Carrick- On- Shannon Golf Club was established in 1910 by Thomas Dillon Pettit, a Catholic merchant from Carrick, the club's first president.
At first, the townland of Ballynamony (just north of Carrick on Shannon) was used as a Golf course. Then, in 1936, the club moved to a site nearer the town at Lisnagat (now St. Patrick’s Park housing estate). At that time, it was a 6 hole course with about 12 members. The club enjoyed free tenure from Major Kirkwood of Woodbrook House who owned the land. The Kirkwood Estate at Woodbrook was made famous in a book of the same name by the award-winning author David Thomson (pub 1974) which recounts the famine evictions here.
In 1944, the Golf Club seized the opportunity to move to Woodbrook aka the townland of Usna on the Roscommon side of Carrick. The services of the renowned Golf Architect, Mr John McAllister, were engaged to design a new 9 hole course. To help raise the finance to pay for the new course the club farmed sheep. The Gate Lodge (which can still be seen at the entrance to Woodbrook House, near the present entrance) served as a Club House. When Major Kirkwood decided to sell his estate in 1947, the club incorporated as Carrick-on-Shannon Estate Ltd which sold shares to members and townspeople in order to raise the £1500 necessary for the purchase.
In 1949 a Members Pavillion was erected with the purchase of two Nissan Huts. (Nissan Huts were used during World War 2 to billet US Servicemen based in Enniskillen). In 1971 a new Clubhouse was erected.
By August 2003, Carrick-On-Shannon had expanded from a 9 Hole course to an 18 Hole Course with the help of Martin Hawtree (a well –respected British architect who has been responsible for the radical and highly successive alterations carried out on the Old Course at Lahinch).
READ MORE
Carrick Golf Club's first President
LISTEN
PODCAST The Story of Woodbrook - David Thomson's Book
References
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The Story of Woodbrook | RTE documentary | Ireland | VIEW SOURCE |
