The European Club
Brittas Bay, Co. Wicklow · Designed by Pat Ruddy (1992) · Est. 1992
Why this Edge Score: Pat Ruddy designed, built and still runs this world-renowned links on the Wicklow dunes, famous for its twenty greens and a beachside stretch that ranks with anything in Irish golf. A Tom Watson favourite and a consensus Ireland top-ten, it earns a place near the top of our Irish list.
The European Club is Pat Ruddy's singular obsession - a links he designed, built, owns and still tends himself on the duneland at Brittas Bay, an hour south of Dublin on the Wicklow coast. Opened in 1992, it broke from Irish tradition in almost every way: Ruddy laid out big, muscular holes through the dunes, faced its bunkers with railway sleepers, and gave the course twenty greens rather than eighteen, so two extra short holes could be slotted in when he pleased. The result is one of the most admired modern links in the world, a fixture in Ireland's top ten and, by several rankings, its top five.
Playing to a par of 71 over more than 7,300 yards from the back tees, the European Club is a stern, honest examination framed by the Irish Sea. The run of holes from the 7th to the 14th, hard against the beach through the tallest dunes, is as good a stretch as Irish golf offers; the par-4 13th, with a green over 120 yards long, is the most talked-about. Tom Watson, a regular visitor, has called it one of the finest links he has played. Ruddy is often on the course or in the clubhouse, and the operation is refreshingly unstuffy for a course of this stature.
Highlights
- Designed, built and owned by Pat Ruddy
- Twenty greens - two extra short holes
- A Tom Watson favourite; consensus Ireland top-ten links
- Beachside dune holes 7-14 along the Irish Sea
Good to know
- →Book directly with the club; Pat Ruddy and his family run a famously friendly, walk-in-welcome operation despite the course being one of Ireland's best.
- →It is an hour south of Dublin on the M11, easily paired with Druids Glen, Powerscourt or the Wicklow mountains for an east-coast day.
- →Bring enough ball for the closing stretch - the sleepered bunkers and dune faces are unforgiving in a sea wind.
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