Lahinch Old

Golf has been played at Lahinch since 1892 when officers of a Scottish Army Regiment based at nearby Limerick, happened upon the vast expanse of sand dunes that is Lahinch Golf Club. Of interest to golf historians is that the course was originally designed by the legendary Old Tom Morris of St. Andrews, who enthused that, “I consider the links as fine a natural course as it has ever been my good fortune to play over”. In 1928 the layout was revised by Dr. Alastair McKenzie who was so impressed that he declared, “Lahinch will make the finest and most popular course that I or anyone else ever constructed”. Praise indeed from the man also responsible for Pebble Beach, Cypress Point and Augusta National.

Lahinch Golf Club is famed also for some of its idiosyncrasies including the weather forecasting goats who will graze out on the dunes in fine weather but will seek the shade of the clubhouse when they sense rain approaching. Then there is the famous par five Klondyke, 4th hole when a completely blind second shot has to hit over a monstrous sand dune some 200 yards from the green. The par three Dell, 5th hole features a completely blind green, the golfer being guided by a white rock on the sand dune in front of the green. A redevelopment program recently completed under the direction of Martin Hawtree has seen the reconstruction of many McKenzie features most notably contouring of greens, enhancement of layout of several holes and construction of two gems of par 3’s. The program has resulted in a course that is now surely one of the best links in the world.