Location the key to Mount Wolsley's success

BACK in 1913, beside a full report of the British Open Golf Championship, this newspaper carried an advertisement for Wolseley cars which, we were informed, "always embody refinement and reliability." Eighty four years on, a permanent link between golf and one of the most famous marques in motoring, has been forged in a splendid development outside Tullow.

Since its official opening last August, Mount Wolseley has already become a highly desirable destination for the discerning golfer. Not surprisingly, the key ingredient is location: it happens to be only the second 18hole course in Co Carlow.

Donal Morrissey, who bought the property for Pounds 600,000 in 1994, could see the enormous potential from his experience as a committee member at Carlow GC. "The waiting list for membership got longer every year," he said. "I also got to know Christy O'Connor Jnr when he was the professional there and I later, became a great admirer of his work."

So it was that O'Connor was employed as course designer, a task which he discharged admirably. And as a man of considerable talents, he is also prepared to hear confessions, should any sinful golfer feel so inclined. Indeed a genuine confessional is already on site.

Perhaps I should explain. The most recent owners of Mount Wolseley, prior to Morrissey, were the Patrician Brothers who, naturally, had their own oratory for private worship. Though it has now been turned into a conference room, the stained glass windows remain. And the confessional, too.

Originally the ancestral home of the aristocratic Wolseley family of Staffordshire who took up residence in 1725, the house was burned down in the rebellion of 1798. Later rebuilt, it was where Frederick York Wolseley, founder of the British car manufacturing company which bore his name, first saw the light.

The finance for his motoring dream was raised in Australia, where he emigrated as a 17 year old and where he patented the world's first mechanical shears. Meanwhile, his older brother, Garnet, attempted to ingratiate himself with the Duke of Wellington, by arranging the tree planting on the Tullow estate to replicate the troop formations at the Battle of Waterloo.

It seemed to work splendidly, insofar as he became a viscount, a field marshal and ultimately commander in chief of the British Army. Garnet died in 1913 and, as with other gentry families, the Wolseleys left Ireland in 1925 and the estate became the property of the Patrician Order.

Morrissey, whose own background is in the concrete and property business, is anxious to maintain the Wolseley link, particularly since the cars ceased production in 1975. Which explains the presence in the car park of two charming old models, a green 1500 (circa 1957) and a navy blue Hornet. They were there below me as I stood on the clubhouse balcony, looking out over the first tee and 18th green, bathed in brilliant sunshine.

The location, a mile outside Tullow, means that the town provides a charming backdrop. Indeed,

I was to discover that the church spire offers a perfect line off the 15th tee. The general character of the terrain also indicated considerable earth moving, though O'Connor ensured it was tastefully done, as with another fine creation of his at Glasson.

Then there was the smell, an unmistakeable combination of rustic odours reminding the visitor that this was once rich farming terrain. Among the major changes to accommodate the Royal and Ancient game has been the development of eight lakes, all interlinked and fed by an underground stream which also supplies the irrigation system.

A gentle opening par four is followed by a more demanding second, back towards the clubhouse. Then O'Connor presents his first examination of nerve and skill in the form of a daunting, 447yard par four, where the second shot is played over water to an awkwardly angled green.

As luck would have it, the designer's cousin, known affectionately as Christy Minor, was playing the course during my visit. I wondered how he had fared at the third which, it came as no surprise for me to learn, happens to be the index one. "Drive and eight iron," he grinned. "Nice hole."

All right. So he would have been helped by a gentle breeze and he probably played off the medal tee. But even at that, a drive and an eight iron for 435 still represented fairly impressive striking.

Meanwhile, I was also greatly taken by the fourth, a gem of a par three and a half, the like of which every course should have. At 273 yards off the back tee, it invites the competitor to take out the driver and go for the green, but the penalty for a slightly mishit shot is an almost certain visit to sand or water.

Further along the course I was similarly impressed by the short 11th. Here, O'Connor has very sensibly recognised the significance of the fearfactor for competitors of varying ability. Off the back tee, the player is confronted by a shot of 207 yards almost entirely over water. The more forward tees are to the left, however, where the carry over water lessens progressively, to the point of being nonexistent for women.

Set on 130 acres only a few hundred yards from the meandering River Slaney, Mount Wolseley is a strong, spacious layout which will test golfers of all levels. Indeed, total beginners are offered the opportunity of playing the three academy holes - just like Mount Juliet and The K Club - under the tutelage of resident professional Jimmy Bolger.

But Morrissey, who expresses delight at O'Connor's work, doesn't view it as a luxury development. "I am aiming more at the middle market," he said. And by way of emphasising the point, green fees have been retained at the same rate as last year. So, with anticipated traffic of around 15,000 rounds, the owner is looking at revenue of Pounds 300,000 this season.

Meanwhile, there is the hotel side of the business. At the moment this is confined to 20 doublerooms of fairly modest dimensions. The accommodation, which received a worthy christening last December from Christy Jnr and some friends, makes the clubhouse similar in concept to CityWest, albeit on a smaller scale. The target is 50 per cent occupancy this year and work is already advanced on a health and fitness' centre.

Approval has been received from Bord Failte for 15 holiday homes and Morrissey also has plans for 20 luxury homes on the periphery of the course at a projected selling price of upwards of Pounds 120,000. "These will be residences with living accommodation upstairs and the bedrooms downstairs so as to facilitate views of the course," he said.

Towards the middle of the 19th century, the view of Co Carlow from Mount Leinster was described as being "as wild and picturesque a range of scenery as ever attracted the pen of a Byron, the pencil of a Reynolds or the genius of a Thomson.

In this area of fertile vales, 10 miles from Carlow Town, Mount Wolseley is the only course between there and Courtown. And the accuracy with which Morrissey assessed the market can be gauged from the fact that membership is already full.

The owner has made his home in the former residence of the Wolseley family while major reconstruction work has been undertaken on the remainder of the buildings, which extend to 30,000 square feet.

But it is the course that will bring people back. "I believe it is a fair but testing 18 holes of championship standard, none of which will disappoint even the most discerning player," said O'Connor.

That strikes me as an eminently fair assessment of his work. Mind you, if anyone feels inclined to dispute the point, they can always pour their hearts out to the designer in the confessional, naturally.