Sea of change on classic links

It wasn't difficult to visualise an underpass from behind the 18th green, providing a route beneath the road and on towards the ocean. But even with the benefit of numerous, past visits to Connemara Golf Club, one could hardly credit that such a glorious tract of links terrain had been there all the time, awaiting development.

Where the outside world was concerned, this was the secret which Eddie Hackett took to his grave two years ago. It was his last layout. And when it became apparent that he wouldn't live to see it to fruition, he passed the work on to Tom Craddock.

Last November, Tom joined his architectural friend on fairways in the great beyond, but the legacy of both men is set to become a major asset to Connacht golf. According to Fr Peter Waldron, secretary of Connemara GC Ltd, the holes they have created will become part of a splendid, new championship layout.

On a recent visit, I was guided through the new holes by the good father and John McLoughlin, secretary manager of the club. Among other things, I had the opportunity of surveying the greenkeeping skills of Hugh O'Neill, the club professional who has shown himself to be a dab hand at bunker revetting.

As we approached the first green, partially obscured by a mound standing sentinel front left, in bright sunshine Fr Waldron directed my attention towards a hollow further left. "That is what's known as a Fulacht Fia," he said, pointing to a depression in from the shore. Then came the enlightenment that it was where our ancestors would gather for what a prehistoric barbeque, after they had hunted and fished.

"Our first attempt to construct these holes was in 1988, when we built a few tees and greens," the priest went on. "But as things turned out, most of the money designated for the work had to be spent on coastal erosion." Indeed an investment of £300,000 was very much in evidence in the number of gabions (wire mesh filled with rocks) designed to succeed where King Canute failed.

From the tee at the short second, the rocky coastline was immediately to one's left, conjuring images of long-iron or fairwaywood shots fighting the wind while heading towards the delightfully-sited green in the distance. On to the third, a dog-leg left where the drive from an elevated tee box has to avoid a menacing stream on the left and the approach is played to the backdrop of an open-stone wall behind the green.

Classic links land was in evidence at the fourth, where one could hear the sea breeze whistling through the reeds surrounding a lake to the left. And we went on to retrace Hackett's steps along the fifth and sixth, to the sound of a lone lark singing its little heart out, overhead. Then came the next surprise. "There'll be another tunnel here," said Fr Waldron. But what of the remaining three holes? "Oh, they're over on the existing back nine," said McLoughlin, with the quiet smile of a man about to surprise his listener.

And so they were. The seventh, a formidable par-four of 441 yards, has been laid out between the 14th green and the 15th tee. "Depending on the wind, it's a good drive and three wood," said McLoughlin, an accomplished category-one player. The eighth is also a difficult challenge, with a semi-blind drive over gorse. According to my advisors, the line was "between those mounds in the distance".

So to the ninth. It was at this stage of our peregrination that I was reminded of the third nine at Portmarnock, where Fred Hawtree's tortuous routing, in and out of the championship layout, has been woven so seamlessly as to be barely noticeable.

Remarkably, there was sufficient space between the existing 10th and 18th holes at Connemara for a full-blooded, 503-yard par five, with generous areas of rough on either side of the fairway. Even more fortuitous is that a large, elevated green is sited directly behind the clubhouse, offering priceless options in terms of 18-hole routing and visitor starting.

Thirty yards back from the elevated tee is a menacing little burn, running directly across the fairway and causing the player to think twice before wondering whether he might chase a low second shot all the way up the slope to the putting surface.

In its first year of trading in 1974, Connemara GC had a turnover of £5,000: last year, the corresponding figure was £1.1 million. Current green-fee revenue is £250,000 and the objective is to double that figure when the 27 holes become fully operational in 2001.

Meanwhile, the progressive nature of the club is reflected in their attitude towards greenkeeping. McLoughlin explained that each member of their staff of seven, working for head greenkeeper Niall Walsh, is given the opportunity of expert training at the Elmwood College of Agronomy in Scotland.

It's a three-year course involving a commitment of two months per year from the students. More significantly, the club are quite happy to pay the £5,000 annual fees as an investment in their grounds staff.

Still the company can't afford to rest easy. "We are acutely aware of the need for a new clubhouse, at a projected cost of about £1.5 million," said Fr Waldron. "It will be done, but I'm afraid we'll have to wait a little while."

Good husbandry is very evident in the running of Connemara GC, not least in the fact that they will complete the new nine holes for the relatively modest, total outlay of £700,000. Indications are that the new holes will become the front nine. Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the quality of construction will be a fitting epilogue to the story of Hackett and Craddock, two of our best-loved golfing personalities.