Hawtree transforms Lahinch

TOMMY BENN is not just the course ranger at Lahinch, he has also been good enough in his time to play in the South of Ireland Championship and claim more than his fair share of notable scalps.

So when a man of his experience warns that the new-look Lahinch “is a course to be played from the fairways”, it is worthwhile sitting up and taking notice.

The great Clare club is now more than three-quarters way through a major remodelling job to a plan drawn up by the English architect Martin Hawtree. The new course has been in play for the past month or so and will be unveiled in all it’s grandeur at the South of Ireland Championship beginning on Saturday next.