Woodbrook golf club Wicklow

Members Achievements

The Ladies of Woodbrook Golf Club reached the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals of the Women’s All-Ireland Final in the Irish Senior Cup at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club on Saturday 9th September 2023 when they went down to Cork Golf Club by 3-matches to 2-matches.
Nicola Coffey led them out and put the first point on the board with a 3 and 2 win against Rachel Thompson, she was followed by Cliodhna McCarthy who lost her match against Paula Walsh by 2 and 1, next on the tee was Lauren Murray who went up the 19th before relinquishing the point against Claire Coughlan-Ryan, in the penultimate match Sue Phillips went down by 2 and 1 against Ailish Thompson and in the bottom match Caroline Hewitt had a very comfortable 6 and 5 win against Michelle Tobin.

Clodagh Hopkins was selected on the Connacht Women’s Interprovincial team to play at Moyvalley Golf Club from 23rd to 25th August 2022, the others on the squad were Ada Bowler (Lucan Golf Club), Shannon Burke (Ballinrobe Golf Club), Kate Dillon (Oughterard Golf Club), Suzanne Corcoran (Portumna Golf Club), Olivia Costello (Roscommon Golf Club) and Annabel Greham (Ballina Golf Club) they were managed by Clodagh Hopkins from Woodbrook Golf Club and captained by Anne Fahy from Portumna Golf Club.

Lauren Murray was selected to represent Leinster in the Women’s Interprovincial Matches at Shannon Golf Club from 25th to 27th August 2021, the others on the squad were Leah Temple-Lang, Rachael McDonnell and Emma Fleming (Elm Park Golf Club), Kate Lanigan and Ciara Casey (Hermitage Golf Club) and Ellen O'Gorman (Milltown Golf Club) they were managed by Orla Dunphy from Kilkenny Golf Club and captained by Una Marsden fromTullamore Golf Club.  

The Ladies of Woodbrook Golf Club won the East Leinster Regional Final of the Senior Foursomes when they beat the Ladies of Sutton Golf Club by 2½ -matches to ½-matches at the K Club on Sunday 1st September 2019.
They were led out by Sue Philips with Kristi O'Sullivan who beat Sophie Harrison with Noeleen Murphy by 3 & 2, in the middle match of Siobhan McCartan with Cliodhne Hamilton against Emer Digan with Julie Doherty was recorded as a halve when called-in and the bottom of Nicola Coffey with Caroline Bourke had a very comfortable 7 and 6 win against Cathy Bryce with Mary Lennon.

The Ladies of Woodbrook Golf Club won the Mid-Leinster Final of the Irish Senior Cup at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club when they beat the Ladies of Elm Park Golf Club in the Semi-Final and played Laytown & Bettystown in the Provincial Decider on Sunday 19th May and recorded a 3½-matches to 1½-matches win over the ladies from Meath.
They were led out by Sue Phillips (1) who lost her match against Carol Wickham (scr) by 3 and 2 she was followed by Nicola Coffey (3) who halved her match against Alison Taylor (2), next on the tee was Lauren Murray (4) who had a 3 and 2 win against Rachel Taylor (2), in the penultimate match Siobhan McCartan (5) beat Phil O'Gorman (5) by 4 and 2, the bottom match of Emma O’Brien was a comfortable 7 and 5 win over Barbara Cooney.
They made their way to Killarney Golf Club to compete in the All-Ireland Deciders and were drawn against Connacht Champions Roscommon Golf Club in the All-Ireland Quarter- Final and had a 4½-matches to ½-match against the ladies from west of the Shannon.
They met the Ladies from Lahinch Golf Club in the Semi-Final but things didn’t go so well and they lost by 4½-matches to ½-match to the Clare ladies.
They were led out again by Sue Phillips who lost her match against Chloe Ryan by 3 and 1, next on the tee was Lauren Murphy who lost out to Sinead Sexton by 5 and 4, she was followed by Nicola Coffey who went down by 2 and 1 against Aideen Walsh, the penultimate match of Siobhan McCartan against Niamh O’Dwyer was halved when called-in and the bottom match of Caroline Hewitt against Sarah Cunningham went 4 and 3 to the ladies from west Clare.
Lahinch went on to retain the Irish Senior Cup when they beat the home club by 3½-matches to 1½-matches in the decider on Sunday 25th August.

The Ladies of Woodbrook Golf Club won the East-Leinster Final of the Junior Foursomes at Charlesland Golf Club on Sunday 3rd September 2017 when the beat Malahide Golf Club by 2½-matches to ½-match.
They were led out by Gail Wolfe with Siobhan Ward who had a very comfortable 6 and 4 win over Ann Evans with Anna McGrath, in the second match Brigette Byrne with Susan O’Dwyer had a similar result against Louise Kelly with Anne O’Neill and the bottom match Ger Cantrell with Marcella Acton recorded a halve against Irene Magee with Paula Ryan when called-in.
They made their way to Malone Golf Club to participate in the All-Ireland Deciders where the Green Pennant was won by Connaught Champions Portumna Golf Club.  

Paul McDonald won the West of Ireland Open Championship at Co. Sligo Golf Club on 13th April 2004 when he beat Greg Bowden of Hermitage in the Final.

The Ladies of Woodbrook Golf Club qualified to represent their club in the International Finals at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in December 2002, when they beat Ranfurly Castle Golf Club from Scotland, at Msnchester in October. The team was Liz Kinsella, Geraldine Magee, Marguerite Kennedy and Sue Phillips.

Woodbrook Golf Club qualified for the National Finals of the Mitsubishi Electric-Irish-Independent Nationwide Golf Challenge, in aid of the Special Olympics played at Luttrellstown Golf Club on September 18th 2002. The team was Sean Malone (11), Michael Cooley (11), John Geelon (13) and John O'Sullivan (14).

Niamh Boland (28) and James Flood (2) qualified for the National Finals of the Spar-Irish Independent National Mixed Pairs, when they shot 46 points at South County Golf Club in July 2002.

Sue Philips was selected on the Leinster Ladies Team for the AIB Interprovincial Championships at Mount Wolseley Golf Club from August 7-9 2002.

Woodbrook got to the Grand Final of the Mitsubishi-Irish Final in the Algarve in October 2001. The team was Sean Malone (10), Michael Cooley (12), John Gealon (12) , and Michael Dennehy (15) they came second to Royal Tara. 

Mary Anderson Captained the Irish Senior Ladies team in their first European Senior Ladies' Team Championship at the Schonenberg Golf Club in Switzerland from the 3rd to the 7th of September 2001.

Prior to 2001:

Woodbrook Golf Club won the All-Ireland Barton Shield at Galway G. C. in 1986, when the team was Liam McNamara, Gerry O'Connor, John L. Hughes, Paddy Lewis and Jimmy Mooney.

Woodbrook Golf Club won the All-Ireland Barton Shield at The Royal Dublin G. C.  in 1974, The team was, Tony Heverin, Pat Mulcare, Niall O'Farrell and Dan Kennedy.

Woodbrook Golf Club won the Leinster Final and were All-Ireland Finalists of the Pierce Purcell Shield at Athlone Golf Club in 1998, when the team was, T. Miley, L. Mahon, M. Hughes, P. Miley, E. Cranley, G. Griffin, E. McSweeney, N. Murphy, D. Marsh, J. Murphy, C. Blair, T. Kelly, S. Malone, D. Smith, T. Pitt and M. Mee, they were managed by M. Colley 

They won the Barton Cup in 1943 when the team was, Rev. McC Brady, J. D. O'Reilly, B. J. Scannell, J. Moran, J. J. Doyle, P. Redmond, D. Lynch, J. A. McMahon, B. Lynch, M. McCarthy and C. J. McAllister.

They won the Leinster Final of the Irish Club Youths in 1996.

They won the Brennan Cup in 1995, when the team was J. Swaine, D. O'Connell, J. Murphy, A. J. Kelly, D. P. Early, L. O'Reilly, M. Kelly, H. O'Donnell, J. Lester, J. Morris, M. G. Colley and J. Sly, they were managed by K. MacDonald.

They won the Fitzgibbon Cup in 1991, when the team was, Ken Kinsella, Eugene Cranley, Paddy Early, Jim Lawlor, Tony Kelly, Dermot Roughan, John Swaine, Frank Tobin, Jim Slye, Des Griffin, they were managed by Peter O'Flanagan.

Millennium Lady Captain Mary O'Keeffe  (13) and her Captain's Prize winner Marguerite Kennedy (16) won the National Final of the Volkswagen-Irish Independent Lady Captain's Classic at Druid's Glen on the 2nd of October, 2000, with a score of 39 points.

Mairead McNamara, playing off a handicap of 5 won the Ladies section of the Chiquita Long Drive Challenge, when she drove the ball 238 yd‘s down the fairway at the first in Lucan Golf Club in September, 2000.

Members who played representative golf for Country or Province;

A .J. Heverin represented Ireland as a Senior International in 1978 playing 9-times won 2-matches halved two and lost 5-matches accumulating 6-points. He represented Leinster at Senior Interprovincial level from 1976 to 1976 playing 17-times won 11-matches halved one and lost 5-matches accumulating 23-points;

Pat Mulcare played Walker Cup at St. Andrews in 1975. He represented Ireland as a Senior International from 1968 to 1980 playing 72-times won 31-matches halved six and lost 35-matches accumulating 68-points;

L. G. MacNamara represented Ireland as a Senior International from 1977 to1992 playing 100-times won 53-matches halved eleven and lost 36-matches accumulating 117-points. He represented Ireland at Senior (55+) in 2008 playing 8-times won 5-matches halved one and lost 2-match accumulating 11-points; He represented Leinster as a Youth Interprovincial in 1985 playing 4-times won 3-matches and lost 1-match accumulating 6-points;

B. J. Scannell represented Ireland as a Senior International from 1947 to1954 playing 32-times won 14-matches halved five and lost 13-matches accumulating 33-points;

Keith Nolan represented Ireland at Irish Boys level from 1990 to 1991 playing 8-times won 4-matches halved one and lost 3-matches accumulating 9-points;

G. McCambridge represented Leinster at Senior Interprovincial level in 1959 playing 2-times won 2-matches and lost 0-matches accumulating 4-points;

B. J. Scannell represented Leinster at Senior Interprovincial level from 1956 to 1962 playing 16-times won 8-matches halved four and lost 4-matches accumulating 20-points;

P. Lewis represented Leinster as a Youth Interprovincial from 1976 to 1977 playing 7-times won 2-matches and lost 5-matches accumulating 4-points;

P. McDonald represented Leinster as a Youth Interprovincial in 2000 playing 6-times won 4-matches and lost 2-matches accumulating 8-points;

G. O’Connor represented Leinster as a Youth Interprovincial in 1982 playing 3-times won 1-match and lost 2-matches accumulating 2-points;

Robert Hogan represented Leinster at Boys  Interprovincial level in 2003 playing 5-times won 3-matches halved one and lost 2-matches accumulating 5-points;

E. Curran represented Connacht at Senior Interprovincial level from 1898 to 1971 playing 19-times won 2-matches halved one and lost 16-matches accumulating 5-points

J. MacNamara represented Connacht at Senior Interprovincial level from 1987 to 1996 playing 15-times won 3-matches and lost 12-matches accumulating 6-points;

Liam MacNamara Michael Lavelle represented Connacht at Senior Interprovincial level from 1974 to 1996 playing 134-times won 41-matches halved six and lost 87-matches accumulating 88-points;

J. Mitchell represented Connacht at Senior Interprovincial level from 1988 to 1990 playing 16-times won 5-matches and lost 11-matches accumulating 10-points. He represented Connacht as a Youth Interprovincial in 1986  playing 2-times won 0-matches and lost 2-matches accumulating 0-points;

P. Mulcare represented Munster as a Senior Interprovincial from 1967 to 1980 playing 72-times won 38-matches halved six and lost 28-matches accumulating 82-points;

D. Kennedy* represented Munster at Youths’ Interprovincial level from 1966 to 1967 playing 4-times; 

Mary Barry played for the Irish Girls' in 1974;

Anne Barry played for the Irish Girls' in 1976;

Claire Hourihane made 155 apperances for Ireland between 1979 to 1992. She represented Ireland in the European Ladies Team Championship at Tubbercurry in 1987, at Pals, Spain 1989, at Wentworth in 1991 having played for the Irish Girls' in 1975 and 1976 and she won the Stroke Play Foursomes together with Miss Phil Wickham of Laytown, Bettystown in 1981, 1982, 1984, and 1985;

Nicola Roughan was selected to play in the European Ladies Junior Championship at Shannon Golf Club in 1990 having played for the Irish Girls' in 1987 and 1988; 

Miss Mairead Mullins won the Stroke Play Foursomes together with Miss Moira Cassidy of "The Island" in 1987;

History of Woodbrook

Instituted 1920 affiliated 1921

Sir Stanley Cochrane of mineral water fame was responsible for the origins of golf at Woodbrook. An enthusiastic sportsman, he had first-class cricket facilities at his residences, where International cricket teams played before the Great War. Sometime after 1912, he had a private course laid out at Woodbrook, where he would entertain his friends. Brian Brooks-Alder, ho became his private secretary, introduced him to the game.

Irish Life", on the 5th November 1920, gives the following account "A meeting was held at Woodbrook, Bray, on Thursday, at which it was decided to form the Woodbrook Golf Club. The rules submitted to the meeting were adopted and the following officers were elected: President, Sir Stanley H. Cohrane, Bart, D. L., Captain, Richard P. Pim, Hon. Secretary, and Treasurer, George Revell.

The meeting appointed a committee and elected a number of members. The Woodbrook course is situated on a most favourable ground. It commands a glorious view of the sea and mountain. It is one of the longest nine-hole courses around Dublin. Woodbrook, no doubt, must be regarded as a proprietary course, but with such an enthusiastic sportsman as President, Woodbrook Club is certain to flourish."

Woodbrook became an open club in 1926 and affiliated to the GUI in 1921, according to the 1928 Yearbook. A fine new clubhouse and improvements to the course were carried out in the late 1990s.

What the Club tells us:

Established in 1921, by Sir Stanley Cochrane as his private club, Woodbrook was first affiliated to the Golfing Union of Ireland in 1926. Sir Stanley had previously indulged his enthusiasm for cricket at Woodbrook, a fact that is still reflected in the pavilion-style clubhouse and the cricket bell, which tolled the start and finish of play and now hangs in the bar.

However, it is as a venue for top class international golf, that Woodbrook is justly famous. Woodbrook hosted the first major professional Tournament in Ireland. The Hennessy Tournament in 1958. This once-off event, proved so popular amongst the Irish sporting public, that the following year it became the Irish Hospitals Sweepstakes Tournament with the then biggest prize fund 5,000 guineas. All the leading players arrived to play Woodbrook and International Tournament Golf in Ireland was born. In 1963 the Tournament that really established Woodbrook as a major golf venue began – The Carrolls International. Carrolls brought the cream of British European and, indeed, American golfers to play the fairways of Woodbrook in the ensuing years up to 1975. Many of today’s legends of Golf played the course. Some, as winners, like Christy O’Connor, Senior and Junior, Bernard Gallagher, Neil Coles, Brian Huggett and Bernard Hunt. Others, as rookies on the day, like Jack Newton, Eamon D’Arcy, John O’Leary and Sam Torrance. Superstars, like Open Championship Winners, Max Faulkner, five times winner Peter Thompson, Gary Player, Tony Jacklin, Tom Watson and Ken Nagle all delighted the larger Irish galleries. Anybody who was anybody, in the history of British and European golf from 1963 to 1975, appeared at the Carrolls in Woodbrook.

The Irish Open
The Irish Open had been discontinued in 1953, having run almost continuously since 1927. Carrolls revived this great Irish Title in 1975 at Woodbrook and the modern Irish Open was born. This is now an integral part of the European PGA Tour. An all-star field, including the British Open Winner Tom Watson, played for the first Prize of £5,000 and the inaugural winner was Ireland’s Christy O’Connor Junior, nephew of the great Christy O’Connor Senior, himself a four times winner of the Carrolls International.

The Train
Trains have always played a major part in Woodbrook’s history. In olden days the Dublin-Bray train stopped at the club and in the early days of Tournament golf, spectators alighted on the course. Up to 1956, when members wanted to go home, they pulled a switch in the club house bar and the next train, to pass along the way, stopped for two minutes to pick up those who were travelling to Bray or Dublin. Alas! Today, such hospitality is unavailable, but on six holes, the spectre of the DART and the railway line looms large for the wayward driver.

The Course
Where the wind has sculpted the trees.
Although a flat course, "Woodbrook", as Christy O’Connor, Senior put it "may look easy, but it is a very difficult course, with the constant threat of out of bounds and other hazards that can wreck your card". In this regard the wind plays a most significant role. When it blows from the North, nine holes are affected, including three out of the last four.

When it’s from the South, the index one tenth plus the par three eleventh, and the par five – 12th, 14th and 16th, all become very difficult long holes. A crosswind from the East affects almost every hole on the course and calls for shot making of the highest calibre. With its configuration of five par threes and five par fives, Woodbrook’s layout is unusual but, in the opinion of those who have played there, it is a championship course in every meaning of the word.

Recently redesigned, with three new holes and 18 sand based greens, built to USPGA standards, Woodbrook is once more a challenge for the best.

The club has hosted 18 major international championship events, a record unlikely to be surpassed, and numerous Irish Professional and Amateur Championships through the years. The staging of the AIB Sponsored Irish Seniors Open in the club in 1998 completes a remarkable journey for many of those stars of yesterday, bringing them back to the fairways they once graced so well.

Woodbrook is unique in Irish Golf, with its heritage and tradition, ambience and atmosphere and the quality and layout of its course. For members and visitors alike it represents a challenge to be met weekly or just occasionally, but always enjoyably.

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