'I want to raise this Donegal Golf Club course back up the rankings' - Paul McGinley

Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley wants the course in Donegal Golf Club to rise back up through the golf ranking, stating that by the time the redevelopment of the golf course is complete, it will be good enough to host a tournament like the Irish Open.  

Just this week Paul McGinley Golf Course Design has completed the first phase of renovation work at Donegal Golf Club, located on the Murvagh Peninsula on Ireland’s Atlantic coast.  

The par 73 Championship Links Course expands over 7,400 yards was originally designed by Eddie Hackett in 1973 and was remodeled by Pat Ruddy in 1992. It has holes playing along sand dunes with views of Donegal Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Bluestack Mountains.  

The work is being rolled out in a number of phases. McGinley’s first three holes, the 16th, 17th, and 18th were completed in the spring of 2024.  

In the autumn of 2024, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th holes will be finalised, leaving seven holes ready for the 2025 golfing season when The Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush.   

“Donegal Golf Club is extremely excited to begin the next chapter in our evolution by partnering with McGinley Golf Design,” said Brian Boyle, President of Donegal Golf Club.  

The men’s captain Justin Coughlan spoke also about the positive impact that Paul McGinley and the redesign have brought to the club, saying: “As Captain of Donegal Golf Club, I’m honoured and delighted to welcome Paul McGinley as our new course designer. This is not only an important historical moment for our course design, but also a crucial part of our club’s future going forward.”  

While the lady’s captain Patricia Britton said it was a privilege to have the role she has at such an important time in the club’s history. “As lady Captain, it’s such an honour to be in this position at such an exciting time. There is an air of positivity around the place and that will only add to our prominence as a golf club throughout Ireland and Europe.”  

Speaking exclusively to Donegal Live, the 2014 Ryder Cup-winning captain spoke about his excitement to be a part of history and follow in the footsteps of great designers who came before him.   

“I’m really honoured and really privileged that I have been given the opportunity to do this. I’m following the legacy of great designers already, who are legends in golfing architecture, so it’s something that I’m really happy with and it’s something I’m putting all my effort into,” McGinley said.  

The Dublin-born golfer spoke about his thoughts behind golf design and his passion for it, as well as looking at how he came to be involved with the Murvagh Golf Club.   

“I like to think that golf courses are like houses, and with that, they need maintenance, so this is just a further upgrade of maintenance in what the golf course needs.  

“Doing the design of a golf course . . . that’s something I’ve wanted to do more and more as I’ve started to play less and less golf, I’ve gotten great experience from playing the best golf courses in the world and I’ve been lucky to meet some of the great designers in the world and pick their brains.

“I’ve always had an interest in this field, and I’ve done a number of projects, so it’s not like we’re just starting. We’ve done projects from Ghana, to Bulgaria, to Portugal, to here in Ireland, and now we feel this is the next level for us, to do a golf course of this repute like Donegal Golf Club is, it’s something I’m excited about.  

“Donegal Golf Club are at a stage now where they have a real forward-thinking committee in place. I think their members felt that, like a house, their course needed an upgrade because they get tired over time and the club was looking for something new, and that’s where we came in.  

“When we met them, we told them what ideas we had, and then one thing led to another where we had a masterplan in place which the members all accepted, so now we’re in the first stage of that plan.”  

The design team’s work is focused on greens, bunkers , and tees as well as native areas, irrigation, and pathways, while bunkers will be renovated, with the number of bunkers to be reduced by around 25 percent to improve playability and reduce maintenance costs.  

With all that, positivity has been flowing through the local golfing scene in Donegal, with rumours that such hype and redevelopment could push the golf club to the heights of hosting a tournament as big as the Irish Open.   

And while it cannot be ruled out, McGinley points to the fact that while the course will be suitable, there are other aspects that have to be taken into account, and for the moment McGinley hopes the redevelopment will take the Murvagh Golf Club back up through the Irish golf rankings.  

“We talk about a tournament like the Irish Open . . . I mean the golf course is good enough, and we’ll have seven holes completed this time next year, so we’re looking at a three-year window,” he said.  

“The golf course will be ready to take on an Irish Open, but then you need the tourism board, and the sponsors and the European Tour to get involved, so there’s many pieces to this jigsaw if you want an Irish Open.    

“This place where Donegal Golf Club is situated, it’s the gateway to Donegal. What’s happening in Ireland at the minute is that links courses are booming, and tourists are coming here and spending millions of dollars on golf, and as the courses south of the country get booked out, people are moving north to Donegal to play, which is great.  

“I think then when people come to Donegal and then they realize how great it is, on top of having a great golf product, it can only serve places like Murvagh well.  

“I’m very passionate about this and I understand the legacy in doing course design. Work has been ongoing since February and with every bit of work we do, it’s about understanding that it’s to make it enjoyable for the thousands of people that are going to play here and know that we’re adding to the history of this golf club.  

“My thought process is to raise this golf course back up the rankings, it has slipped down over the past few years and I’m keen to get it back up amongst the best courses in the country again.”