hISTORY
Golf has been played in Dundalk since 1893 when a nine hole course was laid out at Deer Park on the Carrickmacross Road by Captain McLaren and P.L. McArdle. The first Golf Club in the area was established at this time and among its 47 members was Major Robert Baden Powell, then stationed at Dundalk Military Barracks, who was later to become famous as the founder of the Boy Scouts movement.
The departure of the 13th Hussars from Dundalk to Dublin in 1897 led to the demise of the club and there was no golf club in the town until a group of people came together in December 1904 to revive golf at Deer Park and form a new Golf Club. The course opened for play at 11am on St Stephen’s Day, December 26, 1904, when the captain, Vincent S Carroll, teed the first ball in the presence of over 50 members and got his drive away.
The club affiliated to the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1905 and remained at Deer Park until 1922 when the decision was taken to lease a portion of Mrs Whitworth’s land near Blackrock because the club did not have access to the land at Deer Park from May to September as the landowner required it for grazing.
Once established in Blackrock, and with golf now available all year round, Dundalk Golf Club blossomed into one of the top clubs in Ireland and its strategic location halfway between Dublin and Belfast, coupled with its challenging course, quickly made it a regular venue for both professional and amateur championship events.
The original layout was altered following an inspection by James Braid in 1934. Braid, who won five British Open Championships as a player, was a renowned golf architect who was involved in the design or alteration of over 400 courses across the world.
Those changes remained in place until 1980 when a new layout, designed by the legendary golfer and television commentator Peter Allis, was introduced.
The club celebrated its centenary in 2005 and marked the occasion with the publication of a history of the club, the revamping of the clubhouse and practice area, a gala dinner and the hosting of the Ladies Home Internationals.
The Club won its first, and only, national pennant in 2004 when it took the Jimmy Bruen Shield at the All-Ireland Cups and Shields Finals in Shannon. However, it has won many provincial and regional titles during the course of its 119 year history.
Players from the Club have also many individual national and provincial titles at all levels with the highlights being the championship successes of elite players Caolan Rafferty (South of Ireland 2018 and West of Ireland 2019), Yvonne Cassidy (Irish Ladies Open Strokeplay 1997) and Mick Ferguson (East of Ireland 1949). Rafferty also became the first player from Dundalk to play in the Walker Cup when he played in the 2019 match at Royal Liverpool.
Players from the Club have also many individual national and provincial titles at all levels with the highlights being the championship successes of elite players Caolan Rafferty (South of Ireland 2018 and West of Ireland 2019), Yvonne Cassidy (Irish Ladies Open Strokeplay 1997) and Mick Ferguson (East of Ireland 1949). Rafferty also became the first player from Dundalk to play in the Walker Cup when he played in the 2019 match at Royal Liverpool.