Course Guides
Bundoran Golf Club in Ireland
| BUNDORAN GOLF CLUB | Bundoran Co.Donegal Ireland |
| Course Review | |
| • Founded: | 1894 |
| • Designer: | Harry Vardon |
| • Championship Length: | 6,256 yards |
| • PAR: | 70 |
| • SSS (Course Rating): | 70 |
| • Type: | Links |
Bundoran Golf Club is one of those golf courses with a fantastic domestic reputation that is relatively little known on the international stage. It is a classic links course that has been in existence for over one hundred years and deserves to be rated among the great Irish links courses. Overlooking the Atlantic, Bundoran Links was designed by one Harry Vardon, one of golf's most legendary figures and a member of the famed Great Triumvirate that also comprised John Henry Taylor and James Braid. One cannot but be impressed by the rugged beauty and impressive setting of this course on the edge of Ireland's northwestern coast. Bundoran, which provides a stern test to golfers of all abilities, winds along the coastline and returns inland to give a mixture of holes. Laid out in two returning nine hole loops, the course is largely undulating and offers fine views over Donegal Bay. Exposed to the elements of nature, man has succeeded in sculpting a course of great beauty and one that is truly a pleasure to play.
The origins of Bundoran are linked with the decision by the Highland Hotel Company to build a hotel at Bundoran in 1894. The strategy of the company was to focus on resorts, which were served by the Great Northern Railway. Plans were drawn up to build a 60 bedroom hotel and Golf Links and by July 16th 1894, a provisional committee was in the process of negotiating golfing rights with the Highland Hotel Company. Bundoran Golf Club was born.
It was not until 1927, that Harry Vardon was invited to Bundoran to plan and design changes to the course, which would bring it up to championship standard. Vardon's philosophy on course design was "to give pleasure to golfers of all degrees". His design featured the relocation of tees, re sitting of greens and the addition of a number of new bunkers. Today, the course requires the player to possess the full range of shots a must on any championship links.
NEARBY COURSES:
Castlerock (2 hrs, 15 min); Connemara (3 hrs, 15 min); Enniscrone (1 hr, 30 min); Galway Bay (2 hrs, 50 min); Portsalon (1 hr, 50 min); Portstewart (2 hrs, 30 min); Roe Park (1 hr, 55 min); Rosapenna (1 hr, 55 min); Slieve Russell (1 hr, 35 min)
RECOMMENDED NEARBY ACCOMMODATION:
Coopershill House (55 min); Inishowen Gateway Hotel (1 hr, 50 min); Slieve Russell Hotel (1 hr, 35 min); St. Ernans House Hotel (30 min)
LOCATION:
Situated in the town of Bundoran, approximately 23 miles north of Sligo Town, and 5 miles from Ballyshannon on the main N15 route.
