RCD MODIFICATIONS: “WE’RE NEVER GOING TO REPAINT THE MONA LISA”
Crowds look on as Rory McIlroy putts during the 2024 Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down. (Photo: Harry Thompson)
Ordinary Thoughts: By Paul Gallagher
“We’re never going to repaint the Mona Lisa.” A line from the Royal County Down (RCD) member heading up the committee responsible for the proposed modifications to the Championship Links by renowned architects Mackenzie & Ebert.
That salient opening line by Dr Boyle ahead of his presentation to the members of Mourne Golf Club back in June spoke volumes for Royal County Down’s plans which have the “aim to significantly upgrade the course to reflect RCD’s status as one of the very best golf courses in the world and one of the most significant golf tourism assets in Northern Ireland”.
The tone of the presentation was informal, yet utterly informative, as Dr Boyle’s red laser presentation pointer took us on a journey through the proposed course changes. If full planning goes through then up to nine holes on the Championship Links and the first and second holes on the Annesley Links will be upgraded. And the most pertinent message that day in June was that those at the helm of this project are mere custodians of a links with the rich history of RCD. It was there before and will remain after, and the full integrity of such a magical piece of golfing terrain will be upheld.
Work proposed on the Championship Links that dates back to 1889 are specific to the first, third, fifth, 11th, 12th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes, plus two holes on the Annesley Links.
Arguably, some of the most significant changes will take place on the back nine at holes 16 and 17. The 16th was changed a number of years ago with routing to face the Mourne Mountains as a backdrop rather than to adjacent residential housing and Dundrum Road.
While still a shorter risk-reward par four, the championship tee back and to the right of the regular tee complexes comes into play more. Further up the hole the plan is to “cut the slope back to the left and extend the fairway and reshape the right side of the fairway”. The green and right side of the approach would also be reshaped.
Longer hitters would still be able to try for the green off the tee (337 yards) in favourable conditions but the premium on accuracy makes for a better two-shot par four challenge.
A number of years ago the man-made pond in the middle of the 17th fairway was removed – it was one of the lowest points of the golf course. Many members felt the pond was never in keeping with the rest of the course. A “temporary” sand feature replaced the pond but was never the final solution.
Through Mackenzie & Ebert, the plan is to “remove the existing sand feature and replace with a dune ridge and left fairway bunker”. The changes also “include a low dune ridge left of the fairway”.
As with many traditional links courses, quite often the only option to increase course length is to find tee solutions that go back and to the right of an existing hole. The same can be said of the Championship Links at Royal County Down and one of the key changes would be the creation of a new championship tee at the first.
Three new tees would be pushed back and onto elevated ground closer to the coastline with a visual of Murlough Beach and Dundrum Bay. The existing back tee and left-hand tees would be removed.
The fifth is another interesting change where the tee would move to the left of the fourth green, a location where the hole used to be played from. Rather than the current dogleg this would allow play straight up the par four and away from golfers on the second green.
Part of the change would see the fifth green potentially flipped at a diagonal and moved further back and to the right with greater dune surroundings for the putting surface. This in turn would also alleviate any errant tee shots from the second tee potentially coming in the direction of those putting on the fifth green.
A Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) was made earlier this year with Newry & Mourne Council, but the chat of a possible Open venue came to prominence after the application was sent to local authority planners on October 15th and of course with the Mackenzie & Ebert association, who already work with a number of Open venues, including Royal Portrush.
The notion of an Open coming to RCD anytime soon seems premature. One source at Royal County Down quipped: “Sure, we can’t even get the British Amateur.”
POTENTIAL CHANGES AT RCD
A view of the changes at the 17th hole on the Championship Links at RCD
(RCD/Mackenzie & Ebert)
The last stress test of tournament golf at RCD came with the 2024 Amgen Irish Open on the DP World Tour where Dane Rasmus Højgaard denied home favourite Rory McIlroy. Tournament week attracted around 70,000 spectators with McIlroy the undoubted Pied Piper the masses all wanted to follow. Take an Open Championship and the R&A would aspire to have up to four times that spectator number through the gates.
RCD is by no means long in today’s modern game at around 7,185 yards but take this uniquely wonderful links challenge in isolation and RCD could hold an Open Championship in the morning. RCD is a tern, challenging test, but a fair test.
In the opinion of this scribbler – who also plays all his golf at RCD as a Mourne GC member – what prevents RCD as a viable Open venue (at this time) is logistics and lack of space around the property. It wasn’t the easiest links to navigate for the 70,000 at the Irish Open with certain pinch points around the course. There are plenty of natural vantage points on dunes but The Open’s mammoth infrastructure is an obvious barrier to entry.
McIlroy, who is a friend of RCD and an honorary member, was in no doubt about the course’s Major credentials.
“It's a Major championship-calibre golf course,” said McIlroy at the 2024 Irish Open. “It's just unfortunate that we don't have the infrastructure around the golf course to host something like an Open because if we did, it definitely would be able to host an Open Championship. It's just limited the amount of people you can get in here and logistically it doesn't quite make sense. It's up there with the toughest courses that we play.”
RCD and its members are fully aware of its status within the game; consistently ranked the number one course in the world and the role it plays in cementing Northern Ireland as one of the world’s leading golf destinations. The economic impact of the 2025 Open at Royal Portrush was worth £89.2 million to Northern Ireland with “global exposure generating an additional £191 million in destination marketing benefit”. RCD and Royal Portrush remain the pinnacle of golfing experiences for overseas visitors coming to Northern Ireland, regardless of new Open suggestions for the Newcastle venue. RCD accommodates some 10,000 international visitors each season.
Focus on Portmarnock as the next Open venue on the island of Ireland alongside Royal Portrush is where a betting man would look ahead of RCD.
For now, the focus is on getting the proposals through planning with any works not likely to start at RCD before the winter of 2027. If and when it does, it will be the deftest of brushstrokes to maintain the integrity of this old masterpiece.
A view of the proposed changes at the 16th hole on the Championship Links at RCD (RCD/Mackenzie & Ebert)