Executive Golf Magazine

The European Club is a young but classic links course on the east coast of Ireland which can hold its own in the finest company.

Club History
The early 1990s saw a rash of new course openings across Britain and Ireland but none quite like The European Club. There are no fancy restaurants or teaching academies here and the only water hazard you’ll encounter is the sea. This is a links, pure and simple, and has wasted no time taking its place alongside the likes of Portmarnock and Waterville in Irish golf’s premier league.

The club is the creation of one man - Pat Ruddy, a course designer and golf writer with a burning ambition to design and build his own links. He discovered the land here on a helicopter journey along the coast south of Dublin in the early 1980s and opened the course for play at Christmas 1992.

The Course
The links plots its way through the towering dunes at Brittas Bay, an hour’s drive south of Dublin. The sea is in view on 12 of the 20 holes (two optional extra par-3s were added in 1999) here and is very much in play on three of them.

This is a shot-maker’s course where length off the tee is less important than keeping the ball on the short grass. The 481-yard 3rd hole is a case in point: a straight drive down through the dunes gives you every chance of making birdie, but miss the fairway and you will be lucky to find your ball, let alone hit it.

The most memorable stretch of holes is the run from the 12th to the 15th, where the course follows the shoreline. A sliced drive on the 12th will find the beach, while deep bunkers line the left side of the fairway to catch out anyone playing safe. The 127-yard long green is an extraordinary creation – a three-putt here is no disgrace!

The greens at the 13th and 15th are right on the water’s edge, forcing you to lay up short or risk a card-wrecking visit to the beach. In between is a cracking little par-three played to a green tucked into the dunes.

Course Records
The course record is currently held by Tiger Woods, who dropped in to The European Club en route to The Open Championship at Muirfield in July 2002 in the company of close friend Mark O’Meara, 2001 Open Champion David Duval and Scott McCarron. After making routine pars on the first two holes, Woods went on to shoot a 67, (34 out and 33 back) and you can see his framed scorecard on the wall next to the reception desk in the clubhouse.

Hardest Shot
The drive at the 449-yard 7th is the most demanding shot you will face all day. To the right is deep rough and the Out of Bounds. To the left are dunes and more rough, while immediately in front of you lies more long grass. The strip of fairway ahead looks impossibly narrow but the designer has created a clever optical illusion. Aim for the marsh 300 yards away on the left-hand side of the hole and you will find a wide expanse of fairway that is hidden from view when you are standing on the tee. Find the short grass here and you will have a shot at the green – albeit a long one.

The Enjoyment Hole
Pat Ruddy’s generosity to his guests is legendary and extends to offering you two extra holes out on the links in addition to the main 18. Try them both for fun if you have time – the first (7a on the card) is a gem of a par-three played uphill over a crater to a narrow green. On the tee your only thought will be ‘clear the crater’ but if you overdo it and put your ball on the back of the green you will face a devilishly quick putt back down the slope to the pin.

The Dread Hole
There is a hint of Carnoustie and Leven about the final hole at The European Club. At all three links, a treacherous ditch snakes its way in front of the 18th green, forcing you to choose between a lay-up and a full-blown assault on the flag. At 425-yards from the white tees, this is never going to be a driver-wedge hole unless your name is Tiger, and most of us will have a mid- or long-iron in our hands if we are going to try to find the putting surface in regulation. Overdo it and you will find yourself in a deep bunker behind the green – not the place to be if the outcome of your match is still in the balance!

Green Fees
Current guest fees are 150 euros from April through October and 80 euros from November through April. The club is extremely welcoming to visitors (you can play here any day of the year apart from Christmas Day) and attracts a growing number of tourists but does not offer discounted group rates. Pat Ruddy says: “The scale of our guest fees reflects a desire to keep things comfortable rather than hustled and crowded.”

Club Facilities
There is nothing plush about the clubhouse at The European Club – and there isn’t meant to be. It’s a no-nonsense place to stock up with balls before you go out to play (we lost half a dozen on a calm day the last time we played there!) and to get a beer after your round. Pat Ruddy says: “My ambition has been to get back close to the style of the 1950s when things were quiet and simple. We do not have nor do we plan houses, hotels etc; nor do we have a television or a radio or a newspaper - we like to give people an opportunity to sink into solitude or conversation as they wish.”
Key Personnel

President: Pat Ruddy
Captain: Eddie Fallon
Managers: Sidon Ruddy, Gerard Ruddy, Pat Ruddy jnr
Links Manager: Gerard Arthur

Membership
The club has chosen to limit membership numbers just below the 100 mark in a bid to avoid overcrowding on the links – an extraordinary gesture in era of profit-driven course development. Pat Ruddy says: “We have a membership of 98 men and women - we keep it at this so that we can never get under pressure arranging a game for each member. Most times they get the time or very close to the time they desire even calling on the day! Our membership has not been open to newcomers since 1999 and we do not envisage any new members in the next
few years.”

Contact:
The European Club, Brittas Bay, Wicklow, Ireland,
00 353 404 47415 - info@theeuropeanclub.com
www.theeuropeanclub.com

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