{"id":423158,"date":"2026-01-21T07:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423158\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T07:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:41:11","slug":"wicklows-european-club-gets-a-new-name-and-a-makeover-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423158\/","title":{"rendered":"Wicklow\u2019s European Club gets a new name and a makeover \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou don\u2019t employ Michelangelo and take away his brush,\u201d remarks businessman Nicky Conlan, who, with his father Raymond, purchased The European Club in Co Wicklow<\/a> last year. <\/p>\n

Conlan is explaining the decision to perform a complete makeover of the links, which will also include a name change to the Brittas Bay Club. Course architect Kyle Phillips is in charge of the project and if all goes to plan, work will be complete in the spring of 2027.<\/p>\n

The course was originally designed and owned by Pat Ruddy. The Conlans, whose previous main line of work was in the motor trade, have acquired the facility for a fee reported to be north of \u20ac30 million.<\/p>\n

The European Club was P\u00e1draig Harrington<\/a>\u2019s go-to links in preparation for his successful Claret Jug wins in 2007 and 2008. It was once described by Rory McIlroy<\/a> as \u201cprobably the best links course I have ever played\u201d, while Tiger Woods<\/a>\u2019s scorecard of 67 once featured on the clubhouse walls as a course record. <\/p>\n

Change, though, is coming. <\/p>\n

A rerouting and a remastering of the links will be conducted, which will also include a complete regrassing and installation of a new irrigation system. Those famous railway sleepers which lined the 96 bunkers on the course will be removed, replaced by more traditional grass-revetted faces.<\/p>\n

For a links that consistently earned a place among the world\u2019s greatest 100 courses \u2013 whether those lists appeared in Golf Digest or Golf World or many other such rankings \u2013 the inclination to change, to make it even better, has come about as part of the deal.<\/p>\n

Or, as John Clarkin of Turfgrass \u2013 the agronomy specialists on the project \u2013 put it: \u201cIt\u2019s touching up that Sistine Chapel; it is going to move [the course] into the next century.\u201d<\/p>\n

For this redesign project, the Conlans \u2013 having sought advice from insiders in the golfing world \u2013 went with California-based Phillips to create their vision for the course by the Irish Sea.<\/p>\n

Phillips numbers Kingsbarns, outside St Andrews in Scotland, among his impressive catalogue of designs. Indeed, he has worked on projects in no fewer than 30 countries on five continents and has included a number of renovations and restorations. His most notable work is probably the California Golf Club in San Francisco, which was originally designed by AV Macan and Alister MacKenzie.<\/p>\n

This is Phillips\u2019s first project in Ireland. \u201cI\u2019m like a homeless person wandering around looking for some work,\u201d joked the well-travelled designer of his multinational footprint on the golfing landscape. He described the Co Wicklow course as \u201cspectacular\u201d.<\/p>\n

Subject to planning permission, the project will include a new clubhouse with bar and restaurant facilities on the first floor. The course renovation will bring the sea into view from early in a player\u2019s round and holes will be played in both directions along the coastline.<\/p>\n

\"WorkWork is scheduled to be complete at Brittas Bay Club in spring of 2027. Photograph: Mel Maclaine <\/p>\n

A quote attributed to Albert Einstein suggests the measure of intelligence is the ability to change. At Brittas Bay, the changes are aimed at making an already great links greater. Part of Phillips\u2019s remit is to improve its playability so that elite golfers and high-handicappers can enjoy the best of all worlds.<\/p>\n

There will be changes to the course\u2019s routing, with the scorecard also reconfigured so that there will be four par-fives (instead of two), four par-threes and a variety of par-fours. \u201cI don\u2019t feel like I have been handcuffed at all and largely, that\u2019s because of the scope of work that exists,\u201d said Phillips of his renovation.<\/p>\n

Where there were 20 holes on the Ruddy design \u2013 with players given the option to play those two additional holes \u2013 there will be a traditional 18 on the new layout and no talk of any one signature hole.<\/p>\n

As Phillips put it: \u201cIf we have a signature hole, then I\u2019m going to say that\u2019s a mission failed. The signature hole actually comes from Robert Trent Jones. He did a marketing campaign because he was outside New York and was advertising his services early on in the 1950s. He [created] the idea of giving your course a special hole and it has evolved over time into what is the signature hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually that means, in the American vernacular, what\u2019s the most water or the biggest fake waterfall behind the 18th or the green. Here, I think there is a whole bunch of awesome holes. That shoreline is so neat. Probably the one I am anticipating is a new hole that right now is the 14th hole and in our layout it plays inland back into a dune. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a short hole, just the way it sets up. It could be a really fun, drivable hole playing back inland. But with the new layout, [on] every hole you are in contact with the sea. You are never hidden away from it at any point. I feel its presence every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cognisant of the great product they have acquired, the Conlans have created a new logo for the Brittas Bay Club. It features the tern, a migratory bird which has a colony by the links.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be very proud of where we are situated,\u201d said Nicky Conlan. \u201cWe want to represent Wicklow, Brittas Bay, and put down roots here and be proud of the place where the course is established. The tern is a part of that. We will give a percentage of every green fee to the preservation of that bird, being in harmony with what\u2019s around it.\u201d<\/p>\n

All change, in so many ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYou don\u2019t employ Michelangelo and take away his brush,\u201d remarks businessman Nicky Conlan, who, with his father Raymond,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82,82418],"class_list":{"0":"post-423158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-wicklow"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}