Eddie
J. Hackett [1910-1996]
Eddie
Hackett has long been considered Ireland's foremost golf course
designer yet he was in his mid-late fifties before designing
his first eighteen-hole course. Eddie started out as an amateur
at the Hermitage Golf Club before taking up golf as a professional
career. Eddie started as and apprentice/assistant to Fred Smyth,
the famous clumaker, in Dollymount and spent five months in
Belgium with Henry Cotton at Waterloo and nearly a year with
Sid Brews in South Africa. Eddie succeeded Willie
Nolan as professional in Portmarnock in 1939 from his position
as professional at Elm Park. Eddie's assistants included Jimmy
Doran (renowned clubmaker), Joe Nagle, Cecil Connolly and Christy
Greene who was attached to Portmarnock between 1946-1950 before
moving to Milltown.
He
wrote a newspaper column in both the Irish Press and later the
Irish Independent. During the war Eddie would arrange exhibitions
matches and reportedly accumulated £300, no small sum
during the war years, for donation to good causes.
As
a professional his successes were limited to the Michael Moran
matchplay competition, being runner-up for two years in the
1940s, and the Irish Professional Championship in 1942 when
he was runner-up to Harry Bradshaw. As a result of his training
he was considered an expert clubmaker but it was for his instruction
and knowledge on the theory of the game and the mechanics of
the golf swing where his expertise was most in demand. In 1948
he was made honorary secretary of the Irish Professional Golfers'
Association but one of his first acts was to deny an up and
coming youngster from a place in the national championship being
hosted by his home club, Galway Golf Club as later told to John
Redmond in his autobiography, Christy O'Connor (Snr).
When
he left Portmarnock in 1950 he joined the amateur ranks retiring
from professional golf as a result of illness and was made an
honorary member of Portmarnock. Ironically he had taken the
game up because of ill health. The Irishman's Diary reported:
"Eddie Hackett has no superior as a teacher of the game
of golf in this country......There is little that he does not
know about the theory of golf". However he left his
mark when his protege Christy Greene who at the time was moving
to Kilcroney as another player, Harry Bradshaw, was taking up
his position at Portmarnock. Christy won the Irish Professional
Championship in 1956 and he gave no small praise to Eddie Hackett
for his achievement. As a re-instated amateur Eddie played out
of Foxrock Golf Club. In the early 1960s he was hospitalised
with Meningitis as was advised by Bill Menton who was Secretary
of the GUI (Golfers Union of Ireland) to take up golf architecture.
In 1963 he announced
his return to the professional ranks but as he was not affiliated
to a golf club he made his services available under the Golfing
Union's Temporary Professional Scheme allowing clubs to avail
of his services for short stints. They started a free coaching
project whereby Eddie would offer free coaching to the boys
and girls of club members, while there was a lower limit of
eight persons per group this didn't seem to be an issue, by
way of example, sixty people turned up when Hackett visited
Belturbet.
Eddie was offered
a position at Foxrock which had lost Ernie Jones and was on
the verge of losing their assistant 'R. J. Browne' but Eddie
chose to continue with his coaching. By October 1963 he was
considered Ireland's leading teaching professional and the Irish
equivalent of John Jacobs. In October 1963 he opened a golf
school at the Old Belvedere Rugby and Sports Club, setting up
mats and netting in their clubhouse. Also night courses were
held between 7-10pm Mon,Wed and Fri. Eddie was also teaching
at the Leopardstown school twice a week and coached the UCD
Ladies members at their college gym in Earlsfort Terrace. It
was around about 1965 when he appears to have first got into
golf design in ernest as he was already coaching at Clongowes
and Rockwell and the presumably asked him to lay out a number
of holes in or near their college grounds.
Since the mid-sixties
his efforts were focussed in the area of course design which
he appeared to have a natural aptitude for given his ability
to weave a route through previously unchartered golfing terrain
to produce a challenging golf course with the minimum of interference
with the contours and topography of the area. It was a time
when golf course architects were few and far between on the
Emerald Isle and his reputation for being both reasonable from
a cost perspective, a factor which can't be underestimated in
Ireland and the time and his ability to produce a quality product
made his the architect of choice for new and re-designed golf
courses.
Eddie's seeming pact
with Mother Nature to design courses with the minimum of disruption
to her existing creation led to his involvement in nearly a
third of the links courses in Ireland which represents nearly
ten percent of all links courses in existence. His dedication
to his work is reflected in the story where he offered a cash-strapped
Ballyconeely club to mark out the tees and greens for the course
for a pittance so they could produce the most challenging course
possible. Although some of his courses have been tweaked or
redesigned it is testament to his skill as a course designer
that many are still listed on the top 100 courses in Ireland.
His greatest creation
is considered by many to be Waterville Golf Links, currently
ranked sixth best in Ireland albeit with some alterations from
Tom Fazio, but his work can be viewed at all points of the compass
on the island of Ireland as he has never strayed beyond its
shores. The praise heaped on another of his creations, Ceann
Sibeal, is testament to his genius:
Dingle Golf Links
Reviews
"This Links
have everything that St.Andrews has - and more!" Christy
O'Connor Jnr.
“It was a
delight to play such a natural links in such a beautiful place!",
Ronan Rafferty
“The most
westerly course in Europe, the links itself is eloquent in any
language, one of Eddie Hackett's most bewitching creations.
The setting is mesmerizing, too -- with the Three Sisters rock
towering behind the course, and the sea crashing against the
cliffs just below. If the legendary giants of Irish lore played
golf, this might be where they'd play.” Links of Heaven,
Irishgolf.com
"This
Links is living, breathing proof
that a place of outstanding natural beauty
and the game of Golf can be
a partnership made in heaven"
Golf World
One of the best insights
into Eddie Hackett as a man and architect is detailed in the
classic book 'Links of Heaven' when Richard Phinney tried to
get to know Ireland's own "National Architect", when
he interviewed Eddie first hand and witnessed his approach to
designing golf courses as they traversed the virgin territory
that was to be an additional nine-holes at the Connemara Golf
Club. Eddie Hackett died in the year the book, a seven-year
long adventure, was published and the authors partially dedicated
the book to him.
Below is a list (not
a complete list) of the courses which have Eddie Hackett's stamp
on them.
| Golf
Course |
Year* |
| Adare
Manor Golf Club |
1992 |
| Ardee
Golf Club |
1984 |
| Arklow
Golf Club |
1990 |
| Ashford
Castle - Jack Mulcahy of Waterville fame owned Ashford Castle
at the time. |
1973 |
| Athenry
Golf Club |
1991 |
| Athlone
Golf Club |
|
| Ballinasloe
Golf Club [Expansion from 9 to 18 hole] |
1984 |
| Ballinrobe
Golf Club |
|
| Ballyliffin
Golf Club - Old Links |
1973 |
| Bantry
Bay Golf Club [with Christy O'Connor jnr.) |
1975 |
| Beaverstown
Golf Club - Land formerly owned by Lamb Brothers, the jam
manufacturers. Eddie was proud he could feature the canal
that ran through the course on eight of its holes. |
1985 |
| Beech
Park Golf Club |
1983 |
| Belturbet |
|
| Bodenstown
Golf Club |
1973 |
| Boyle
Golf Club |
|
| Cahir
Park Golf Club |
1967 |
| Carnbeg
Golf Course |
1996 |
| Carne
Golf Links |
1992
|
| Carrick-on-Shannon |
|
| Carrick-on-Suir
Golf Club |
1975 |
| Castlebar
Golf Club [New 18 holes] |
1981 |
| Castletroy
Golf Club |
|
| Ceann
Sibeal (Dingle) Golf Club |
|
| Charlesland
Golf Club |
1992 |
| Clane
Golf Club - Clongowes |
1965 |
| Clonmel
Golf Club |
1969 |
| Cobh
Golf Club |
1986 |
| Connemara
Golf Links |
1970 |
| Coollattin
Golf Club |
1962 |
| County
Longford Golf Club |
|
| Djouce
Golf Club |
1990 |
| Donegal
Golf Club at Murvagh |
1976 |
| Dublin
City Golf Club [Re-designed by Frank Clarke] |
|
| Dunmore
Demesne GC |
1996 |
| Dunmore
Golf Club |
1967 |
| East
Cork Golf Club |
1969 |
| Edenderry
Golf Club |
|
| Elm
Green Golf Course |
1995 |
| Enniscorthy
Golf Club |
1975 |
| Enniscrone |
1970 |
| Glebe
Golf Club |
1993 |
| Greencastle
Golf Club |
|
| Greenore
Golf Club |
|
| Hazel
Grove Golf Club |
1988 |
| Hollystown
Golf Club |
1992 |
| Kenmare
Golf Club |
1993 |
| Kilcock
Golf Club |
1990 |
| Kilkee
Golf Club |
|
| Kilkeel
Golf Club |
1990 |
| Killarney
- Killeen Course |
|
| Killarney
Executive Course located on the race course, an American
idea comprising 7 par threes, 2 par fives and 9 par fours. |
1984 |
| Killinbeg
Golf Club |
1991 |
| Killorglin
Golf Club |
1992 |
| Kilternan |
1970 |
| Leixlip
Golf Club |
1994 |
| Letterkenny
Golf Club - Hackett's first eighteen-hole design. |
1967 |
| Listowel
Golf Club |
1995 |
| Loughrea
Golf Club |
1992 |
| Lucan
Golf Club [Designed new nine holes] |
1989 |
| Macroom
Golf Club |
|
| Mahon
Golf Club |
1978 |
| Malahide
Golf Club moved to 27 hole layout in 1989 designed by Hackett.
(reworked by Jeff Howes 2007] |
1989 |
| Marley
Park Golf Cub Opened - nine hole par-three course. |
1979 |
| Moor
Park Golf Club |
1993 |
| Nenagh
Golf Club |
1973 |
| Nuremore
Golf Club |
|
| Old
Conna Golf Club |
1986 |
| Old
Head Golf Links [ with Joe Carr, Ron Kirby,Liam Higgins
and Haulie O'Shea and Paddy Merrigan] |
|
| Oughterard
- second nine Extension |
1984 |
| Portarlington
Golf Club - Extension |
1984 |
| Raffeen
Creek Golf Club |
1989 |
| Rathdowney
Golf Club |
1984 |
| Ring
of Kerry Golf Club [Partial Design - 1996 Official Opening
1998] |
1996 |
| Rockwell |
1964 |
| Rosapenna
- Old Tom Morris links |
|
| Skerries
Golf Club |
1969 |
| Skibbereen
and West Carbery Golf Club |
1993 |
| South
Meath Golf Club |
1996 |
| St
Anne's Golf Club [1970/71] - nine hole extension on 70 acres |
1970 |
| St.
Patricks, Carrigart St. (Maheramagorgan Course) |
1982 |
| Stepaside
Golf Course [Ballyogan] - Originally meant to be an eighteen
hole golf course only the land not suitable for a tip-head
was turned into a golf course (nine-holes] |
1981 |
| Strabane
Golf Club |
|
| The
County Meath Golf Club |
1991 |
| The
Island Golf Club - made adaptions to Fred Hawtree 1973 designs |
|
| Tuam
Golf Club |
1974 |
| Tubercurry
Golf Club |
1990 |
| Waterville |
1969 |
| West
Waterford Golf Club |
1993 |
| Westmanstown
Golf Club |
1988 |
| Williamstown
Golf Club |
|
| Alterations |
|
| Hermitage
Golf Club - Drainage problem with signature hole tenth -
estimated costs of 15k were vastly reduced when Hackett
devised an alternative solution by raising the green two
feet, making it bigger and moving it back towards the Liffey. |
|
| Unsucessful
tenders |
|
| Ballybunion
- new course [Designs rejected in favour of Robert Trent
Jones jnr.] |
|
| Castle
Leslie Estate [ Robert Trent Jones and Eddie Hackett were
to collaborate on building a golf course but it never materialised] |
|
| Portmarnock
- fourth nine - stills plays Portmarnock every Saturday
morning - 1984 - Decision pending - Trent Jones and Hackett
collaboration rejected in favour of Donald Steel design
in 1987 |
|
| Phoenix
Park [1970 - Land Surveyed] |
1970 |
Year*- The
reference to year is a very rough estimate as the design process
can take a number of years.
Of
Robert Trent Jones jnr he said : "he's a much cleverer
man than I", in all modesty. The Irish Times goes
on the quote him as saying: "In fact, I was delighted
that Ballybunion and Tralee decided to use Trent Jones and
Arnold Palmer, in view of the greater the appeal of their
work would have for American tourists."
In 1996 he was awarded
a silver medal for outstanding contribution to golf course architecture
by British Institute of Golf Course Architects (currently the
European
Institute of Golf Course Architects)
