Tullamore gains from restructure

Back in October 1917, the committee of Tullamore Golf Club gave a certain Edmund Williams the go-ahead to purchase a donkey and cart to help the "improvement and upkeep of the links". There was one stipulation in their acquiescence - that a sum not exceeding £10 be spent on the transaction.

Times have certainly changed since then. The club moved to its present home, some three miles outside the county Offaly town, in 1932, and, when the course is reopened for play later this week - with a Centenary Golf Classic on Thursday and Friday providing the focal point for four days of celebration to mark Tullamore's 100th birthday - golfers will experience a new, tougher examination.

The restructuring process has been carried out with exceptional care and planning. Indeed, the work of original designer James Braid, who numbers Royal Troon, Carnoustie and the King's Course at Gleneagles among his creations, has been delightfully married with that of Paddy Merrigan, one of Ireland's foremost modern-day golf course architects, who oversaw the extensive renovations.

On viewing the new-look Tullamore, the Golfing Union of Ireland estimated it was "33 to 40 per cent tougher." Tullamore's president, Donal Kennelly, clinging on to an electric buggy being driven over the terrain by Dr Alfie Butler, one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the changes, reckons it will mean a differential of "five or six shots" to most players.

"We felt we were being overtaken by technology, equipment and design," explained Kennelly. The end result, however, is a stunning success and provide adequate justification for the decision (reached after almost a decade of debate within the club's chambers and at successive agms and egms) to proceed with the work which cost £500,000.

The redevelopment of the Tullamore course has resulted in seven new sand-based greens, constructed to the highest specification, 25 new tee-boxes - "the size of aircraft carriers," quipped Butler, and, certainly, they are impressive and will assist course maintenance with considerable scope for moving tee positions - 30 additional bunkers and some 5,000 new trees, compensating for the felling of 60 established trees during the work. Intensive irrigation and drainage work was also carried out on selected areas.

In all, 70,000 cubic metres of soil and other material was transported in giving the parkland course a facelift. The most dramatic change ha5 occurred around the part of the course known locally as "the horseshoe", formerly seven acres of scrubland but now transformed into the seventh and eighth holes of the new course, which uses the old sixth hole as its starting point.

An air of satisfaction hangs in the Tullamore air. "It is such a fabulous setting that it was a shame not to have a course that was truly challenging," said Butler, who gave up his dental practise two years ago and has spent the subsequent term in his voluntary capacity heading the club's course development sub-committee. His hobby, however, became a passion.

Certainly, Tullamore now boasts a quite splendid facility. The clubhouse was extended three years ago and the upgrading of the course has been met with great satisfaction by the club's 1,000 members, a figure which has increased from 300 over a 20-year period.

And Tony Dempsey, the club's centenary year captain, echoed the feelings of most members when he commented: "We are very proud of the course. The general consensus now is that we possess something really special."

One of the factors which influenced the club in nominating Merrigan to carry out the restructuring work was the Irish architect's gra for Braid, a five-time British Open champion. Merrigan actually did his university thesis on the Scot, one of the most influential golf course designers of his generation. The "wavy" greens are something of a Merrigan trademark, yet they appear very subtle in Tullamore.

There are a number of superb holes. The old third hole - the 16th on the new lay-out - has been augmented by a new green which also has a drain guarding the approach. Indeed, the green is now positioned in an area which was heavily forested and it has the potential to be one of the course's feature holes. One to remember ... and possibly one which will leave some golfers with nightmares!

Earlier on in the round, players will have to negotiate the fifth hole, where the newly created lake to the right of the fairway will provide a watery graveyard for any pushed tee-shots. With a carry of 250 yards, the option of playing left will leave players with an intimidating approach.

But there are many other holes which leave favourable impressions, even the new eighth - which Messrs Kennelly and Butler profess in unison to be an "easy hole" - which plays no more than a four iron off the tee with an eight iron approach. The use of indigenous esker rock in the pond is very tastefully done.

And, then, there is the 13th hole - formerly the 17th on the old course - which includes an unintended feature, called either "The Tree House" or "The Block Ash Tree", depending on who you talk to. Some vandals attempted to burn down the ash tree and, although the fire brigade did eventually quell the flames, the damage was such that the only way to prolong its life was to insert metal poles and fill the hole with cement blocks. It is estimated another eight years of life can be nurtured from the tree, by which time the transplanted ash which is positioned 10 yards in front of it will have grown sufficiently.

much acts of vandalism on the Tullamore course are few and far between - although the minutes books from the early part of the century refer to some bother encountered by the poor donkey purchased as part of the club's course maintenance.

An entry on October 22nd, 1919 reports that "the donkey's tail had been cut and apparently there is reason to think this is the act of some individual, as Mr McCann VS, whose committee the donkey is, stated in his opinion the tail was deliberately cut and was not the result of an accident."

Tullamore, of course, is the home club of Kitty McCann, winner of the British Amateur Open Championship in 1951, who unfortunately was deprived of competing in Britain and Ireland's Curtis Cup win over the United States at Muirfield in 1952. She was scheduled to play in the singles but was ruled out due to illness. Kitty remains a regular visitor to the club and, no doubt, will savour the centenary year celebrations.

And, in its centenary year, it is fitting that the course - in its new form - should look so well. It is a tribute to course manager Brendan Holland and, indeed, to officers like captain Tony Dempsey, lady captain Mary Guiney and "die hards" like Butler, Kennelly and hon. secretary Pat Burns. But, mostly to all the members, who had the intuition to move with the times. Happy 100th birthday!