Four of Ireland’s top golfers are conducting the official drive-in at The Golf Course at Adare Manor today. Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley and Shane Lowry are competing in a €500,000 charity match to mark the milestone occasion for Irish golf.
The golf course has been under construction for two years. It extends to 7,509-yards and is the first in Europe to feature greens of super fine bentgrass.
Adare Manor CEO Colm Hannon stated: “This is a wonderful day for Irish golf, and I look forward to seeing each of the golfing stars supporting today’s launch return to compete for golfing events of the very highest calibre at Adare Manor over the years to come.”
Lead course designer Tom Fazio commented: “Most golfers will never have seen anything like this course. It looks and plays like no other course in Ireland. This will be a standout course in Europe and, with the Adare Manor house and estate as its setting, will be one of the finest stay and play venues ever created – everyone is going to want to see this place.”
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The course is also one of only three in the UK and Ireland where all 18 greens incorporate the SubAir Aeration System, used to remove moisture through vacuum pumps, guaranteeing firm play each day.
While the course features little in the way of heavy rough, Adare Manor’s greens will present a considerable challenge, according to Fazio. Raised high above their surrounds, an excellent short game will be required to negotiate their many contours. Sweeping plateaus are a common feature, a test exacerbated by perennially speedy greens.
Drainage
During the construction phase, 220,000 tonnes of sand were used throughout the property, combining with 77,000 linear metres of gravel trenches (50 miles) and perforated pipes to allow for free-draining even in the worst weather conditions. The Golf Course now spans 170 acres of low-cut, sand capped grass, wall to wall, with no rough in play, catering for a brisk pace of play with little time required to find balls.
The Golf Course at Adare Manor has been designed with its most exacting holes in the final stretch. Four of these feature the strong presence of water starting on the par-4 14th, which plays towards a green overhanging a lake.
Hole no.15 will be a driveable par-4 for many modern-day tour players, but it is dominated by the River Maigue, which runs the length of its right-hand side. Water is in play again at the short par-3 16th but with 60-metres of green to play with, those who fail to find the surface will be disappointed. Over its closing pair golfers will face two very different tests, with 17th being a tree-lined par-4 of some 523 yards from the back tees. The closing hole is a par-5 that can be reached in two shots, although the greeb is described as “treacherous”.
The Adare Manor's course has fewer bunkers (41) than any other Tom Fazio-designed course, though Fazio says each has a very strategic purpose, determining golfers’ approaches to play throughout.
Adare Manor, which is owned by the McManus family, re-opened in November 2017 following extensive renovation and restoration that included a new 42-bedroom wing, increasing accommodations to a total of 104 guest rooms and a ballroom which can host up to 350 guests.
