Lahinch Golf Club

Lahinch Golf Club is a world-renowned links golf course in the village of Lahinch on the northwest coast of County Clare, in northern Munster, Ireland. It is situated approximately 20 miles northwest of the town of Ennis.

Founded in 1892 by officials of Limerick Golf Club Alexander W. Shaw and Richard J. Plummer, they laid out an 18-hole course, the original course had ten holes on each side of the road. It has often been described as the "St. Andrew's" of Ireland. The original links was laid out by Old Tom Morris. Alister MacKenzie, who co-designed Augusta National Golf Club, redesigned the Old Course and extended the links in 1927 for a fee of £2000. Lahinch is actually two 18 hole courses, the Old Course, is between the road and the sea, situated at the opposite side of the road from the Old Course is the Castle Course. The Castle Course is a flatter links named after the ruins of a nearby castle tower that stands to the northof the course.

Lahinch Golf Club is home to the South of Ireland Championship, an amateur golf tournament which began in 1895. Notable winners include Joe Carr in 1969, Darren Clarke in 1989, Paul McGinley in 1991 and Graeme McDowell in 2000. Ireland's Pádraig Harrington finished runner up on two occasions.

Lahinch

Lahinch or Lehinch (Irish: An Leacht or Leacht Uí Chonchubhair, meaning "The Memorial cairn of O'Connor") is a small town on Liscannor Bay, on the northwest coast of County Clare, Ireland. It lies on the N67 national secondary road, between Milltown Malbay and Ennistymon, roughly 75 kilometres (47 mi) by road southwest of Galway and 68 kilometres (42 mi) northwest of Limerick. The town is a seaside resort and is home to the Lahinch Golf Club. It has become a popular surfing location.

Etymology

Lahinch is the anglicised form of Leath Inse, meaning peninsula. This is not related to Leacht Uí Chonchubhair, which means "O'Connor's Grave", referring to the memorial cairn (Leacht) marking the burial place of one of the O’Connor chieftains, who were the ruling clan of the district of Corco Modhruadh Iartharach.

The town was recorded by the Annals of the Four Masters as Leith Innse, which is a variant of the Irish word for a peninsula leithinis ("half island"), which describes the village's location between the Inagh River and the sea. The town today is mostly spelt "Lahinch", but some road signs in the area use the spelling "Lehinch".