WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.– The Wake Forest men’s golf team will get a start on their preparations for the 2024-25 season this fall, as they are set to host the inaugural Lyon’s Links College Invitational in Dublin, Ireland.
With Wake Forest as the official hosts at one of Ireland’s most historic Championship Links, it promises to be a spectacular event. The first of its kind event featuring five-man teams, but facilitates colleges to bring additional players to compete individually. This is the first known collegiate event on Irish soil as the experience brings the college game to the original roots of the game.
This will be the first time the Deacs will be traveling outside of the United States as a team since 2019. On their last trip, the Deacs participated in the White Sands Intercollegiate in Nassau, Bahamas, where Parker Gilliam claimed the individual title shooting 17-under.
Gilliam tied an NCAA record and shot a school history low round of 60.
Wake Forest will depart for Ireland on September 14th and will arrive back in Winston-Salem on September 21st.
Returning to the King’s Roots on the Irish Isles
The trip to Ireland also includes playing a round at the prominent Portmarnock Old, a place where our own Arnold Palmer elevated the links’ reputation at a global level.
Arnold Palmer arrived at Portmarnock for the 1960 Canada Cup having won both the US Masters and the US Open earlier that year. A week later, he would travel to St. Andrews for the Centenary Open, bidding to complete the third leg of the Grand Slam. As it happened, he finished runner-up to Kel Nagle of Australia.
“Sam Sneed and I played in the Canada Cup at Portmarnock in 1960 and I recall saying to Sam on the way home that every aspect of our games was examined that week”, said Palmer.
Teams
Wake Forest (Host)
Cal Poly
Elon
National University of Ireland Maynooth
From Coach Haas:
“The best part of the trip will be spending time with our donors, who have been so instrumental in helping Wake Forest Golf throughout the years. Each university will have eight members on their donor team, and they will be having their own 54 hole event which will be exciting for them. Back in the early 2000s, we played in Scotland, so it will be wonderful to be in Ireland this time around. We will all be together, playing Royal Dublin but also sharing great fellowship, memories, and celebrating some of the wonderful Irish players that have played at Wake Forest including Darren Clark, Eoghan O’Connell, Paul McBride, and most recently Mark Power. The team is very excited to start a tradition that we hope will grow into a wonderful event every 4 years. Go Deacs!”
About the Course
Royal Dublin Golf Club
7,269-yard, par-72
Though common in Ireland, there are only 246 authentic links courses in the world. The Royal Dublin Golf Club is proud to be a member of this exclusive group. From 1914 to 1919, during the First World War, the course was taken over by the military and used as a rifle and artillery range. After this the course was all but ruined and the clubhouse, which had been an officers’ mess, was in a very dilapidated condition.
In 1920, with £10,000 compensation, the clubhouse was reconstructed and the links redesigned by H.S. (Harry) Colt, the world-famous golf course architect from Sunningdale. Among the many changes made was the decision to build up new tees at the 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th holes, offering a fine view of Dublin Bay, which had previously been hidden as the tees were below the level of the sand dunes. In the early 2000s, Martin Hawtree, the specialist links architect, was engaged by the Club to bring the course up to the standard demanded by the modern game, while respecting the legacy of Colt.
Hawtree’s work, completed in 2006, resulted in a 7,269-yard, par-72 links of outstanding quality. Royal Dublin Golf Club course was recently ranked in the top 10 in a list of 58 true Irish links courses.
