Course developments Rathcore Golf and Country Club: Philip Reid talks to a football legend about the fine new course he and his cousin have fashioned in the county

In an area down between the 18th green and the 10th tee, a circular building that is a throwback to old Celtic times is evolving. Its rough, natural stonework does not need mortar and the structure conjures images of the ring forts that once upon a time dotted this landscape in Co Meath, where warriors once fought for their very lives. And, out of its midst, strides a more-modern sporting hero who in his footballing days encapsulated the passion and toughness of his county brethren more than any other. In his days as one of the best defenders in the land, Mick Lyons - winner of two All-Ireland football championships with Meath, and who suffered defeat in another two finals - revelled in the rough and tumble of championship matches at provincial and national level.

These days, his boots long since hung up, Lyons's sporting passion has been redirected. It is into making Rathcore Golf and Country Club - his own dream and one of the newest courses to emerge on the Irish landscape - a place where people will play an Irish-style parkland course and savour every moment of it.

When Lyons and his cousin, Austin, came across this land in Rathcore, four kilometres off the main Dublin-Galway road (N4) near Enfield and close to Summerhill where they grew up, it was immediately obvious to them it would be perfect for a golf course.

The terrain comprised drumlins and hillocks and gorse and trees and rivers and marshland - not your typical Meath land - and provided a sense of character that simply couldn't be invented by artificial earthmoving.

For the designer, Mel Flanagan of Irish Golf Designer, it gave him a chance to create "a very Irish golf course" with none of the American parkland influences that have crept into so many designs in recent times.

"The course sits into the site," insists Flanagan, and he is right. "There's nothing forced about it, nothing false. We hope people will appreciate the Celtic theme."

Built on 130 acres, and respecting the sensitivity of such an historical site, Rathcore is a wonderful new addition to the Irish golfing landscape. It is not long, but it doesn't need to be. There is sufficient variety to make this a tough but rewarding test of golf for anyone - and Lyons, who plays off 10, is immensely pleased with what has materialised.

"It's grand having the dream," he says, "but you can't get sentimental . . . it is business at the end of the day, and you have got to make it work."

Yet it is fair to say that the end product is something special.

"Mick's a perfectionist, very much hands-on," claims Flanagan, "and everything had to be just right."

For such a new course (it opened for play on April 1st and the clubhouse already under construction is due to be completed by December), it is in superb condition and, for this, greenkeeper Peter Casbalt must take much of the credit.

It's a course of great character, one that will appeal to players of all abilities.

For someone who spent much of his footballing days repelling attacks from Dubliners (on the football field), Lyons, with a grin, now extends the hand of welcome to those from the neighbouring county.

"They're all more than welcome," he says of those green-fee-paying visitors or those wishing to avail of the convertible preference shares at a cost of €15,000.

So, what of the course itself? It truly is a wonderful journey over wildly varying terrain in such a short space of time. To augment the mature trees and bushes already on site, some 40,000 furze and 1,500 oak trees were planted during construction.

The first hole is a gentle enough opener, which has an old fairy fort (one of a number on the site and all completely undisturbed during development) to the right of the fairway, while the second has water on the right and a rather clever hollow in front of the green which forces the player to attempt to fly the ball all the way to the putting surface rather than run it up.

The third is a real strategist's hole. It is a par four that doglegs severely to the left with masses of gorse on a drumlin to the player's left (where an ancient chieftain once lived) and, of all the holes, requires the most course management. There is little room for error, either off the tee or on the approach to the green which has a small water feature on the right.

In keeping with other water hazards, rough natural stone from a local quarry has been used and the effect is quite lovely.

There is much to admire about Rathcore, and its par threes - as a group - are all very good holes. The fourth is played uphill to a green fronted by a bunker; the ninth is a dramatic short hole played over water to the putting surface.

But it is the 11th and 16th holes that are quite outstanding. The 11th is played from an elevated tee to a green that has a marshland down the left and a large tree on the right to penalise anyone who attempts to play too cautiously, while the 16th is played completely over the same marshland from tee-to-green in the opposite direction.

In between these two fine short holes are a number of interesting par fours and fives, of which the 15th is probably the most spectacular. It is a dogleg par four with a large lake in play down the right, requiring accuracy off the tee and then a precise uphill approach shot to the green.

One noteworthy aspect of Rathcore is the use of bunkers has been kept to a minimum but the use of subtle and not-so-subtle hollows puts the onus on creativity around the greens.

"I don't think we'd have built this course only that it is so different," says Lyons, standing on the 16th tee.

But it is actually on the elevated 17th tee, with so much of the course visible, that those playing the course can reflect on the Rathcore experience. It is, indeed, different. "Golf should be an interesting walk," remarks the course architect Flanagan and, certainly, Rathcore fits that bill. "It's a thinking man's course, very much a traditional golf course," he adds.

Mick and Austin Lyons first considered building the course five years ago. "We bought this land with the intention of building a golf course, we felt it was ideal terrain," says Mick.

That foresight has work out well for the two because what has evolved is a course that will have wide appeal.

And as a reminder to those playing the course of how fortunate they are to be hitting a little white ball around an idyllic piece of Irish countryside, the new entrance to the Rathcore course will be constructed using the old gates to Mountjoy Prison which Lyons acquired during some demolition work some time ago and retained with this very project in mind.