Kirkistown Castle golf club Down

Members Achievements

Kirkistown Golf Club won the All-Ireland Irish Mixed Foursomes in 1986 at Portstewart Golf Club the team was Jimmy Brown with Sharon Smyth, Ronnie Miller with Queenie Stewart, Thompson Maginnis with Alix McVea, Sennie Thompson with Shellagh Shane and Sennie McMaster with Cynthia Allen and they were captained by Sidney Caruth. The Club Captain was Denis McDonnell and the Lady Captain was Joe Donaldson.

Members who played representative golf for their Province;
M. Bannon represented Ulster as a Youth in the Interprovincial Championships in 1979 playing 3-times won 2-matches and lost 1-match accumulating 4-points;

History of Kirkistown Castle

Founded 1902 Affiliated 1903.

Kirkistown Castle was formed on 3rd Septemberember 1902 at a meeting held in the Market House, Portaferry.  Mr John Greer was appointed Captain, General Montgomery was appointed President and Dr McDonald was appointed Honorary Secretary.
According to the Minutes of a meeting held on 10th September 1902 “The Greens Committee obtained the services of Mr GL Bailie(Belfast) to survey the ground and lay out a 9-hole course.  This course has an aggregate length of 3265 yards and included some ‘very sporting holes’.  The committee have arranged for the commencement of the preparation of the ground for play and hoped that a few holes would be playable by the 20th inst”.
The course was extended to 18 holes in 1929 and the present course layout was designed by James Braid in 1934.  On seeing Kirkistown Castle for the first time James Braid was heard to exclaim “If only I had this within 50 miles of London.”
The high points of the course command magnificent views of the Isle of Man to the east, the Mourne Mountains to the South, Scrabo Tower to the north west and Scotland to the north east.
This popular golf course in Northern Ireland, Kirkistown Castle Golf Club was formed on 3rd September 1902 at a meeting held in the Market House, Portaferry. Major General W E Montgomery, Rosemount, Greyabbey had promised the lease of ground known as Sandgrass Farm at Cloughey for the purpose of a golf links course.
Mr. G L Bailie from Belfast designed the layout of the first nine-hole golf course with an aggregate length of 3,265 yards
The Club affiliated to the Golfing Union in May 1903 and the first recorded handicaps are dated 1 April 1904 for a total of 31 members.
The greenkeeper was Mr. Frank Polley, a position he held for almost 50 years (he retired in 1952). Mr. Polley was responsible for the extension of the golf course to 18 holes in 1929 with a Par of 71.
The Club's first Professional was Mr. Bertie Polley (son of Frank) engaged in June 1932 and this was followed by the formation of a Ladies Branch on 7th September 1932. Lady Norah Dunleath was elected Ladies' President.
The legendary James Braid visited Kirkistown Castle Golf Club on the 26th of September 1934.
He spent the morning marking out alterations to tees and greens and the afternoon positioning and shaping bunkers.
On seeing the location of the golf course for the first time he was heard to exclaim "If only I had this within 50 miles of London".
The subsequent work on the golf course was completed by the end of March 1935. The wooden hut erected in 1902 was finally replaced by a permanent structure in 1936. This clubhouse was used as a distribution centre for children evacuated from the greater Belfast area during the Second World War and as a kindergarten school.
Sand and gravel were excavated from the course for use in the construction of the airfields at Kirkistown and Ballyhalbert in 1941 and this is how the depressions in the front of the 1st tee and behind the 3rd green came into being. These areas were ground under repair until 1949.
It was also in 1949 that Sunday Golf was permitted for the first time. Lieutenant Colonel Blair Mayne DSO and Bars (Colonel Paddy as he was famously known) was elected Captain in 1951. Fred Daly was elected as Honorary Member in 1953 and he organised an exhibition match in which he and Mr. John Glover played against Jimmy Henderson and Norman Dew.
In 1956 the club negotiated a 999 year lease from Montgomery Estates so the future location of the club has been assured for a long time to come. Mr E J Meadowcraft of Portaferry was appointed as the first Secretary Manager of the Club in 1962.
An extension to the Clubhouse was completed in 1973 and this introduced Bar facilities for the first time.
The conservatory dining room was added in (1996) and then in 2001 a major development and refurbishment of the Clubhouse was completed in preparation for the Club's Centenary celebrations held throughout 2002. Mr Robert McDowell was the Centenary Captain having previously been Club Captain in (1984).
The golf club has come a very long way in its first 100 years without having to move a millimetre from its original and beautiful location on the eastern seaboard of the Ards Peninsula Northern Ireland. This gives the club the distinction of being the most easterly 18 hole golf course in Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland.
The seven just men who met in Portaferry in 1902 and formed Kirkistown Castle Golf Club would surely be very proud of what they created all those years ago.