myguideTravel Blog

Ballyliffin awaits Golf legends

June 16th, 2008

It may be a very small village in northern Donegal, but Ballyliffin Golf Club will certainly put this village on the world Golfing map this coming weekend when it hosts the Irish Seniors Open from Thursday to Sunday. According to the European Tour, this year’s event will be contested by the strongest field in the event’s 12 year history.

Among the competitors are last year’s winner Constantino Rocca and 2008 Wales Seniors Open runner up Ian Woosnam along with Sandy Lyle and Sam Torrance from Scotland, Seji Ebihara of Japan, Carl Mason of England and  Des Smyth, Eamonn D’Arcy, Denis O’Sullivan and Joe McDermott of Ireland.

Woosnam and Lyle are Seniors Rookies, both reaching the 50 mark this year and have shown considerable form to date.

This is a major step for the County Donegal club as it becomes more and more popular as one of the premier Links courses in Ireland. There are 2 links courses at the club, the venue for this competition is the classic “Old Links” which was upgraded by Nick Faldo in 2006.

 An Article from this week’s Derry Journal outlines the preparations and air of expectation in Ballyliffin:

LAST YEAR’S decision to make a significant investment of E1.5 million when installing a new Irrigation System at Ballyliffin Golf Club, has proved to be something of a master-stroke given the recent spate of hot weather.

Indeed, the glorious conditions which saw the North-West basking in hot sunshine would have seriously threatened the Irish Seniors Open Championship which is due to tee-off at the Inishowen venue on Friday next, had the decision not been taken.

Sand-based links golf courses, which boast very little soil, would have struggled in the hot conditions with both greens and fairways open to scorch damage but, thanks to the foresight of the Ballyliffin club’s ruling Council, such a disaster had been averted.

Particularly progressive and anxious to move with the times, the Ballyliffin club boasts two of the top links golf courses in Europe and it’s clear that the powers that be in the Inishowen village are happy to meet the challenges which lie ahead.

Two decades ago Ballyliffin had an 18 holes golf course which had been over-run by rabbits and serviced by a fairly basic clubhouse. Nowadays, however, the club’s appearance has changed dramatically and, indeed, moved onto another level.

Housing two magnificent courses, not to mention a state of the art clubhouse, Ballyliffin Golf Club is now viewed as the jewel in the crown of north-west golf.

Throw in the fact that one of golf’s legends, Nick Faldo, immediately fell in love with the area on his arrival quite some time ago and the decision of the club to appoint the Faldo Design Team to elevate the Old Links to Championship status has fashioned significant change.
Current Club Captain, Dr. Ken Devlin, is one of those characters who feels particularly proud when viewing the changes which have totally transformed the Donegal club.

Having arrived in the area 20 years ago, the local G.P., originally from Tralee, Co. Kerry, has made his home in Inishowen and he’s particularly proud that a major event would be staged during his year as the club’s first citizen.

“I think the club has been very forward looking and, indeed, made many major decisions over the years and I always take the view that those decisions are now proving fruitful,” he said.

“The decision to bring Nick Faldo on board to re-jig the Old Course and bring it up to Championship status was significant as was last year’s investment of E1.5 million to install a new Irrigation System which has been vital, particularly given the weather we have been experiencing over the past month or so,” noted Dr. Devlin.

“The installation of the new system was particularly fortunate as we could so easily have lost holes due to the recent hot weather. The recent dry spell had taken its toll on the fairways as a links course - with very little soil - can be very fragile so we actually could have lost holes which would have been disastrous given the close proximity of the Irish Seniors Open.”

And the fact that the Old Links comfortably hosted 63 teams in last Wednesday’s annual Carndonagh Parish Church Golf Classic - in excess of 250 players - highlighted the point that the course remained in tip-top condition as the big day fast approaches.
Dr. Devin also heaped praise on the club’s general manager, John
Farren, who has been instrumental in all the negotiations which saw the Irish Seniors arrive in Ballyliffin.
“Our general manager, John Farren, has also proven to be a superb acquisition,” continued the club Captain. “John has successfully picked up the baton from those before him and he continues to run with it very well since taking over. We also has a quite outstanding greens convener in Patsy Doherty who has held that position for quite some time. He worked closely with the Faldo Design Team in the changes that were made to the Old Links and, of course, he pushed for the introduction of the new Irrigation System which was so important for the club.
“I think our previous Councils have set the standard and, working in conjunction with the local community, we believe we’ve helped increase the profile of Ballyliffin as both a tourist attraction and as a golf venue over the years.
“We have always held the view that Ballyliffin boasting a thriving hotel business and the golf club complements that. For years and years every high profile events seemed to go to either Kerry, Galway or Dublin with all tourist roads stopping a Bundoran.
“As a local community industries such as agriculture and fishing have been struggling, therefore, we felt the importance of getting our tourism up to a good standard was imperative.
“I think the golf club continues to play its part as it is now set to stage its third high profile professional tournament. Our Old Links is the same as it was, with natural rolling fairways. It was designed by God and while many argue that the ball may bounce unfairly on occasions, it’s also worth remembering that such fairways also present the opportunity of the ball getting a great run.”

Quality Field
He was thrilled when the confirmation of next week’s field of competitors had arrived this week. “It’s considered one of the strongest fields the PGA has had for any Seniors event. It’s absolutely brilliant and a great boost for golf in the North-West of Ireland,” he maintained.
From his own point of view, he claimed it an honour to Captain the Inishowen club at such an important time in its history. “I feel very proud, thrilled and very honoured to be Captain of Ballyliffin Golf Club in the year that we stage the Irish Seniors Open and I’ve no doubt that our membership is also proud to be part of club staged this event.”
Dr. Devlin dismissed any suggestion of nervousness and was confident that the tournament would we well organised and he looked forward to the events that would precede the Championship this week.
“I’m certainly not nervous or anything like that but I do recognise the fact that John Farren has been working day and night once the competition was confirmed to be played here. He has clearly put all his energy into this and now that he has secured an entry of 72 players and attracted somewhere in the region of 150 volunteers from the club, I’ve no doubt that everything will go well for us.
“The Old Links is looking great and I would expect it to be in perfect nick for the start of the tournament next Thursday.”
The local G.P. urged people from throughout the North-West area to come out and support the event insisting that complimentary tickets would be made available for all those who wished to avail of them.
“We’ve already sent tickets to all golf clubs within a 50 miles radius of Ballyliffin and for those who wish to have tickets, please contact a club member or, indeed, the club itself and all requests will be facilitated.
“We’ve been presented with an opportunity to show that we can host a major golfing event professionally and successfully. We believe it’s now time to take such major events away from Counties Kerry, Galway and Dublin and bring them to the North-West area. We have been given an opportunity to prove that our organisation is just as professional as that which exists elsewhere in Ireland and we intend to take full advantage, but we do need the support of the North-West community to help us.
“From a local point of view, we wish to take Ballyliffin onto yet another level. When people talk about links courses in Ireland, they point to venues such as Lahinch, Ballybunnion or Waterville but they are finally realising that Ballyliffin has moved into the top tier of such courses.
“There are so few true links courses in the world - most are based in Britain and Ireland - but to have two top quality courses on our own door step gives us a tremendous advantage,” he claimed.
Just for good measure, the Captain will play in the opening Pro-Am on Wednesday afternoon in the company of club President, Jimmy Cuddihy; secretary, Des Kemmy and last year’s Irish Seniors Open champion, Italian, Constantino Rocca.
And that was an occasion he was certainly looking forward to. “Yes, I’d have to admit, I’m really looking forward to that particular experience. To play with the reigning Irish Seniors champion on Ballyliffin’s Old Course will be a great experience.
Concluding, Dr. Devlin expressed his sincere thanks to the sponsors of the event and the various suppliers to the golf club who had all stepped in to offer financial support.
“In particular, I’d like to thank Failte Ireland and that organisation’s local representative, Martin Donnelly, for his support and loyalty. Thanks also to our various club sponsors, suppliers and members who have stood by us in our efforts to stage such a high profile event.”

Entry Filed under: Golf, Ireland