Going for Golf

St Annes

The other course that shares this wonderful sliver of green in Dublin Bay is St Anne’s, named in honour of the Guinness Estate. According to legend – that word again – St Anne’s began when three local people started to dig holes at one end of the island, and from this handmade start the course has now developed into one of the best loved, and friendliest, links courses in the country.

The island has a bird sanctuary under the protection of UNESCO, a beach that is more than three miles long, eye-popping scenery accompanying a fine par-71 course dotted with sandy dunes and with views stretching from the Wicklow Mountains in the south to Howth Head to the north.

There are plenty of challenging holes here, what with three par-fives and four par-threes. Five new greens and eight new tee complexes have been added in recent years, and there is a nod to another sport in the use of turf from the nearby Croke Park Stadium on stretches of the back nine – ‘Croker’ being the home of the country’s native Gaelic Games, hurling and football, and which in recent times has also hosted Ireland rugby and soccer internationals. Irish golfing legend Des Smyth has even described St Annes as a “hidden gem”.