Lisney seeks €35m for European Club golf links and estate in Wicklow

A golf course ranked as the fifth-best in Ireland is for sale, with Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty looking for offers in the region of €35 million.

The landmark 20-hole links at the European Club in Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow, was created by Irish golf course architect and journalist Pat Ruddy, who founded the club with his wife Bernardine in 1987. He has worked on maintaining and improving the course ever since.

The European Club occupies 193 acres (78.3 hectares) including frontage just short of a mile on to the Irish Sea and unspoilt views for miles inland toward the Wicklow mountains.

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It is currently ranked as the fifth-best golf course in Ireland, according to top100golfcourses.com, and 33rd in Britain and Ireland. The website describes the course as “an inspiring place to play golf, [where] huge dunes provide tremendous definition and the Irish Sea is very much a backcloth”.

Many of the world’s best golfers have played the course, including Tiger Woods, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Johnny Miller, Gary Player and Pádraig Harrington. Woods holds the links record with a 67, while Harrington and McIlroy won national championships there.

The estate includes a substantial clubhouse with an apartment suite overlooking the links as well as three private homes.

The owners have kept membership numbers low to afford ease of access and to allow them to accept visiting golfers. A prospective new owner will have a choice on whether to remain private, go ultra-private or to maximise commercial traffic, Lisney points out.

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Its seaside location at Brittas Bay is about an hour’s drive from Dublin city centre via the N11 and about an hour and 10 minutes from Dublin Airport.

“The sale of the European Club is a rare opportunity to secure a premier and extremely picturesque golf links,” says David Ashmore of Lisney.

“With a beachfront position, nearly a mile of sea frontage, rolling dunes, mountain views and three private homes, the combination is truly magical and must represent one of the nicest options in the world to call home.”