Co. Kildare STRAFFAN

Barberstown Castle

The K Club

STRAFFAN

K Club, The - Ryder Cup 2006

Set amongst the lush countryside of Co. Kildare are two magnificent 18 hole championship golf courses within the resort that is to host the 2006 Ryder Cup. Both of The K Club's courses were designed by Arnold Palmer but each has its own characteristics and special set of challenges. The Palmer Course - which is arguably the finest parkland golfcourse in Ireland - and the Smurfit Course - which has been described as an inland links - offer the most accomplished golfers a challenge of the highest variety.

Before this splendid establishment was officially opened in July 1991,  Dr Michael Smurfit had already set himself the lofty target of staging the Ryder Cup. Following an announcement in Dublin in January 1999, he duly landed himself the biggest prize in team golf and the third-largest undertaking in world sport.

Palmer Course:

Measuring 7,337 yards with a par of 72 from the blue tees, Ireland's first Ryder Cup Venue is no ordinary course, this is what is widely acknowledged as the country's most challenging inland layout. The Palmer Course is, quite simply, one of Europe's most spectacular courses. It charms, it entices and invariably, brings out the very best in your game.

One of the finest holes on the Palmer Course is undoubtedly the par five 7th hole, which measures over 600 yards from the championship stakes. The hole double doglegs its way over sand, rough and water, while the green occupies its own little island which is sandwiched between two arms of the River Liffey.

Smurfit Course:
The Smurfit Course at The K Club, which opened in 2003, has already been described as probably one of the greatest inland Golf Course to be developed in Ireland and its develpoment has attracted attention from far afield. Situated on the other side of the River Liffey - measuring 7,277 yards from the tips with a par of 72 - it offers a completely different challenge to that of the Palmer Course.

The course has dramatic landscapes containing dune type mounding and some magnificent feats of engineering to boot. There is also a strong presence of water throughout, particularly in the closing stages. The course is also heathland in places with gorse and bracken featuring frequently.

The signature hole on this course is undoubtedly the 7th. It is a par 5 measuring some 606 yards.  It has a series of water cascades and water features and the fairway was dropped some sixty feet below its original height.  A large man made quarry / rockface has been developed along the entire length of the golf hole.

Distance and driving times (traffic dependent):

North Dublin (Royal Dublin, Portmarnock, Roganstown, The Island) c. 1hr

Headfort Golf Club          76km (47m), 1 hr 13 mins   
The Heritage Golf Club    72km (45m), 1 hr 10 mins 
Rathsallagh Golf Club      43km (27m), 53 mins
Castleknock Golf Club      23km (14m), 27 mins
Palmerstown House         27km (17m), 26 mins
Carton House Golf Club     8km (5m),   15 mins
Powerscourt Golf Club     53km (33m), 47 mins   
Druids Glen Golf Club      61km (38m), 51 mins 

Other distances, times and route planning

Barberstown Castle

Barberstown Castle has been occupied continuously for over 400 years and, despite its many additions - including a new accommodation wing - it has retained a sense of history. There are Church of Ireland and Catholic churches close by in Straffan village, and blessings are possible at Barberstown too.

Weddings are a speciality here and this is one of Ireland’s most desirable venues: the reception is held in the 16th century coach house; now known as the Medieval Banqueting Hall, it has been renovated with character, and there is a private medieval-style drinks reception area attached to the function room, where a piper can provide a very memorable welcome.

Although this wedding venues got no wedding planning service, referrals are provided for every kind of specialist service you could possibly require and everything connected with the reception itself - table settings, food, service - is done with professionalism and great style.

Accommodation, in individually decorated rooms and suites, includes some with four-posters - and some particularly romantic rooms are in the oldest section, the Castle Keep.

K Club - Kildare Hotel & Golf Club

It would be hard to imagine a more luxuriously romantic location for a wedding than the K Club, especially for anyone with golfing connections - set in lush countryside, and overlooking formal gardens and its own pair of championship golf courses, the hotel boasts unrivalled opulence and provided a fine setting for the 2006 Ryder Cup.

Until it became an hotel in 1988 this magnificent building was known as Straffan House, and its history is known as far back as 550 AD - but it was the arrival of the Barton wine family in 1831 that gave it the distinctively French elegance we see today. The interior is magnificent, with superb furnishings and public areas are enhanced by a wonderful collection of original paintings by famous artists, including Jack B.Yeats, who has a room devoted to his work.

This wedding venues got Church of Ireland and Catholic churches nearby in the village, and wedding blessings can also be arranged at the hotel - which can cater for several very different types of weddings, ranging from small parties (up to 50 guests) in the Main House, to much larger parties (up to 250) in The Arnold Palmer Room or The Legacy Suite at the two golf clubhouses, where there is space for dancing. Everything is done on a grand scale at The K Club with, of course, a price tag to match - floral centrepieces, for example, come at €50 per table, and a wedding cake can be provided by the K Club’s chef - at about €1,250.

Menus are also predictably pricey, but outstanding food has always been one of the attractions of the hotel and the personal co-ordinator who assists with planning every aspect of the reception arranges a menu tasting with the chef for the bridal couple.

There are also some generous perks - a complimentary treatment for the bride and groom in the Kspa, for example, and also a complimentary bridal suite for the wedding night.

All suites and guest rooms at the hotel are individually designed in the grand style, with sumptuous bathrooms, superb amenities and great attention to detail - and there are no restrictions on the number of guests who qualify for the 10% discount offered.

Barberstown Castle

 

Lodge Park Walled Gardens

The spicy scent of clipped box, bees drowsy with heat, fruit ripening against sun warmed brick and herbaceous plants pampered into magnificence: Lodge Park has all the magic to be expected of a walled garden and more.

Originally dating back to the 18th century like the Palladian house, the present incarnation of the garden dates from the 1980s. A path between borders, their billowing plants and shrubs contained by box clipped into hedges and pyramids, offers a vista down one side of the garden and also access to a series of ‘rooms’, walled with beech hedges. Each one of these would make a pleasing garden in its own right and everyone has a favourite area. It might be the white and silver garden filled with phlox, lambs ears, nicotiniana and white agapanthus or the salad garden, with patterns made from the serried ranks of lollo rosso, lettuce, scarlet stemmed chard and chives, laid out among geometric brick paths.

It could be the handsome herbaceous border beside the tennis court, full of stately herbaceous plants like yellow centurion, erigerons, hollyhocks and pale sunflowers. And the scent within the canopy of the wrought iron rosarie made by Brendan Walsh is enough to make the senses swoon with the fragrance of old roses like ‘Rambling Rector’ and ‘Wedding Day’. The working kitchen garden, screened by a sweet pea pergola and hedged in espaliered apple trees, filled with chard, asparagus, soft fruit and other treats, usually appeals to the non distaff side of the family.

There are plenty of other attractions too. Given the steam museum - with a collection of model engines and steam engines used for distilleries and breweries, and the Steaming Kettle Tea Rooms with sinful chocolate cake, and the gift shop - Lodge Park makes a good venue for a family outing.

The K Club

 

Killeen Golf Club

Killeen golf course was designed in 1980. Since then the course has undergone many changes both in size and design to get it to the high USGA standard that it is at today.

With the purchase of extra land in 1990 the team of Tom Craddock and Pat Ruddy were brought in to completely redesign the layout.

Further extensive work by Maurice Kelly and course builder Bernard Mullins in 1998 brought the course up to full Championship standard.

Featuring a state-of-the-art drainage and irrigation system this ensures the course is playable all year-round.

An excellent par 72 course measuring 6800 yards with its many lakes, trees and wildlife areas offers a rewarding challenge to all levels of golfers

Here at Killeen we also have excellent short game facilities for players to improve/hone this area of their game.