County Louth Golf Club, Baltray
Baltray is often bypassed on route to Newcastle & Portrush. It merits an extended stay. Once you've been, you'll be scheming for a quick return!
In the Beginning…..
The name Thomas Gilroy may not mean much to readers, however, this Dundee born Scotsman, a golfing acquaintance of Young Tom Morris no less, was instrumental in popularising early Irish golf during the last few decades of the 19th century.
Gilroy’s highlights reel includes routing the original Dublin Golf Club course at Dollymount in 1889, creating his own course at Mornington, Co. Meath in 1887, finding and routing the original course at Portrush in 1888 (in association with George Lockhart Baillie of Musselburgh) and laying out the Northwest Golf Club at Lisfannon in 1891.
Upon the closure of the aforementioned Mornington course, Gilroy and local landowner George Henry Pentland conspired to route a 9 hole course over a sandy site on the northern banks of the Boyne Estuary at Baltray.
The Drogheda Argus Newspaper reported the following on the 6th of August 1892 -
A club has been started under the above name, and gentlemen who wish to join it are requested to communicate with the acting secretary, G.H. Pentland, Black Hall, Drogheda.
The links are on the seashore at Baltray, about 3 miles from Drogheda, where a course of nine holes has been laid out and is now ready for play. Tom Smith, green-keeper, Baltray, will point out the course to any gentlemen who may wish to inspect it.
The original course was quickly extended to 18 holes to accommodate the demands of a growing membership base. It is interesting to note that every hole had at least one or two hazards, however, this original course was bereft of any ‘artificial’ bunkering.
Cecil Barcroft
The initial course at Baltray prevailed for twenty years, it was subsequently revised by Cecil Barcroft (Secretary of The Royal Dublin GC) in 1914. Mr. Barcroft made the following remarks on his revisions in a column in the Evening Herald on the 19th March of that year.
As the County Louth Golf Club has now acquired a considerable amount of new territory, it is proposed in the near future to reconstruct the course. A scheme has been prepared which, when carried out, will make Baltray no mere holiday links. Nevertheless, the golf need not be made very strenuous.
The new scheme affords much elasticity at most of the holes, allowing for a course from about 5,800 to 6,200 yards, which preserves in the main the most interesting features of the present course, while lengthening it and making it less blind. It will certainly give very good and very sporting golf, though perhaps this statement is in bad taste, as the writer has shared in the reconstruction. But Baltray is so good and so delightful that no one could make a hash of it.
1930’s
All would change towards the end of the 1930’s, when a mysterious Englishman and his design mews were invited to carry out an inspection of the course which precipitated further revisions and improvements.
The Englishman in question was Tom Simpson, his mews, was Molly Gourlay.
Their refreshingly honest and extensive report (sent to the club on 15th of October 1937) began with the following preamble -
This is just about as fine a piece of “Links Land”, ordained by nature for golf, as we have ever seen, but it would be idle to pretend that in its present form and condition it is a good golf course.
There are a number of weak points about your course, The two worst are:-
(1) You have so few full-length two shot holes (of which there ought to be six or eight, and of which, in fact, you have only two, namely, Nos 9 and 10). The effect of our proposals will be to give you more full-length two-shotters.
(2) Perhaps the weakest point of all, is your one shot holes. They are featureless and badly sighted, and are far too easy. One-shot holes are perhaps the most important of all on a golf course and provide the most entertainment - to that end, they must be really good. When possible, we like to lay down five one-shot holes on a course varying from 105 yards to 225 yards.
Unfortunately, those who were responsible for the design of the course as now planned, failed to observe and/or take advantage of the glorious possibilities that the ground afforded.
Happily, the task with which we, your Architects, are faced is an extremely simple one, this owing to the ground being so rich in natural golfing character, and, moreover, it is one that can be achieved for a relatively small sum of money, when it is realised, what a wonderful result will obtain.
There are few really good holes on the course as it stands, but, let there be no possible misunderstanding, you have a jewel at hand, waiting to be taken, and the price you are asked to pay for it is indeed trivial, having regard to its intrinsic merit.
If you adopt our suggestions, your course will be in the very front rank , and will take a high place amongst the great courses of the world. We refrain from using the words “Championship Course” as it is a term that conveys nothing to us.
TS/MG
Simpson and Gourlay proposed changes to 15 holes, including the creation of 3 new short holes and a complete re-bunkering plan.
The club spared no time in approving the suggestions, via a special meeting of the membership at the beginning of November 1937. The projected cost of the redevelopment was estimated at £1,854.00.
Baltray’s committee also very sensibly followed Simpson’s advice in appointing Mr. Chapman (of Sutton Seeds) as project foreman to oversee the reconstruction project.
Lionel Hewson, writing in The Irish Independent in March 1938, assesses the prescience of that decision -
Some of us have been lucky enough to play on such courses as Sunningdale, Woking, Muirfield, Royal Porthcawl and many others that have been constructed under the foremanship of Mr. Chapman. He is generally working under Mr. Tom Simpson, the golf architect, and understands the subtle course designers desires by heart.
While helping Mr. Simpson at Baltray I have had a lot to do with Mr. Chapman. Course construction seems a simple thing when you have a man like him to carry it out. His artistry nearly equals that of Mr. Simpson. Go and see his work at Baltray, and study his bunkers and turf laying, and you will see what I mean.
Work progressed quickly and the official opening of the new course was held on the 24th of July 1938. Irish golfing luminaries of the time, Jimmy Bruen and Cecil Ewing competed in the inaugural competition. Bruen needing only 71 blows to set the first course record around the newly reconstructed links.
Relatively little has changed at Baltray since the Simpson’s revisions were completed, save for some course lengthening and rebunkering by Donald Steel and Tom MacKenzie throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s. The design firm Spogárd & van der Vaart subsequently revised two greens (2nd and 5th), they also created an alternative green on the par 3 17th hole.
Baltray Hallmarks & Highlights
The expansive routing at Baltray begins and ends on the higher landward side of the site ushering the golfer to and from the embrace of its well appointed clubhouse and practice facilities.
Somewhat uniquely three of the first six holes are par five’s, all of which provide scoring opportunities for the thinking golfer…. The third hole in particular tempts the tiger to take on a perilous blind carry to an undulating perched green surrounded by run offs… caveat emptor!
As you’d expect from a course touched by the hand of Tom Simpson, the green sites and the use of surrounding natural and ‘artificial’ contouring are a joy to behold. Special attention should be directed to the magical seventh green, perched perfectly on a diagonal dune ridge…. try not to miss long…. in fact ending up in the middle of the green is good advice for all of the short holes.
Other holes of note include the bunkerless 4th (the original 1st), the fall away 8th, the picture postcard 12th and the 13th…. a strong contender for the best short 4 on the island which affords golfers a panoramic vista from a teebox positioned hard against the adjoining Seapoint Golf Links property.
An air of communality abounds throughout thanks to long connected views, allied to a clever use of a singular nexus point adjacent to the 2nd green. This is Baltray’s grand central station and the locale for 3 greens (2, 8 & 11) and 3 tee-boxes (3, 9 & 12)….. fore please…. golfers now driving/putting!
Short Grass
County Louth GC owns one of the newest sports turf irrigation systems in Ireland, having replaced a 1980’s vintage system in 2022 - this has provided Wayne and the Course team significant additional control while facilitating the presentation of swathes of short turf green surrounds that enhance connectivity, visual appeal and shot making options.
East of Ireland Championship
County Louth has hosted the annual East of Ireland Championship since its inception in 1941. Elite amateur golfers from Ireland and beyond battle through 72 holes of intense stroke-play competition, winners follow in the footsteps of Darren Clarke (1989) and the great J.B. Carr who won the first staging of the event and then a further 11 more for good measure… J.B.’s son Roddy would win the year after Joe’s final victory in 1970.
Irish Open
To date County Louth has hosted the Irish Open on two occasions (2004 & 2009). The sublime short game skills of Australian Brett Rumford endured in 2004. In the 2009 edition Shane Lowry won his first professional event, usurping Robert Rock after a three hole playoff. Rock banked the winners cheque, as Lowry was still an amateur, he would turn professional a few days later.
Boys Amateur Championship 2025
The R&A are bringing the Boys Amateur Championship to Baltray from the 11th to the 16th of August 2025. Ryan, Wayne and the operations team will undoubtedly have the place humming for the event.
In Conclusion
A number of recent trips to County Louth Golf Club, both playing and caddying have reinforced my contention that this expansive tract of linksland presents one of the very best golfing days out to be had on the Island of Ireland.
For the mere mortal, the ever changing conundrum centres on deciphering a dark alchemy of optimal approach angle, shot shape, trajectory, ground contour utilisation and an awareness of the prevailing climatic conditions. Easy :).
Baltray is a golf course that rewards imagination and feel… a real shot makers paradise!