a man of great vision, persistence and stamina.”
Sadly, he passed away in June
1988 but Ted Morrissey took up the challenge and the 18-hole course was played for the first time in 1989.
Not only did the members provide labour and machinery to get the job done but more than 60 club stalwarts planted some 1,500 trees to give the course its definition and shape.
The result was a major increase in club membership and over the years, the course has undergone more nips and tucks
Hackett and Ruddy carried out essential work and in 2005, additional land was purchased and two new holes were built by Canadian-born Jeff Howes — the par three 12th and a par four 13th.
Today, the course is in pristine condition all year round thanks to the efforts of its greenkeeper PJ Dempsey, who took over from Dick Johnston in 1996 and has now been at the club for 30 years.
The 1995 appointment of two-time Irish PGA winner Martin Sludds as professional — the first man to hold the post for 50 years — was another major milestone and as a result, the standard of play increased dramatically.
The club won the Irish Mixed Foursomes title in 2006 — just one of many success to come to the club thanks to it vibrant women’s section. Current professional Stephen Fitzpatrick took over in 2007, and he has built a fine reputation as a coach, especially in Junior golf and the ladies “Get Into Golf” scheme.
As result, there have been many Enniscorthy successes on the course.
While the club won its first All Ireland title, the Irish Junior Foursomes at Birr in 1988, it has added to its list of success since then by following that All Ireland Mixed win of 2006 by double success in the centenary year of 2007, when the ladies won the Irish Junior Foursomes and the Intermediate Cup before adding the AIG All Ireland Ladies Junior Cup in 2010 and 2015.
A members club with a warm embrace for all, Enniscorthy now offers something for everyone with an Open Seniors attracting an average entry of 150 every month, an important Special Olympics movement and 80 juniors competing every Wednesday.
It’s come a long way since those early winter golfers took over from the cows and sheep and is now a golfing playground for all — a real members club in a splendid setting.