John Daly to design Blarney golf course

A two-time Major winner is to design a €40m golf resort in Cork.

John Daly, who won the US PGA Championship in 1991 and the St Andrew’s Open in 1995, said he intended to add to the list of great Irish golf courses.

“When I was invited to become involved in Blarney it was an offer I couldn’t turn down.”

The 18-hole Blarney Golf Resort course will be the latest in Ireland to be designed by a high profile golfer.

Jack Nicklaus created the Mount Juliet course in Kilkenny, Greg Norman oversaw the Dunes course at Doonbeg in Clare while Nick Faldo is currently developing a course in Bartragh Island in Mayo and another at the Lough Rynn estate in Leitrim.

The Blarney course will measure 7,000 yards and be built in two loops of nine holes. It is the first course in Europe to be designed by John Daly, who previously created the Wicked Stick course in South Carolina, USA.

It will be located on a 164-acre site close to the small village of Tower, two miles from Blarney and eight miles from Cork City.

The site will also contain a four star hotel with 63 bedrooms, a business centre and 56 two-bedroom apartments.

The entire complex is expected to provide employment for around 200 people when it is completed by the end of 2005.

Cork property developer John Kelly, who was one of the investors who bought the 164-acre site three years ago, said he believed there was sufficient demand for another high profile venue.

“We have got John Daly to design the course – we felt if we were going to do it, we might as well do it right. Our plan is to have a split of 50/50 between locals and tourists.”

The apartments in the resort will be sold to golfers but cannot be used as permanent residences.

Mr Kelly said there was a strong demand for golf in the Cork area and that the course would have a private club with between 300-350 members.