Ashbourne

Located a short 30-minute drive northwest of Dublin city centre, Ashbourne Golf Club was founded in 1991, with a Declan-Branigan-designed golf course opening for play three years after the club’s formation. Des Smyth, who co-designed the layout with the architect, was on hand to officially open the course in June 1994.

“You are in open, undulating countryside and there are not many natural features to get your teeth into,” writes Kevin Markham in the book Hooked: an amateur’s guide to the golf courses of Ireland. The author continues: “as a result there is a lot of mounding that defines fairways and greens and a heavy reliance on Broadmeadow River.”

Occupying a compact 115-acre property, the layout measures 5,856 metres from the back markers, playing to a par of 71, with holes arranged in two returning loops of nine. Highlight holes include the short par four 4th, the tough par four 8th and the last of the five par threes on the card at the 151-metre 16th.