The Island

Opened: 1890
Designer: Fred Hawtree / Eddie Hackett
Par: 71
Length: 6,903 yards

The Island in Ireland was once on an island. It’s now attached to the mainland but it’s still an isolated peninsula-like spur of links land, sandwiched between the Irish Sea, the beach of Donabate and the Broadmeadow estuary.
 
It is unclear who originally laid out the course, but the Island has been revised by Fred Hawtree, Eddie Hackett, Jeff Howes and more recently by Martin Hawtree. From the tips, the golf course now measures 6,903 yards with par set at 71. The challenge invariably comes from the wind and the ability to find the greens; these putting surfaces are some of the very best around.  
 
This is a no-frills golf course. There is nothing manicured and it’s all very harmonious and in tune with its surroundings. Some of the most shaggy, rugged and looming sand dunes imaginable provide natural and distinct amphitheatres for many of the holes.