Searching for a 'wow factor'

Lough Rynn Castle, Estate & Golf Course: Nick Faldo explains to Philip Reid he's continuing to work with nature, not against it, at the Co Leitrim golf course

There remains a boyish charm about Nick Faldo, a man who has most things in life that his heart could ever desire. He has all the trappings of golfing success, the kind that six major titles and 11 Ryder Cup appearances and some 42 professional titles around the world can bring. And, yet, while playing golf remains his main passion, designing golf courses has become increasingly important.

So it was that, on Friday last, Faldo, in designer gum boots, scooted around the mesmerising terrain that surrounds Lough Errew in Co Leitrim on a quadbike - pursued by other members of his design team, for the days of these things being a one-man-band have long since disappeared - and, in his mind's eye, took in the first course in the Republic of Ireland that will have his squiggly signature attached to flagsticks.

Lough Rynn Castle, Estate & Golf Course is situated in Mohill and this development - conceived by the Hanly Group, fronted by the father and son team of Bertie and Alan Hanly - will cost some €50 million.

In the process, it will regenerate this area and provide over 120 jobs. Last Thursday the first set of traffic lights in Leitrim were switched on in Carrick-on-Shannon; the following day, Faldo launched what will be the first 18-hole golf course in the county. Times they are a changin', and that's for sure!

And the Englishman, who has designed award-winning courses from Berlin to Vietnam to Shadow Ridge in the Californian desert, couldn't have been more impressed by the site delivered for this, one of three projects he is working on in Ireland at present, the others being the new course at Castle Hume outside Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh (which is under progress) and the proposed course at Bartra Island, off the Co Sligo coastline. Indeed, even in its raw state, it was possible to appreciate just how special a location the Lough Rynn site occupies.

Although the early-19th century manor house - once the home of the infamous Lord Leitrim - has a wonderful vista of Lough Rynn, the course itself manoeuvres its way in two inner and outer loops (one clockwise, the other anti-clockwise) around Lough Errew, a lake surrounded by undulating terrain that features mature trees and even has a 4,000-year-old druid's chair beside what will be the second green.

Unquestionably, Faldo was infatuated with the location. "As a designer," he said, "there are only a few sites you dream of. One is being on a links or on sand, the other is being in a mature estate. Here, you've got 10 out of 10 for vistas and, I'll tell you, this golf course is going to look pretty darn good."

Work is due to commence shortly on the project - which is part of an overall package that will see the manor house redeveloped as a luxury hotel and the construction of residential/holiday units on the estate - and the course should be ready in late-2006 or early-2007. Faldo's design philosophy is one that is simple: he wants those who play his golf courses to enjoy the experience.

"Memorability is very important and, on a site like this, we will create what I call the 'wow factor' where someone walking out on to the course will just instinctively say, 'wow, this looks great' . . . I want golfers to come, enjoy themselves and to have a pleasurable experience. It's important that they remember holes," insisted Faldo.

"When I design a course, I attempt to enhance what is out there, not to fight nature. I want to enhance it. There are an awful lot of natural lines here, horizons and natural treelines and your number one goal is that you want the golf course to tell you how to play.

"If everything is sloping left to right and the trees are cut that way from the wind and the land, there is nothing worse than when you can't see the green and you're told, 'it's a dogleg left, sir' and that kind of slaps you in the face.

"I try to enhance what is there as best as I can. All my golf courses are different, and I haven't got a signature trademark at the moment because I believe each site deserves its own individuality. That's what I try to look for."

As an active player, and someone who still harbours Ryder Cup ambitions, both as a player and a future captain, Faldo's design work fits around his playing schedule. "All projects run at different speeds, but I am always there for the key decisions, at initial routing to rough shaping and final shaping.

"I don't have to be there daily . . . but it's nice to come in and create some great vision and then leave it to the team to make it happen."

Faldo's design brief for Lough Rynn was to create "a really good resort course". Given his track record, the wonderful site and the passion of the developers behind the project, it can be taken as only a matter of time before Ireland has another little gem to add to its golfing landscape.