Golf course is one of Ireland’s new wonders

THE response by Dr Anthony Beese (Letters, October 12) to my letter in praise of the Old Head golf course in Kinsale as the most spectacular in the world (October 9) was a sad assessment of an asset that should make all Irish people feel very proud.

The O’Connor family developed 220 acres of a promontory into a magnificent golf course that attracts thousands of players annually from all over the world.

The tourism revenue and the employment that have been created by this superb development add significantly to our wealth in addition to enhancing the country’s image among golf-lovers everywhere.

I believe the course is closed in winter to protect the fairways and greens from the Atlantic spray on the advice of agronomists.

The course is in private ownership, and if the walkers, birdwatchers, whale-watchers, dreamers and lovers who once went there have a grievance, they should try instead to appreciate a great success story and the owners’ entrepreneurship in producing one of the wonders of modern Ireland.

Michael O’Connell

Mansfield House

Passage West

Co Cork