€2.25m sought for golf club

AN 18-HOLE parkland golf course at Donabate in north county Dublin is to be offered for sale at agricultural land prices.

Turvey Golf and Country Club, which has been in receivership since last year, is now to be sold on the instructions of Kieran Wallace of KPMG, which is acting for Bank of Ireland.

Mark Reynolds of agent Savills is seeking €2.25 million for the 58.42 hectares (144.36 acres) which includes a clubhouse and a 12-bedroom residential block.

The land for the golf course was assembled and developed by four investors on the grounds of the now ruined Turvey House in 2003 and at its height had around 300 members who paid an annual subscription of €1,250.

Within a short time the club began to run into trouble because of the large number of competing golf courses in the same general area. It adjoins Beeverstown golf grounds and is also within a short drive of the Island golf course, Donabate, Balcarrick and Corbally.

Savills plans to offer the sporting facility for sale as a single lot and also in two other lot sizes. A price of €750,000 is being quoted for lot 1 which extends to 3.83 hectares (9.47 acres) and includes the clubhouse. Reynolds says it would ideally be suitable as a nursing home, hotel, sports club or other recreational facility.

Lot 2 which extends 54.59 hectares (134.89 acres) could be put to a variety of uses but would also appeal to local farmers at a selling price of €12,000 per acre.

The entire site is located in an area zoned objective “OS” – “to preserve and provide for open space and recreational amenities under Fingal County Council’s development plan 2005-2011”.

The zoning seeks to promote recreational use including community centre, community facilities, cultural uses, golf course, open space, recreational facilities, sports club, woodland and urban forestry.