Golf courses picking up the pieces after Ophelia’s rage

A month ago today, Ophelia made landfall across Ireland. Kevin Markham investigates the aftermath for golf clubs and courses.

The storms of 2014 seem so long ago for most Irish golfers, but for some courses, October’s weather brought back painful memories.

Kilkenny, Fermoy, Charleville, Dundrum House, Thurles, and Limerick golf clubs lost over 2,000 trees between them. Bunclody lost their entire practice range facility and the course was closed for a month. In the end, though, the number of clubs suffering serious damage was a small proportion of Ireland’s total. When Ophelia touched down — when it hit Ireland it had been downgraded to ex-Hurricane Ophelia — exactly one month ago, it was a different ball game. The entire country battened down the hatches and courses closed ahead of the Monday onslaught.