‘The idea is that this golf course can host an Irish Open’ — Pádraig Harrington to collaborate on €7m redesign at Seapoint
A computer generated view of the redesigned 18th at Seapoint
Pádraig Harrington believes Seapoint Golf Links will be ready to bid for the Irish Open after he collaborates on a €7m redesign of the Co Louth venue.
The Dubliner will work with Giulia Ferroni of Leeds Golf Design and Roddy Carr to reimagine the Declan Branigan and Des Smyth-designed course, which opened in 1993.
"There's no doubt we're looking for the wow factor," Harrington said in a promotional video for the project, which will see the course close temporarily next year before reopening in 2028.
"They ain't making any more linksland. It's hard to come by, and you know Seapoint has some of the best.
"Everybody remembers the last couple of holes in Seapoint. Spectacular holes — 16, 17, 18.
"It's our job to make sure that they remember the other 15 as well. The idea here is that this golf course can host an Irish Open."
Seapoint hosted the Irish Amateur Close 2014, the Irish PGA in 2010 and 2011, the Irish Men's Amateur Open in 2025 and 2026, and two editions of the Irish Legends event on the European senior tour.
"When I was approached about the redevelopment of Seapoint, it really was a no-brainer for me," Harrington added. "The excitement to be involved with a links golf course-they're just not making any more links land, at least links land that you can develop in Ireland.
"Seapoint has hosted some of the biggest amateur events in Ireland and some pro events, the Legends Tour, the PGA Championships.
"I would hope that we will continue on that path and even get bigger and better tournaments in the future.
"The idea here is, and we're looking at this as we develop the golf course, that this golf course can host an Irish Open.
"We want to make sure that the feasibility to get the crowds around is there, and that the difficulty in the golf course is there when needed.
"We don't want it to be there when it's not needed. So we want to be able to host an Irish Open. That would be the goal.
"There are four new holes, seven greens, quite a few bunkers being moved. We're going to go in quite a few waste areas to fill in the open spaces.
"It's a big space, Seapoint. There's a lot of room out there, so we're going to try and fill in some of those open areas with waste areas, waste area bunkers, and natural marram grass and things like that.
"We're going to take out some of the bunkers that don't necessarily come into play for the elite players.
"There are a lot of bunkers, 20, 30 yards shorter greens that kind of come out, but we're going to leave anything that's difficult.
"We're going to start using the 10th as the first hole, so that you start on a links golf hole. So you're straight out into links golf. This is something you can only do retrospectively.
"You know, it takes a serious bit of effort and an engineer to get you an 18-hole loop on a golf course. I've been working with Guilia, and she's listened to my ideas. She put me straight on a few of them, for sure, because she is an architect.
"The engineering that goes into this is significant, and I need somebody to keep me on the straight and narrow. Let's say, probably need that in the golf game too.
"She's doing a tremendous job of explaining what's possible and what's not possible, and actually making some of the impossible work.
"In some cases we will develop greens and tee boxes that sit up, so that when you're on them, you're looking out to the sea. There's going to be some holes that play with a view of the sea, playing out towards the sea.
"We're expecting and certainly hopeful that the members will have a beautiful links golf course, one that they can be very proud of to look out on.
"The vistas will be there. You know, everybody should be able to look out there and be very proud of what they see in front of them.
"They'll be able to go out and enjoy it. But one of the biggest goals of this project is to improve the aesthetic feel of the golf course."
Marty Carr from Genesis Links Limited said: “This is a major investment in the long-term future of Seapoint and in the potential of an exceptional piece of linksland.
“Our ambition is to create a golf course that is more distinctive, more enjoyable and better equipped for the future, while building on the character and qualities that members value about Seapoint today.
“The scale of the investment reflects our confidence in Seapoint and in County Louth as one of Ireland’s outstanding golf destinations. We believe the finished course will be something our members, the local community and the wider region can be very proud of.”
