Old Conna Golf Course

Origins

Old Conna opened in 1987 on Ferndale Road outside Bray, County Wicklow, roughly twelve miles south of Dublin. The site's elevated, wooded parkland setting gave its designer, Eddie Hackett, room to route the course to take in views of both the Wicklow Mountains and the coastline below — a combination not every inland Irish course can offer.

Design Philosophy

Hackett, often called the father of Irish golf course design, built his reputation on a naturalistic, economical style that worked with a site's existing land rather than reshaping it with heavy earthmoving. Old Conna, coming late in a career that eventually spanned more than 100 Irish courses, reflects that same routing-first approach across its wooded, undulating terrain.

Development

The club itself predates its course by a decade: Old Conna Golf Club's own captains' records trace back to 1977, ten years before Eddie Hackett's course opened for play in 1987. That gap reflects the more common path for Irish clubs of the period, forming first and only later acquiring and developing their own ground.

The land the club eventually settled on carried its own history. Old Conna Estate had been recognised in the early twentieth century as a notable arboretum that drew visitors from across Europe, and a number of its trees are listed as "Champion" specimens on the Tree Register of Ireland held at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin. Hackett's routing worked around this existing tree cover rather than clearing it, which is part of why the course reads as more mature woodland than a typical late-1980s build.

Today

The club remains semi-private, open to visiting golfers as well as members, with the Gleeson Golf Academy operating a practice area on site for members and green-fee visitors alike.