If there is one golf club in the country which has shown remarkable improvement in recent years it is surely Arklow. At one stage this Co Wicklow club had to be reduced to nine holes because of that age-old problem of coastal erosion.

Happily, steps taken proved completely successful and now Arklow is back to a full 18 holes. In recent years, the standard of playing conditions has improved enormously due to the effects of a new irrigation system installed in 1992.

Under the experienced guidance of agronomist Eddie Connaughton, who took a hand in the redevelopment of the club in 1994, Arklow now boasts a course which can be played the full year round with excellent links conditions.

Ironically, the present standard of course the Arklow club possess is merely re-echoing the prophetic words of renowned golf course designers Hawtree and Taylor when they carried out a feasibility study of the potential for the course for the new members of the club 74 years ago.

Hawtree and Taylor said at the time, "given sufficient time and money, a golf course can be made which will compare favourably with the best seaside courses in Ireland. It would be difficult to conceive a site for a golf course more beautifully situated than the one in Arklow."