The Royal Dublin Golf Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Royal Dublin Golf Club is a long-established club with an 18-hole links course on the Clontarf part of Bull Island, Dublin. It is one of the biggest golf clubs in Ireland.
Contents |
[edit] History
The club was begun at a meeting on Grafton Street in May 1885, and was formed as the Dublin Golf Club (it took on its current name in 1891). Its first course was near the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park, before it moved to Sutton. It came to Bull Island in 1889.
During World War I, the links course was taken over by the British army as a rifle and artillery range, and after the war, the course and clubhouse had to be re-constructed.
In August 1943, the clubhouse was destroyed by fire and due to delays in development plans for the island, a new clubhouse only opened in October 1954. Extensions followed in 1962, 1983, 1993 and the 2000s.
[edit] Events
The Royal Dublin has held the Irish Open three times - in 1983, 1984, and 1985. In more recent years, The Royal Dublin was host to the Irish Amateur Open for three years and regularly welcomes participants in GUI cups and shields.
The club has won the Barton Cup, the most prestigious competition in Leinster golf, on at least two occasions: in 1946 and again in 2006.
[edit] Famous Visitors
Many famous non-professional golfers have visited the club, including former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, current President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, and the former American President, Bill Clinton.
