Full steam ahead at beautiful Bray
Club hasn’t looked back since finding happy ‘new’ home.
They say moving home is even more stressful than a slippery three-footer for the captain’s prize. But if you ask that happy family they call Bray Golf Club what they’ve made of their move from familiar terrain to bright new horizons, nostalgia is quickly washed away by exciting thoughts of great days to come.
Leaving its much-loved, nine-hole stomping ground at Ravenswell in the town and making the two-mile journey due south to set up home at Ballynamuddagh, just off the Greystones Road near spectacular Bray Head, was a significant milestone in the history of a club founded in 1897.
It’s a club steeped in Irish golfing history but also very much a members club with a sharp focus on family and junior golf.
In short, the journey to pastures new has been a hugely positive one for all for the Bray pioneers.
“The ethos of Bray Golf is openness and friendliness,” club President Eamon Geraghty said this week. “We have some 850 members, but we provide golf to north Wicklow and south county Dublin in an available way with lots of open competitions and room for more people to join us.”
It’s been six years since Bray claimed the Cullen Trophy and the Powerscourt Cup and 22 years since the great Keith Nolan played Walker Cup at Quaker Ridge and went on to win his PGA Tour card.
Nolan looks back on those early days as some of the happiest of his life but there’s now a new generation of young guns looking to follow in his footsteps, and with the dynamic and popular PGA professional Dara Lernihan guiding the way and a new short game area in the pipeline, the future looks bright
“We are fortunate to have Michael McCormack as our Head of Operations and very lucky indeed to have someone like Dara Lernihan as professional — an outstanding coach with a great personality who pushes everyone along and creates a lovely atmosphere,” added President Geraghty with a smile.
“We were thrilled that Shane Lowry came along last year to open our new Indoor Academy, which is not only great entertainment for the members, it allows Dara to give lessons and help fit golfers for clubs.
“He’s been pushing for us to improve our short game facilities and we are in the process of doing that now.
“We also have a great team of volunteers and committee people such as captain Jim Dowling and Lady Captain Pamela Quinlan — two strong leaders who love their golf and are passionate about winning a pennant this year. So we have our fingers crossed that we can give it a real go.”
Thanks to a Sports Capital grant of almost €85,000, Bray plans to make the par-three
fourth hole its new short game practice area and build a new par-three that will enhance the already impressive course designed by Declan Branigan and Ryder Cup player Des Smyth.
“We are in the middle of a planning process and commission re(Golf ) to design and manage the project,” added Eamon, who is looking forward to tackling the new hole at the top of the golf course, which will remove the most significant climb and even bring water into play.
Bray is in the fortunate position that it is debt-free and with the “new” course maturing, the members are keen now to add some new pennants to the club collection
“We moved in 2003, and the course has now matured very well,” the President added. “And with the help of Julian Mooney, our agronomist, and an excellent greenkeeping team under John Bishop, reporting to Gerry Kennedy, we are very pleased.
“Like all courses, it takes 10 to 12 years to mature and settle down, but we have to say we are very happy here.”
The new course offers incredible views of Dublin Bay, Killiney, the Wicklow Mountains and beyond but despite its lofty perch, its terraced design makes it a pleasant walk for golfers of all ages — a place to drink in that refreshing sea breeze without running out of puff as you make your way around.
The old nine-hole course remained largely unchanged for 90 years and still lives on in the hearts of the older members, but they also had the foresight to realise back in the early 1990s that with little room for expansion, a new start was needed.
The members overwhelmingly accepted the proposal to move in 1998, and while the planning process was a long and painful one, the upheaval has proved more than worthwhile.
With the likes of Darragh Rochford and Kate O’Hart excelling among the club’s 187-strong junior membership, there’s a significant focus on youth and family golf now.
“We have a long and rich history, but we are looking to the future now,” the President added. “While a golf club is a business and we treat it as such, it’s also a big family.”
Don’t say you haven’t been invited. The welcome mat is out.