Narin & Portnoo Links golf club Donegal

Members Achievements

Narin & Portnoo Golf Club were Runners-Up in the Quarter-Final of the Irish Mixed Foursomes at Greenore Golf Club on Saturday 26th August 2023 when they lost out to Malahide Golf Club by 3½-matches to 1½-matches.
In the top match Harry Reid with Annette MdGettigan had a 4 and 3 win against Dan Murphy with Anita O'Neill, they were followed by Coumba Gavigan with Eithne Devlin who lost their match against Philip Smith with Siobhan Rogan by 2 and 1, next on the tee Willie and Cathy Quinn had a similar result against Niall Sullivan with Niamh Clarke, in the penultimate match Frankie Kennedy with May McCann recorded a 4 and 3 win against Colin Shiels with Paula Ryan and in the bottom match of Finn McCrory with Jenny Boyd against Paul O'Connor with Jenny Murray was halved.

Narin & Portnoo Golf Club won the Final of the North Ulster Irish Mixed Foursomes at Donegal Golf Club on Saturday 5th August 2023 when they beat Lisburn Golf Club by 4-matches to 1-matche.

2004 Lady Captain Maria Rafferty (30) and her Captain's Prize Winner Natalie Guildea (10) were qualifiers with 34 pts. in the Volkswagen-Irish Independent Lady Captain's Classic at Co. Sligo Golf Club in August 2004 they qualified for the National Finals at Hermitage on 4th October.

History of Narin & Portnoo Links

Narin and Portnoo Golf Club was founded in 1930 when five local men decided that the warren in Narin had the potential to be developed into a testing links. Canon Ernest Devlin, Rev. Boyce, William Hemmersbach, William ODonnell and Francis J. McLoone saw the fillip to the tourist trade that a golf course would provide and they pooled their resources to rent the land from the five landlords concerned. A number of rudimentary holes were already in existence and help was sought from Hughie McNeill, the professional in Portrush to bring those holes up to scratch.
On July 9, 1930 William O’Donnell launched a drive down the first and a golf club was born. A committee was formed in 1931 with Mr. O’Donnell the first captain and by the spring of 1932, nine holes had been laid out.
Jim McCole was appointed greenkeeper in 1934 and would hold the post until 1977. Under his stewardship, Narin developed a reputation for fast links greens and the sight of Jim on his knees plucking rye grass was not an uncommon one.
Throughout the thirties the membership grew and a decision was taken in April 1938 to build a clubhouse. Joseph Cunningham & Sons, Killybegs were awarded the contract and on September 1, 1939 H.A. McDevitte T.D. officially opened the small, wooden pavilion. It would serve as the clubhouse until 1968.
John O’Donnell of Ardara and John Gillespie of Narin were the leading golfers in the first half century of the club’s existence, with the latter going round the nine holes in 33 shots on two occasions. Fairways were only cut once or twice a year, which made the course play longer than its actual length, a problem accentuated by the prevalence of moss.
The war years were traumatic for the golf club due to transport difficulties and finances didn’t improve much afterwards. Attracting new members wasn’t proving easy and but for the fundraising efforts of the Portnoo Dramatic Club, the club may have folded in the mid-fifties. The thespians toured throughout the county and presented £600 to the committee after several years fundraising. The corner had been turned.
Improvements were made to the nine-hole layout and in 1957 the current sixteenth hole replaced the sodden second on the initiative of Louis Walsh. A decision was taken in 1960 to rent more land from Barney McNelis and on June 24th, 1965 Donagh O’Malley, T.D. opened the new eighteen hole course. A first-ever victory in the Inter Club League in 1967 under the captaincy of Patsy Sweeney showed that the club was moving in the right direction on the playing front.
Membership improved sufficiently to justify the building of a bigger clubhouse and this was accomplished by Joe McMenamin & Sons, Stranorlar in 1968 with a grant of £6000 from Bord Fáilte easing the financial burden. A new car park followed in 1970, while new machinery made life a little easier for the greens staff.
Donal McBride became Honorary Secretary in 1978 and he entered the club for the first time in the Pierce Purcell, Scratch Cup and Ulster Cup. Fr. Brendan McBride represented Ulster that same year, a first for a Narin & Portnoo player. A successful Pro-Am was launched in 1979 which heightened the club’s profile even further. The likes of Eamon Darcy, Christy O’Connor and David Feherty were big draws and the standard of golf reflected this, with Bobby Browne shooting a 63 in 1979 to set a new course record. The amateur record of 63 was set by Ballybofey’s Enda McMenamin in 1990.
An extension to the clubhouse was added in 1990 and in 2001 the club purchased that part of the course owned by Mrs. Mary McNelis for £750,000. A course re-alignment in 2004 has increased the par to 73 and created several holes of unquestioned beauty.
From eighteen members in 1930, the club now caters for close on 730. Its founders’ vision has been justified and the best years surely lie ahead.