Druids Glen Resort planning major renovations as it seeks Irish Open return
The 14th at Druids Heath
Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort is making “a significant investment” in Druids Heath in advance of further investment and renovations to Druids Glen in 2022 as it bids to attract the Irish Open once more.
Since purchasing Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort for €45 million in 2019, the Neville family has committed to reviewing all aspects of the golf business to ensure correct decisions are made for the future success of the resort.
Designed by Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock, Druids Glen opened in 1995 and hosted the Irish Open from 1995 to 1999 while the Ruddy-designed, heathland-style Druids Heath course opened in 2003.
The new owners of the resort have liaised with some of the golf industry’s leading experts during this review process and appointed golf course architect Jeff Lynch from (re)GOLF DESIGN to work in conjunction with course designer, Peter McEvoy and agronomist John Clarkin of Turfgrass Consultancy.
It’s believed the owners will spend somewhere between €10-€15 million renovating the courses in terms of their agronomy and drainage as well as refurbishing Woodstock House and adding a new members’ clubhouse and luxury accommodation.
McEvoy and (re)GOLF will be working on the renovation of Druids Heath, re-landscaping the existing bunker footprint (over 30,000m2) and “adopting a more handcrafted bunker and landform layout while maintaining diverse strategic values which engage golfers of all abilities.”
They are also incorporating over 28,000m of drainage across 15 sections of the course while Turfgrass aims to improve the playability of Druids Heath and reduce the level of difficulty for high handicappers without compromising stroke index, health or safety.
Druids Glen was planted with thousands of trees when it was built but the course has now become somewhat claustrophobic and there are plans to fell some 60 per cent of the trees to open up the course again, improving its playability and agronomy,.
The addition of new tees will stretch the course by some 400 yards to around 7,500 yards, making it a viable venue for the Irish Open from 2023 or 2024, some 25 years after Sergio Garcia won his first title as a professional in the 1999 Murphys Irish Open.
As for their immediate plans for Druids Heath this year, Turfgrass aims to drastically reduce unnecessary bunker area and relocate bunkers, grass hollows and runoff areas to maintain the strategy of the course.
The bunker renovation will give Druids Heath a new identity. In addition, a large scale drainage programme will commence as part of the works programme on selected holes.
Upon completion of this investment plan, the greenkeeping team will continue to build on the good work already completed on the course since July 2019.
The approach is very much to preserve all that makes Druids Heath the wonderful course that it has been and will be again.
Druids Glen Golf Course and the historic clubhouse, Woodstock House are part of a further investment plan in 2022.
The course will be upgraded to return Druids Glen to the pinnacle of Irish golf with the owners’ ambition to bring back Championships tournaments such as the Irish Open. While the renovation will not be a complete course redesign, the key natural features of the course will be retained and enhanced through the programme of works to ensure that the history and magic of Druids Glen is maintained while upgrading the course to championship standard.
The existing facilities at Woodstock House will be upgraded along with the addition of a new members clubhouse, housing new male and female changing rooms, bar and dining facilities and a new pro-shop and café area. The development will also include the provision of luxurious sleeping accommodation.
