Golf Inc - March/April 2009 - (Page 13) Golf Membership Manager Peter Smythe says Lough Erne will put Northern Ireland on the international golfing map will also be distinctive. “Lough Erne is on a superb site and is going to be a great golf course,” he said. “The most salient point is the drama of having lochs on either side of the property, so you have a view of at least one from 16 holes. That is pretty much in the realm of the unique.” Uniqueness comes at a price, however. “The configuration of the land was quite irregular,” Hockley said, “so it wasn’t a simple procedure to get a routing plan that gave us all the balances we wanted. [For example] due to the irregularity and narrowness of parts of the land, we don’t have a returning nine. We have the ninth green at the opposite end of the property.” The land, although challenging, provides panoramas that before were only enjoyed by the occasional fisherman and swans. Its potential is immense and as Peter Smyth, golf membership manager at the resort, points out, a championship golf course will benefit not only Fermanagh but all of Northern Ireland. “It’s massive,” he said. “It will open everybody’s eyes and put Northern Ireland on the map. I see it being in the top 100 UK courses and the aspiration would be to host a top European event. You’ve got to set your sights high. The K Club has done it, so why not Lough Erne? We know how successful the Ryder Cup was for Ireland and I think we can do the same.” He’s not alone. Jonathan Stapleton spent five-and-a-half years managing the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews and is now the general manager at the 120-room Lough Erne Golf Resort. He envisages great things for the hotel and for Faldo’s new course. “My vision is that within three years we will be recognized as one of the leading golf resorts and destinations in the world,” he says confidently. “There aren’t many places like this. It’s something that the entire community of Northern Ireland will be proud of for generations to come. This is a significant first step towards five-star tourism and should encourage other players to set foot here.” In fact, Lough Erne recently became the first hotel in Northern Ireland to be awarded five-star international status by the AA and plans are already afoot to bring a major event to the peaceful shores. “We’re talking about hosting the Irish Open in 2012,” Stapleton said. “Once we’ve done the Irish Open we can look toward doing a seniors or an LPGA event. When you host a championship like that, it sets you on the world’s stage as being a great golfing venue. Until you’ve done that, it’s difficult to say your golf course is great. You don’t have credibility.” —Mark Alexander PHOTO © MARK ALEXANDER March/April 2009 www.GolfIncMagazine.com 13 http://www.peatinc.com http://www.peatinc.com http://www.GolfIncMagazine.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.