JUST 12 miles or so north of Dublin's city centre, and you could be anywhere. Winding, narrow roads provide a rural feel and, even thought your eyes are peeled for the final signpost indicating its whereabouts, the turn-in to Corrstown Golf Club still comes as a surprise. Already. it seems, you are trapped in a stress-free zone.
The story behind the development of 27 golf holes on land that once produced tons of potatoes is fascinating. And, as luck would have it, my hosts for the day were two of the club's founder members, Paddy Kelly and Tony McKeon, who brought this fanciful notion to fruition.
In line with modern thinking, and the pursuit of equality, Corrstown is a club of the '90s. There are no reserved parking spaces, not even for the Captain or Women's Captain. The club itself has grown to 1,000 shareholding members, with equal, status for men and women, and it promotes an ethos to "provide a friendly, relaxed atmosphere in which all categories of golfers can enjoy their game." It succeeds wonderfully.
Yet. it has all happened so quickly. The idea was first floated back in November 1991 and a meeting was held in the ALSAA complex a couple of months later; 450 curious people attended, and 100 committed themselves to the dream. Someone was looking after them. Almost by chance, they stumbled across a 180 acre farm near Kilsallaghan and the owner agreed to accept payment in stages. When they contacted agronomist Eddie Connaughton, the discovered he was a course architect, too, and en trusted him with the design.
Connaughton's brief, in was simple enough. We told him to provide us with a straightforward nine-hole course that golfers of any level could play," recalls Paddy. So it was that the nine hole Orchard course, constructed on 65 acres, opened for play in June 1993, confounding many cynics.
My guides can laugh now, but they admit the sceptics had a point back then. Indeed, the first purchase for the project was 12 pairs of wellington boots so that prospective members could wear them on "viewing days", walk down a muddy lane and peer over a hedge at farmland they couldn't even walk on and be told what great golfing terrain it was. Fortunately, many believed, with the result that £4.2 million has been invested in the project which now includes 27 holes and a lovely clubhouse.
The Orchard and the River courses may be adjacent to each other, but there are few enough similarities. Connaughton took their instructions to heart in designing the initial nine holes and the result is a 3,071 yards par 35 design which doesn't present too many difficulties, yet has its own charm.
Players are eased into the round with a shortish par four - with the option of going over trees for the brave, or laying up left - and, although the second is a shade over 400 yards, the first truly testing hole is the dog-leg right par four fifth while the next, an uphill par three measuring 154 yards, is an interesting hole. The finishing, hole, the ninth, requires a good drive but, as with most holes on this stretch, there is ample room on the fairway and even off it, the rough is not too demanding.
Overall, though, the Orchard course, which is surprisingly mature given its age, lends itself to a relaxed ambience and certainly fits in nicely with the image projected of a "friendly" club.
There is quite a contrast with the River course, which was developed on the back of the Orchard course's success. It too was designed by Connaughton and the course building was undertaken by Peter O'Brien Landscaping. Here, Connaughton's penchant for mounding is clear from the second hole and is a characteristic which is maintained throughout a course which opened for play in May 1995.
At almost 7,000 yards off the back stakes, the River course is demanding and, indeed, should, provide a stiff test for the professionals when the club's inaugural Pro-Am is staged there next month.
Apart from the mounds, the 18-hole course features over 80 bunkers, water comes into play directly on five holes - the fourth, ninth, 11th, 13th and 18th - while tricky streams and drains meander across a number of other holes. Also, £120,000 has been invested in new trees (mainly ash and beech) to augment the ones which already existed on the farm.
The front nine is a little unusual, in that its par of 36 is made up of equal numbers of par three, par fours and par fives. Indeed, the opening hole is a short par three which, in many ways, is the calm before the storm because the second hole is a double dog-leg par five with out-of-bounds stretching down the left hand side and a drain running across the fairway just about where most people will be playing their second shots.
The third green is probably one of the narrowest on the course, but, in general, Connaughton has constructed relatively large greens - all to USGA sand-based specifications, as are the ample tee-boxes - but with many slopes and borrows, which is one of his designing hallmarks.
Just as the round started with a par three, the front nine concludes with another short hole before crossing the road for the 10th, a dog-leg left around an unsightly ESB pylon, and then re-crossing the road for the 11th, a par five measuring 591 yards, off the championship tee.
On the 12th fairway, we wave to Gerry, one of the club's volunteers who is seeding divots (the birds have formed an unwelcome habit of playing with them), before proceeding to the index one 13th, an impressive hole. If dog-legs sharply left and has a ditch in play on the right off the drive and a lake in play, also on the bright, for your approach shot to the green. A darn good hole.
The 14th offers a gentle respite before a relatively tough finishing stretch the 15th demands an accurate drive through trees, the 16th is a testing par four with fairway, bunkers in play right and another large trap guarding the right of the green. The 17th is a deceptive par three with the added nuisance of, out-of-bounds hedging left, before you reach the finishing hole.
Indeed, the 18th is a worthy hole to conclude your round. The fair-ways are ample, although any hooked tee-shot is dead, with out-of-bounds left, but it is the approach shot to the semi-island 18th green which requires bravery and accuracy.
On my visit, there was a proliferation of algae, unfortunately, in the water around this green. But it was explained by the presence of two swans, protecting two eggs and a golf ball in a nest, on the lake. Their protective instincts were such that no one was allowed near the water to clear the algae, never mind retrieve balls.
Rather than opt for brickwalls around this island green, Corrstovn used indigenous slate which was discovered in some of the earthmoving in the course's construction and it is certainly very pleasing to the eye and works in nicely with the extensive landscaping performed in the vicinity of the clubhouse.
Corrstown will leave its impression on you, on and off the course. Secretary/manager Jason Kelly and his staff give out just the right image of a friendly, welcoming club which, its few short years, has found its feet very well indeed. It is also refreshing to learn that a self-help. up-and-at-them spirit still exists as Corrstown never benefited from any Lottery or European funds. It meant the road to where they are today was a tough one, but one suspects the exercise has helped create the egalitarian ideal which obviously exists there today.
