Kilkeel golf club Down

Members Achievements

Grainne Killen and Anne Marie Higgins won the Australian Spoons champions at County Longford Golf Club in August 2022 with 42-points to beat Raffeen Creak’s duo of Cora Humphreys and Anne Payne by 1-point.

Kilkeel Golf Club won the Ulster Championship of the Jimmy Bruen Shield and where drawn against Connacht Champions Portumna Golf Club in the All-Ireland Semi-Final at Shannon Golf Club on Friday 17th September 2004.

They had a convincing 4 matches to 1 match victory over the Connacht Champions. The team on the day was Rory Sloane and Kieran Poland, who beat Pat Quinlan and James Porter by 6 & 5, Anthony Ward and Ciaran Hartigan beat Joe Slattery and Dick Quinlivan by 5 & 4, Trevor Weir and Graeme Morrow won their match on the 19th against Matt Donohoe and Peadar Ryan, Mark Trainor and Paul Higgins beat Michael McGivem and Sean Robinson on the 18th and Johnny Aiken with Pascal Morgan lost their match on the 17th to Leslie O'Meara and Francis McCleam.

They met Leinster Champions Dundalk Golf Club in the All-Ireland Final on Saturday 18th September, when the team was Rory Slone with Kieran Poland against Ken Norton with Michael Coburn, Johnny Aiken with Pascal Morgan against Sean Reidy with Kevin Barry, Anthony Ward with Ciaran Hartigan against Alan McCabe with Michael Gill, Trevor Weir with Graeme Morrow against Damien English with Ruairi Gogarty and Paul Higgins with Mark Trainor against Gareth Duffy and Michael Duffy.

Shauna McVeigh was selected for the Ulster Girls' team in the Smurfit Interprovincial Championship at Enniscrone Golf Club from the 18 th to the 20th of April 2001.

Prior to 2001:

Kilkeel won the All-Ireland Irish Mixed Foursomes at Kilkenny G. C. in 1996, when the team was S. P. McVeigh, W. Sloan, T. McVeigh, H. J. Flynn, P. Morgan, E. McAteer, M. McDowell, H. Matthews, D. McDowell, N. Murphy and A. Orr, they were captained by E. McDowell.

Kilkeel won the Ulster Final of the All-Ireland Jimmy Bruen Shield when they beat Dunmurry. They went on to meet East Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final at Lahinch on 22 nd September 2000. The squad was Willie Sloan, Jim McKay, Michael Concannon, Pascal Morgan, Sean Leneghan, Stanley Weir, Robert Gordon, Brian Morgan, Eric Nicholson, Joey Annett and Thomas McVeigh.

They beat East Cork 3 to 2 in the Semi-Final and went on to beat The Heath 3.5 to 1.5 in the All-Ireland National Final. The team was J. McKay with Michael Concannon, P. Morgan with Sean Leneghan, S. Weir with R. Gordon, B. Morgan with E. Nicholson and T. McVeigh with J. Annett.

They won the Ulster Fourball Trophy in 1996 and 1997.

They won the Rossmore Cup in 1998 and 1996.

Members who played representative golf for their Province;

S. McVeigh represented Ulster as a Youth in the Interprovincial Championships in 1992 playing 5-times won 3-matches halved one and lost 1-match accumulating 7-points;

History of Kilkeel

Way back in 1922 some townspeople in Kilkeel looked enviously at Warrenpoint and Greenore and their 18-hole golf courses dating back to their foundation in the 1890's. Also some of the locals made the journey to both Clubs and got the golf bug!
An ideal piece of ground for a 9-hole course was on hand at Cranfield on land adjoining the Carlingford Lough seashore. It belonged to the Earl of Kilmorey and Mr Harry Nicholson both of whom favoured the idea of a golf course.
In 1924 a meeting was held of all interested parties and a decision was made to go ahead with the course and the first trustees appointed were Pat Carey Headmaster of Mourne Grange School, Harry Nicholson, a Mr Prentice and a Mr Gibbons. The task of designing the 9 holes was entrusted to Lord Justice Babington who had a Summer residence at Cranfield and was a member of the Golfing Union of Ireland.
The first Clubhouse was the little cottage opposite Harry Nicholson's gate and later a wooden-framed building was erected at the 1st tee. The builder was Major W.J. Hanna and it was later bought by the British Legion for erection in the hospital grounds. The cottage of one of the first groundsmen Pat Rogers overlooked the 7th green and marked the boundary of the course. Other groundsmen were James Morgan, Sydney Graham and Harvey Quinn who worked on the course at different times up to 1940. Other founder members were Dick Nicholson, Edmund Hanna, Bob Linton, J.J. Small, H.H. Stevenson (Kilmorey Hotel), J.F. Morgan, Bobbie Nicholson, Rev. Belton, T.H. Ferguson, Pierson Ferguson, T McGonigle and John Boyd McKeown.