Club information | |
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Location in Ireland | |
Coordinates | 53°18′25″N6°37′30″W / 53.307°N 6.625°W |
Location | Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland |
Established | 1991, 33 years ago |
Type | Private |
Owned by | ROL Group Ltd |
Total holes | 36 |
Events hosted | Ryder Cup – (2006) European Open (1995-2007) Irish Open – (2016) and 2023. |
Website | www |
Palmer North Course | |
Designed by | Arnold Palmer |
Par | 72 |
Length | 7,350 yards (6,721 m) |
Palmer South Course | |
Designed by | Arnold Palmer |
Par | 72 |
Length | 7,277 yards (6,654 m) |
Part of the clubhouse in 2012 |
The K Club | |
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Restaurant information | |
Established | 1991 |
Rating | Michelin Guide (1993-1994) |
City | Straffan |
Country | Ireland |
The Kildare Hotel and Golf Club (abbreviated The K Club) is a golf and leisure complex located in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland. It is built on the original grounds of the Straffan estate, incorporating the 1830s Straffan House, and was previously owned by Michael Smurfit. [1]
In 1831, Hugh Barton of the wine firm Barton and Guestier bought land at Straffan and nearby Barberstown Castle from the Henry family and had Straffan House built whilst he and his wife stayed at Barberstown. Completed in 1832, the design was based on a French chateau, with the later addition of a bell-tower, and now forms the east wing of the present complex. From Hugh the property passed, via his eldest son Nathaniel, to his eldest son Hugh Lynedoch, after which it passed to Hugh Lynedoch's brother, Bertram Francis. All served in turn as High Sheriff of Kildare. The estate remained in the Barton family until 1949, when Derick Barton was forced to sell the property to manufacturer John Ellis. [2]
Following a succession of different owners, including film producer Kevin McClory, property developer Patrick Gallagher and property magnate Alan Ferguson, the house was purchased in 1988 by the Jefferson Smurfit Group and transformed into the K Club, which opened three years later. Gannon and Smurfit privately purchased the K Club in 2005, following the sale of Jefferson Smurfit to Madison Dearborn Partners and its subsequent merger with Kappa Packaging. [3] In 2012, Michael Smurfit bought the 49% stake Gerry Gannon had owned from NAMA for €40 million. [4]
The Barton Restaurant is a quality restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star both in 1993 and 1994. [5] The star was earned by head chef Michel Flamme. [6] [7]
The hotel complex also contains two golf courses, both designed by Arnold Palmer. The Palmer North Course was the venue for the Ryder Cup in 2006, the first time the event had been staged in Ireland. The course also hosted the Smurfit European Open on the European Tour from 1995 to 2003 and again in 2005, with that tournament being played on the resort's "inland links" Palmer South Course in 2004, 2006, and 2007. The Palmer North Course hosted the Irish Open in 2016, won by Rory McIlroy.[ citation needed ]
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, which had a population of 246,977 at the 2022 census.
Straffan is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, situated on the banks of the River Liffey, 25 km upstream of the Irish capital Dublin. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 853, a nearly two-fold increase since the 2006 census.
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.
Celtic Manor Resort is a golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the city of Newport, South East Wales. Owned by Sir Terry Matthews, the resort is located on the south-facing side of Christchurch Hill in eastern Newport, near Junction 24 of the M4 motorway. The golf courses run over the north-facing side of Christchurch Hill down into the Vale of Usk, overlooking the Wentwood escarpment. The resort's area is circa 2,000 acres (810 ha).
Ardclough, officially Ardclogh, is a village and community in the parish of Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. It is two miles (3 km) off the N7 national primary road. It is the burial place and probable birthplace of Arthur Guinness, who is said to have returned to the maternal homestead of the Reads at Huttonread to give birth in the tradition of the time.
Straffan Gaelic Football Club is a Gaelic football club in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland.
The 36th Ryder Cup Matches were held 22–24 September 2006 in Ireland at the Palmer Course of the K Club in Straffan, County Kildare, west of Dublin. It was the first time the event was played in Ireland.
Sir Michael Smurfit, KBE, is an English-born Irish businessman. In the "2010 Irish Independent Rich List" he was listed at 25th with a €368 million personal fortune.
Adare Manor is a manor house located on the banks of the River Maigue in the village of Adare, County Limerick, Ireland, the former seat of the Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl. The present house was built in the early 19th century, though retaining some of the walls of the 17th-century structure. It is now the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, a luxury hotel, and contains the Michelin-starred Oak Room restaurant.
Barberstown Castle is a structure originally built in 1288 in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland, 25 km west of Dublin. It has been operating as a hotel since 1971 and is surrounded by 20 acres (8.1 ha) of gardens. Renovations in 1996 revealed a previously undiscovered tunnel that links the castle to the nearby church in Straffan and is thought to have been used under the Penal Laws.
Hugh F. J. Boyle was an Irish professional golfer best known for his achievements in the mid-1960s.
The R406 road is a regional road in Ireland, linking the Straffan to Maynooth in County Kildare.
Gerry Gannon is an Irish builder and property developer since the 1980s. Gannon played a significant role in the Irish construction industry in the lead up the bursting of the Irish property bubble. Gannon was one of the key figures involved in the Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy, which was a contributing element in the development of the post-2008 Irish banking crisis.
The High Sheriff of Kildare was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kildare, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kildare County Sheriff. The High Sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs. In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the High Sheriff's precedence. However, the sheriff retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in the county. The usual procedure for appointing the sheriff from 1660 onwards was that three persons were nominated at the beginning of each year from the county and the Lord Lieutenant then appointed his choice as High Sheriff for the remainder of the year. Often the other nominees were appointed as under-sheriffs. Sometimes a sheriff did not serve his full term due to death or another event, and another sheriff was then appointed for the remainder of the year. The dates given in this article are the dates of appointment.
Big Break Ireland was the 16th edition of the Golf Channel reality show, The Big Break. It was contested in the K Club in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland. It premiered on September 20, 2011. The eventual winner of the show was Mark Murphy, who won $50,000 and two exemptions to European Tour events, the Trophée Hassan II and the Irish Open.
Golf is a popular sport in Wales. Although the sport of golf in Great Britain is most associated with Scotland, where it was established and developed, Wales can record its first courses back to the 1880s, and today has over 200 clubs. The first amateur golf competition was held in 1895, and the first professional championship was in 1904. Wales has produced several players of note, including one player, Ian Woosnam, who has won one of the Men's major golf championships and Wales has twice won the men's World Cup, in 1987 and 2005, respectively. Wales also hosted the Ryder Cup, when it was held at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort in 2010.
Michel Flamme is a French chef. He worked in "Byerly Turk Restaurant ", the restaurant of the Michelin starred Kildare Hotel and Golf Club in Straffan, County Kildare, when it earned its stars between 1993 and 1994. He was executive head chef of the K Club until at least 2000.
Reignwood Group is a Chinese investment company owning brands and companies in China, the rest of Asia, the UK and the US. It was founded in 1984 by Chanchai Ruayrungruang, a Thai-Chinese businessman. Reignwood's businesses include consumer products, hotels and residential property, golf courses, wellness centres, travel agencies, aviation, offshore engineering and financing.
Straffan Parish Church is a Gothic Revival Church of Ireland church in Straffan, Ireland, completed in 1838.