Dunfanaghy golf club Donegal

Members Achievements

The Ladies of Dunfanaghy Golf Club were Runners-Up in the Final of the North Ulster Women’s Fourball at Donegal Golf Club on Saturday 5th August 2023 when they went down to Greenisland Golf Club by 4-matches to 1-match.

Dunfanaghy juniors certainly punch above their weight: Luke Kelly is the 2020 Ireland Under 17 champion and previously an Ulster Under 16 Close Champion; James Sweeney is on the Ulster Under 16 panel (having previously been on a victorious Ulster Under 14 team) and Evan Hogg is in the Ulster Under 14 panel whilst big brother Darcy is Ireland’s leading Under 16 player winning the 2020 GUI Order of Merit. They are, rightly, very proud of the boys’ achievements.

Dunfanahy trio J. Brogan, J. McGinley and P. Hanlon won the Ulster regional final of the Musgrave's Club Challenge and booked their place in the National Final in the Algarve in October 2001, where they came second. 

Prior to 2001:

Dunfanahy Golf Club won the Donegal Minor League in 1993, when the team was, Michael Ward, Tommy McGinley, John Gallagher, Charles Roarty, Lua Breen, Nigel Doherty, Frank Kelly, Samuel Sterrit, Hugh F. Brogan Christy Ratherford, Denis McFadden, Jim Carey, Hugh Ferry, James, McCorkell, William Ratherford and Tony McGilloway and they won it again in 1994.

Members who played representative golf for Country or Province;

Ciaran McMonagle represented Ireland as a Senior International from 1999 to 2000 playing 13-times won 7-matches halved three and lost 5-matches accumulating 17-points. He represented Ulster in the Senior Interprovincial’s from 1997 to 2000 playing 24-times won 13-matches halved three and lost 8-matches accumulating 29-points;

S. McMonagle represented Ulster in the Senior Interprovincial’s from in 2001 playing 2-times won 1-match and lost 1-match accumulating 2-points;

D. Gallagher represented Ulster as a Youth in the Interprovincial Championships in 2006 playing 4-times won 3-matches halved one and lost 0-matches accumulating 7-points;

History of Dunfanaghy

Instituted 1906 affiliated 1920

Golf has been played at Dunfanaghy since 1897, when the links were connected with the Sterrett Hotel.
The "Golfing Annual" 1906-7 records the institution date as 1906. with Major Edgeworth-Johnston as Captain, and Mr. J. A. Sterrett, as Hon. Secretary. "The course is of eighteen holes, is bordered by the Atlantic on one side and by Derryveagh Mountains on the other, and has splendid natural bunkers and hazards".

What the Club tells us:

Foreword from Paul McGinley, 2014 Ryder Cup Captain
Whilst the newspapers always refer to me as a Dubliner, I am the first to admit that Dunfanaghy is my adopted home course.
I have very early memories, when as children we were all bundled into the car and driven to Donegal at every opportunity to stay with my Granny. I could walk down the main street with my clubs over my shoulder and make my way up the path opposite Arnold's Hotel, across the stream to the 18th tee box.
I still visit Dunfanaghy whenever possible. My children love it, as it is such a safe place, where they have the freedom to run around as well as playing a bit of golf.
There ought to be a lot of courses that are fun to play and that just about describes Dunfanaghy Golf Club. The course is always in great condition. It is amazing how true the greens always are and how well the fairways are kept. It's super for a very pleasant game of golf and when you come back into the clubhouse after your round, there's a fantastic atmosphere!

The Beginning

 It is difficult to establish the exact date when golf was first played in Dunfanaghy. There are those who maintain that in the early 1740's, a founder member of the Royal and Ancient Golfing Society, a certain Mr Stewart, came to reside in Horn Head House on the outskirts of the village. It is said that his enthusiasm for the game of golf was so great that he laid out a course of 6 holes among the sand dunes, close to his residence, where he entertained his invited guests to join him in his new pastime of golf.

If this is true, there is no indication as to where this course was situated. Was it at Killahoey, or was it on the stretch of land between the Horn Head bridge and Tramore beach?


Formation of the Golf Club
One fact that we do know to be true is that golf was played in Dunfanaghy in 1886. The proof of this is to be found in an article in the Derry Journal dated 24th April 1886 which states....
"the opening match of the season was played on the links belonging to the Stewart Arms Hotel on Tuesday. The weather was all that could have been desired and the greens, having been lately returfed and rolled, were in excellent condition.
The following members competed, the prize being a box of golf balls......."

The earliest record held by the club dates back to 11th July 1906 when at a meeting in the Courthouse in Dunfanaghy... "it was resolved that a club to be called The Dunfanaghy Golf Club be formed."

The founder members, numbering less than 20, were the important people of the day. The Church of Ireland Rector, the Parish Priest, the Presbyterian Minister, the Doctor, the agent for the Stewart-Bam Estate, the hotelier who had started the course some years before, a retired army major and a few of the village's businessmen were the nucleus of the club in those early days.

Membership over the first half century never exceeded 30. Long gone are the days when golf clubs were the exclusive domain of a chosen few. Dunfanaghy Golf Club now has a large membership that is open to all.

Harry Vardon