Royal County Down Golf Club

Royal County Down Golf Club is a golf club in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is one of the oldest golf clubs in Ireland. It has two eighteen hole links courses, the Championship Course and the Annesley Links. [cite web | title= Royal County Down Golf Course| work=Discover Northern Ireland | url=http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/product.aspx?ProductID=2409 | accessdate=2007-08-25] The Championship course measures over 7,000 yards from the back tees and the fourth and ninth holes are featured in the book "The 500 World's Greatest Golf Holes".cite web | title= Royal County Down , Northern Ireland | work=Top 100 Golf Courses of the World | url=http://www.top100golfcourses.co.uk/htmlsite/productdetails.asp?id=8 | accessdate=2007-08-25] In 2005 the Championship Course was ranked as the fourth best course in the world outside the United States by "Golf Digest", and in 2007 it was ranked first.The Annesley Links is a lot shorter but is considered to be just as challenging, the stretch from 5-13 is regarded as senic and as fun as any course world over. Both the courses are generally considered to be the best maintained in the world.

Tournaments

Royal County Down has hosted:

*Senior British Open Championship in 2000 (winner:Christy O'Connor Jnr), 2001 (winner:Ian Stanley and 2002 (winner:Noboru Sugai).

*The Amateur Championship in 1970 (winner:Michael Bonallack and 1999 (winner:Graeme Storm) It will host it again in 2012.

*British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship in 1899 (winner: May Hezlet), 1907 (winner: May Hezlet), 1920 (winner: Cecil Leitch, 1927 (winner: Simone de la Chaume), 1935 (winner: Wanda Morgan), 1950 (winner:Vicomtesse de St Sauveur), 1963 (winner: Brigitte Varangot) and 2006 (winner: Belen Mozo).

*Curtis Cup in 1968. The United States defeated Great Britain & Ireland 10½ to 7½.

*The 2007 Walker Cup was held there on 8-9 September 2007. It is only the second club in Ireland, after Portmarnock in 1991, to host the biennial competition. The United States defeated Great Britain & Ireland.

History

The first course at County Down was begun by Old Tom Morris who was hired for 4 guineas to build a championship course at Newcastle which opened in 1889. His course started and finished by the railway station, thus it played through the general area which the Slieve Donard Hotel now occupies. Many of the holes were on the grounds that the present day No. 1 and No. 2 courses at County Down occupy. George Combe began the remodelling of the course in 1900 and was Convenor of the Green from 1900 to 1913. He was made an honorary life member in 1909 and continued making improvements to the course. Harry Vardon modified the course in 1908, the same year King Edward VII bestowed royal patronage on the club. In 1926, the Club brought Harry Colt in to make further improvements. [cite web | title= The Royal County Down Golf Club (No. 1 Course)| work= Golf Club Atlas| url=http://www.golfclubatlas.com/rcd1.html | accessdate=2007-08-25]

References

External links

* [http://www.royalcountydown.org/ Royal County Down Golf Club]
* [http://www.golfclubatlas.com/rcd1.html Detailed look]