Today's golf was at The Island. One of the most underrated courses we have played so far. Dramatic tall dunes frame the holes beautifully, and the layout is magnificent.
This is the view from behind the par four 1st hole.
The story behind the inception of this club is quite interesting. In September 1887 four men rowed across the channel which separates the North Dublin village of Malahide from the spur of land to the north known locally as the Island. Their mission was to survey the wilderness and assess its suitably as a golf links.
The ten founder members, known as the “Syndicate”, only permitted others to join the club on an annual basis as annual ticket holders. Most of the members of the “Syndicate” were already members of The Royal Dublin Golf Club which was founded in 1885. However, The Royal Dublin Golf Club forbade golf on Sundays and this rule was not to the liking of members of the “Syndicate”.
Coralie Cazaly hitting her approach shot into the par four 6th hole.
Once the “Syndicate” had negotiated a lease of the land with the Cobbe Estate, a local landowner was engaged to mow the fairways and greens with a scythe in preparation for a mowing machine. The early course, comprising eighteen individual holes, was laid out generously in terms of land as the founder members, precluded from any serious earth-moving, followed the valleys between the sand hills.
Access to The Island was by row boat from Malahide. The clubhouse was located near the estuary, where the current 14th tee is now located. The old clubhouse was removed in 1973, when the rowboat access was discontinued, and the new clubhouse was built closer to the road access from the north.
Grant Nicholson on one of the dunes to the right of the green on the short par four 8th hole.
The view from behind the green on the 8th hole.
The long par three 13th hole, with the estuary on the right side.
The stone carving here on the 13th tee depicts the syndicate members rowing across to The Island. This is the site of the original clubhouse. You can see the "Grand Hotel" in Malahide across the estuary. This was our hotel for the past 2 nights, and was the area from which the golfers would depart to access the course. No, we didn't row across.
These are the steps of the original clubhouse. This is now the 14th tee. A short par four, that was once a par three. It now boasts the narrowest fairway in Ireland. At it's widest it is only 13 metres wide! Thick rough to the left, and an estuary to the right. No pressure!
This was no problem for Christine Cookes. Christine is shown here playing her second shot from the fairway on 14.
The view from the tee on the par five 15th.
And the stunning aspect you get from the top on the massive dune behind the green.
Heading back to the clubhouse, looking down the fairway of the par four 18th hole. Again we were very lucky with the weather. The forecast showed a 90% chance of rain for the duration of our game. We got one really heavy downpour on the 10th, and that was all. Incredible.
Katryna Economou was the best performer today, scoring a brilliant 38 points.
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