In the run up to the Ryder Cup at Brookline, Boston two years ago, some very interesting deals were struck. Like the Bank of Boston paying the local Charles River GC $500,000 for the use of the club during the week of the tournament.

When observers expressed shock at this seemingly outrageous figure, it transpired that the bankers had clinched themselves a decidedly sweet deal, as only bankers can do.

This became apparent when it was learned that Brae Burn CC, which played host to the Curtis Cup on two occasions, were receiving no less than $700,000 for a one-day event sponsored by Mark McCormack's International Management Group during Ryder Cup week.

Word was that amateur spots in the tournament were sold for as much as $10,000 each.

Donal Morrissey, owner of Mount Wolseley GC, has become aware of such deals through his business involvement with Christy O'Connor Jnr, designer of this fine course at Tullow, Co Carlow. Indeed, given the broad scope of his facility, Morrissey believes that it makes sound business sense to be looking at such options in the context of the 2005 Ryder Cup at The K Club, a mere 45 miles away.

"It is clear that the Ryder Cup is going to be a huge event for Irish golf and we're anxious to become part of it," he said.

"In that regard, there is an obvious appeal in the single deals which took place in the Boston area two years ago, but we would consider entering into such an arrangement only with the agreement of our members."

He went on: "In a leasing deal for our premises, it would be possible to block off tee-times for Mount Wolseley members and still satisfy the needs of a client.

"Either way, it is something Christy and I will be looking at closely over the next few years."

Some time back, Bill Cullen, a member of The K Club who lives nearby in Osberstown House, was offered $100,000 by a Texas travel agent for use of his 10-bedroom home during Ryder Cup week. Though Cullen wasn't interested, the offer was indicative of the sort of revenue which the 2005 event is going to generate.

As a guideline, the Ryder Cup was reported to have generated $150 million in the Boston area, making it the biggest sporting event in the city's history, bigger even than the 100th staging of the Boston Marathon in 1996.

Small wonder that the biennial showpiece has become known as golf's ultimate cash cow.

The potential of Mount Wolseley as a key, corporate location in arrangements for 2005, stems from the significant development which has taken place there since its official opening in May 1995.

That was when Sir Charles and Lady Wolseley came over from England to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the famous marque, at their ancestral home. 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".

They were invented by Frederick York Wolseley, who first saw the light on the splendid estate outside Tullow, where his family took up residence in 1725.

The finance for his motoring dream was raised in Australia, where he had 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, a successful property developer from the outskirts of Carlow town, bought the 190-acre property for £600,000 in 1994 and is anxious to maintain the Wolseley link, especially since the cars ceased production in 1975.

Indeed, when the facility was officially opened in August 1996, there were two old Wolseley models in the car park, a green 1500 circa 1957 and a navy blue Hornet, which are being restored.

Five years on, the overall operation represents an investment of almost £20 million.

"From the outset, my vision was a self-contained country club, incorporating all the amenities which that entails," he said. "I like to see the whole operation as being very much family orientated, which is becoming a crucial element of modern golf-course developments world-wide." To that end, he has built 76 houses, of which 28 are holiday homes. These, along with a 40-bedroom hotel gives him accommodation of 150 rooms.

There is also a conference room, golf academy and fully-equipped leisure centre, incorporating a snooker room, gym, swimming pool and a beauty salon.

Renting a house combines the flexibility of self-catering in a fully-equipped environment with the services and amenities available at the adjoining hotel and golf clubhouse.

Meanwhile, off-site activities include horse-riding, hill walking and fishing. During a visit last month, Dave Stockton, skipper of the victorious American Ryder Cup side at Kiawah Island in 1991, enjoyed a morning's fishing on the River Slaney.

It was the day after the Senior British Open at Royal Co Down and the two-time USPGA champion travelled south on the invitation of O'Connor to compete in a charity golf tournament at Mount Wolseley in aid of the Tullow Day-Care Centre.

"We have planning permission for 254 houses," added Morrissey, "but further development will be part of a 10-year plan. Essentially, we are responding to the idea of golf as a family activity.

For instance, I recently had a business executive take one of our family homes for a week and then commute up and down from his work in Dublin."

The entrance fee for golf-club membership at Mount Wolseley is £10,000, but Morrissey pointed out that there is a 50 per cent discount for house purchasers.

Out on the golf course, which stretches to 7,106 yards off the back stakes, the local church spire offers a perfect line off the tee at the difficult 15th. Indeed the town of Tullow provides a charming backdrop to the development, while an unmistakeable combination of rustic smells remind the visitor that this was once rich, farming terrain.

"The closeness to the town is a huge bonus," said O'Connor. "You drive here to Mount Wolseley, park your car and then you walk. In all my travels around the US, I haven't seen any development as compact as this. It is certainly most unusual to be able to ramble down the road in the evening and have a pint in the local pub."

Stockton, who has two sons professional golfers, observed: "Developers in the US are becoming increasingly aware these days of the importance of providing a family dimension to leisure activities. For instance, they're tearing down some of the old golf establishments around Las Vegas and turning them into theme parks, so that children will have something to do."

He went on: "Almost every corporate deal these days, is targeted at the family. So, the ideal solution, in my view, is to find a way of accommodating family needs in a golfing context." This is the challenge Morrissey has set himself in what he emphasises is not a luxury development. "I am aiming more at the middle market," he said.

When the talk turned once more to the Ryder Cup, Stockton took justifiable pride in what he and his players achieved at Kiawah Island, though any reference to wars on the shore was carefully avoided.

The fact was that, in American eyes, the Ryder Cup was transformed in a highly-charged atmosphere on Kiawah's 18th green, where Bernhard Langer missed a six-foot putt against Hale Irwin.

Had the putt gone in, the teams would have been level; Europe would have retained the trophy once more and American interest would have waned.

Instead, the outcome meant that, 10 years on, Stockton found himself as a guest at a new Irish development, where there are ambitious plans to become part of what promises to be the biggest-ever staging of the Ryder Cup, in 2005.