Golf in Ireland dates to at least the mid-19th century, with the Royal Curragh Golf Club (the first golf club in Ireland) being founded in 1858. [1] The two "oldest governing bodies in world golf", the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) and the Irish Ladies Golf Union (ILGU), were formed in 1891 and 1893 respectively. [2] [3] By 2008, the GUI had 166,419 members and the ILGU had 49,822 members, making them the third and seventh largest sports associations by membership base in Ireland. [4] Operating as separate (men's and ladies') unions for over 120 years, the two entities formed a combined organisation, Golf Ireland, which ratified its first board in early 2021. [2] [5]
As of the 21st century, golf is among the most-played sports in the country, with a 2008 report for the Irish Sports Council indicating that golf was then the fourth most popular sport by participation rate. [4] As of 2009, Ireland reportedly had the fourth most golf courses per capita in the world, [6] and a 2012 Fáilte Ireland report stated that overseas visitors to the country spent €183m on golfing activities. [7]
Golf in the modern world originated from a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland during the 15th century. The game later spread throughout the (then) British Empire, including to Ireland. [8] [9] While golf may have been played near Bray in County Wicklow during the 1760s, [9] the game in Ireland largely developed during the mid-19th century, when a number of courses were built. One of the oldest and most popular at this time was the Royal Curragh Golf Club, which was founded in 1858. [1]
The Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) was established in 1891, making it the oldest national golfing union in the world. [10] Based at Carton House, Maynooth, as of 2018, it represented 430 golf clubs and 170,000 members. [11]
The Irish Ladies' Golf Union (ILGU) was founded in 1893, just two years after the GUI, and is recognised as the "oldest Ladies Golf Union in the world". [3] Based at Sandyford in Dublin, as of 2008 the ILGU had almost 50,000 members. [4]
Following a consultation process which commenced in 2015, [12] and after separate votes by representatives of both the GUI and ILGU, [13] the two "oldest governing bodies in world golf" agreed to form a new joint governing organisation for golf in Ireland. [2] The new combined body, "Golf Ireland", held its first general meeting (and ratified its first board and association president) in February 2021. [14] [5]
The Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain and Ireland) was founded in 1901 and is based out of The Belfry, England. It was established to professionalise careers in golf and grow the golf community in Great Britain and Ireland. The Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) initially included 70 members, later growing to over 7,500. [15]
The Confederation of Golf in Ireland is an umbrella body, formed by the GUI, ILGU and the PGA, to "help advance the sport of golf on the island of Ireland". [16]
The Irish PGA Championship has been held annually at many of the nation's courses since its founding in 1907. It is the oldest tournament in Ireland. The Irish Open is a professional tournament established in 1927. It was revived in 1975 and is now on the European Tour and a qualifying event for the Open Championship. The Irish Amateur Open Championship is a 72-hole stroke play event established in 1892 by the Golfing Union of Ireland. It has been held at the Royal Dublin Golf Club since 2007. The Irish Senior Open is a 54-hole stroke play event in the European Seniors Tour. It was established in 1997. The Volopa Irish Challenge was established in 2015 and is a tournament on the Challenge Tour.
There are around 300 different courses on the island of Ireland. [17] Around the entire coast of Ireland are links-style golf courses, played on sandy soils with firm conditions, often with views of the sea while inland there is a wide variety of parkland courses more usually containing trees and water hazards.
There are a number of historic courses in Ireland, whether that be tournament hosting history such as Portmarnock in the Dublin region, which was home to fifteen Irish Opens or Royal Portrush in County Antrim, the only course in Ireland to have held The Open Championship. A number of other clubs and courses were established in the 19th century such as the Royal Curragh Golf Club in Kildare (1858) and Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare (1894).[ citation needed ] Below is a list of some of the notable courses in Ireland;
Pádraig Harrington was the first golfer from Ireland to win The Open Championship. Shane Lowry won The Open Championship 2019 at Royal Portrush. Other notable Irish golfers include: Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Alexander William Shaw (founder of Lahinch and Limerick golf clubs), Rhona Adair (who contributed to the first American book on golfing for women entitled Golf for Women in 1904), [19] Philomena Garvey (who won the British Ladies Amateur competition in 1957), [20] [21] and Paddy Skerritt (winner of the 1970 Alcan International). [22]
Other Irish golfers, to have won major amateur championships, professional tour competitions, or have competed for Ireland in the World Cup include:
Lahinch or Lehinch is a small town on Liscannor Bay, on the northwest coast of County Clare, Ireland. It lies on the N67 national secondary road, between Milltown Malbay and Ennistymon, roughly 75 kilometres (47 mi) by road southwest of Galway and 68 kilometres (42 mi) northwest of Limerick. The town is a seaside resort and is home to the Lahinch Golf Club. It has become a popular surfing location.
Sport in Ireland plays an important role in Irish society. The many sports played and followed in Ireland include Gaelic games, association football, horse racing, show jumping, greyhound racing, basketball, fishing, handball, motorsport, boxing, tennis, hockey, golf, rowing, cricket, and rugby union.
The following is a partial timeline of the history of golf.
Carton House is a country house and surrounding demesne that was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster for over 700 years. Located 23 km west of Dublin, in Maynooth, County Kildare, the Carton Demesne is a 1,100 acres estate, from an original estate of 70,000 acres. For two hundred years, the Carton Demesne was the finest example in Ireland of a Georgian-created parkland landscape. In the 2000s, much of the demesne was redeveloped into two golf courses and the house into a hotel complex.
The Women's Open is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour as a major. The reigning champion is Lilia Vu, who won at Walton Heath Golf Club in 2023.
The Irish Open, currently titled as the Horizon Irish Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the European Tour.
The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of the professional era in 1976, it was the most important golf tournament for women in Great Britain, and attracted players from continental Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. Along with the U.S. Women's Amateur, it is considered the highest honour in women's amateur golf.
Royal County Down Golf Club is a golf club in Northern Ireland, located in Newcastle, County Down. It opened on 23 March 1889 and is one of the oldest golf clubs in Ireland. It has two 18-hole links courses, the Championship Course and the Annesley Links.
Portstewart Golf Club consists of three 18-hole courses situated in the town of Portstewart, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Golf was first played there as far back as 1889.
The Portland Classic is a women's professional golf tournament in Oregon on the LPGA Tour. Founded 51 years ago in 1972, the annual event in the Portland area is the oldest continuous event on the LPGA Tour. Tournament Golf Foundation has owned the tournament since its beginning and also managed the Safeway International tournament on the LPGA Tour. It became a 72-hole event in 2013, after decades at 54 holes.
The Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) (Irish: Aontas Gailf na hÉireann (AGÉ)) was the governing body for men's and boy's amateur golf across the island of Ireland. Formed in 1891, the GUI was the first national golfing union to be established anywhere in the world, and operated separately from the (female) Irish Ladies Golf Union (ILGU) which was founded shortly afterwards in 1893. In 2018, the two "oldest governing bodies in world golf" agreed to amalgamate to form a new joint governing organisation, with this successor body, Golf Ireland, initially operating in a transitional capacity. The GUI ceased operations once Golf Ireland became fully operational on 1 January 2021 (holding its first general meeting in February 2021).
Patrick Joseph Skerritt was an Irish professional golfer.
Portmarnock Golf Club is a links golf club in Portmarnock, County Dublin, Ireland, located close to Dublin Airport.
Portmarnock is a coastal suburban settlement in Fingal, Ireland, with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. As of 2022, the population was 10,750, an increase of 13.5% on the Census 2016 figure of 9,466.
Anna Maria Nordqvist is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. She has won three major championships: the 2009 LPGA Championship, the 2017 Evian Championship, and the 2021 Women's British Open. She is the only non-American woman to have won major championships in three different decades.
Charley Esmee Hull is an English professional golfer who has achieved success both on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour, winning honours as Rookie of the Year, becoming the youngest competitor to participate in the international Solheim Cup matches and becoming a champion on the European circuit in 2014 before the age of 18. In 2016, she won the prestigious CME Group Tour Championship, the season-ending event of the LPGA Tour.
Ballyliffin Golf Club is a golf club located in Ballyliffin, County Donegal, Ireland.
Christopher Greene was an Irish professional golfer. He twice won the Irish PGA Championship and represented Ireland in the 1965 Canada Cup. His biggest individual success came when winning the 1965 Hennessy Tournament at Clandeboye Golf Club, County Down.
Arabella Jeanette Charlotte Violet Mowbray "Janet" Jackson was an Irish golfer, winner of the Irish Ladies' Amateur Close Championship in 1913, 1914, 1919, 1920, 1923 and 1925.
The ten most popular sports in 2008 are: swimming, personal exercise, soccer, golf [..] participation rates for the ten most popular sports are given in Figure 2.2
Except for a brief period in the early stages of the match which stood 1 down, Miss Gladys Ravenscroft, of England, former British title holder, always had the upper hand throughout the final round against Miss Marion Hollins, of Westbrook, L.I., in the woman's national golf championship on the links of the Wilmington Country Club to-day.
The next big event in the golfing world starts tomorrow when the women's national championship will be staged at the Wilmington Country Club, Wilmington, Del., and finish Saturday, October 18. A prize will be given to the winner making the lowest score in the qualifying round, and ... Miss Mary Harrison. Ex-Champion Golf Player of Ireland. ...