In a playfully smug, provocative caption, the venerable quartet in the photograph on the clubhouse wall were proclaimed as "Real Golfers".

Still, one suspects they might have had a sneaking regard for competitors who faced a searching test last weekend, in the inaugural Junior and Intermediate Scratch Cup over the new, extended course at Abbeyleix GC.

As the only one of the four still alive, Joe Higgins is suitably cherished as an honorary life member. But another member of the group, Ned Hinchin, captured the very essence of golfing life in this midland town, down the Cork road from Portlaoise.

"We like to think of ourselves as a friendly, community-based club which exists primarily for the benefit of the local townspeople," said the captain Chris Bardon, whose father, AH, preceded him in the role in 1969. "And nobody characterised that sense of community better than Ned, especially on a Saturday when he would entertain the town in his barber shop."

The barber shop is gone but the Ned Hinchin Trophy for club singles remains. And new life has been breathed into the club where Ned was captain in 1966. In surprisingly extreme terms, Bardon expressed the view that they were left with the stark choice of expanding, or going into terminal decline.

Gerry O'Hara, the vice-captain, explained: "At an annual general meeting 10 years ago, 90 per cent of the members voted that we should remain a nine-hole set-up. Since then, however, the other nine-hole clubs in Co Laois - Portarlington, Rathdowney and Mountrath - all extended to 18 holes, which meant we were being left behind. Our society and greenfee business dropped alarmingly and it was clear something had to be done."

Club officers were also acutely aware of the lessons of history. Abbeyleix was founded in 1895 and the Irish Field of March 12th 1927 reported on a decision to lay out a new course on "Mr Weld's land at Rathmoyle House", the present site. But the club went out of existence for a number of years, before being reconstituted in 1948.

Against that background, there was a 95 per cent vote in favour of expansion when 44 additional acres became available for rent, in 1998. And having decided teaching professional and course architect Mel Flanagan would design the new layout, the club bought an additional 20 acres, giving them a splendid site of 105 acres.

Resisting the temptation to preserve the existing layout, Flanagan advocated a radical reconstruction, with the result that only three of the old holes remained - the fifth, sixth and eighth. So it was that work was commenced in August 1999 and after little more than a year, the new course was officially opened in September by Paddy Murphy, then president of the Golfing Union of Ireland.

Two elements have combined to produce remarkable maturity in a short space of time. Located at the end of an esker, the golf-course soil is 82 per cent sand, ensuring admirable firmness underfoot all year round. And the club officers attribute the delightful, even-paced texture of the greens to the addition of Vi-Aqua Water Treatment to their irrigation system.

"We believe we are the first club in the world to have this system installed," said O'Hara. "It was recommended to us by Dr Austin Darragh and the result has been a significantly enhanced growth and root structure."

Flanagan, whose earlier work includes Hollywood Lakes GC, has delivered a quality, par-72 layout measuring 6,365 yards off the back tees. Excellent use has been made of a beautiful site, even to the extent of turning a two-acre marsh area in the middle of the newly-acquired land into a nature reserve which is being funded by the Glanbia company. Heading towards the first tee, one is immediately aware of classic, parkland terrain, incorporating dramatic changes of elevation and an abundance of mature trees. And by way of acknowledging the plight of this ignorant city-dweller, club member Dick Purcell informed me: "See those lime trees framing the entrance to the 15th green, they must be at least 200 years old."

Purcell went on to point out Scots pines overlooking the car-park and the first fairway; sycamores on the eighth and Spanish chestnuts and beeches elsewhere on the course. To the sympathetic architect, all of these were treasures to be accorded due reverence. And the overall condition reflected considerable credit on Tony Pender, the head greenkeeper at Carlow GC, who is employed by Abbeyleix as course consultant.

In a stroll over the layout with Bardon and O'Hara as my guides, I noted the menacing, right-to-left downhill sweep of the 467-yard par-four eighth, a very worthy index one, where a ditch lurks 30 yards short of the green. Later, while ascending to the 13th tee, there was a reminder of Sir John Betjeman's lines " . . . the uphill climb . . . A grass and sandy fairway . . . And at the top the scent of thyme . . . And long extent of fairway."

Here, on one of the highest points on the course, there was a charming view of the Slieve Blooms in the distance. As member Kieran Kelly drove straight and true off the tee, the captain remarked admiringly: "You never lost it." To which one of Kelly's playing partner's replied: "Indeed he did; that's his second ball." The line of beech and ash trees down the right, had claimed their latest victim.

Meanwhile, from the 12th green close by, the Devil's Bit in Co Tipperary could be seen to the southwest. And elsewhere, it seemed entirely appropriate to stop and admire the seductive appeal of the 121-yard third, where a short iron is hit downhill to a green with beech trees to the back and water to the front and right.

The sixth, another par three on the new land, is known as The Priest's Collar, because of the curved bunker which guards it to the front. And at 262 yards, the seventh is a perfect example of the short par-four, which should have a home on every course. There is a ditch across the fairway to catch the underhit drive, while in front of the green is another ditch where a waterfall has been added to accentuate the sound of running water. And for those in need of divine intervention, there is the comforting sight of a church spire in the distance. It came as no surprise when the captain informed me the hole produced as many sevens and eights as it did birdies.

Eventually, as a sharp northerly wind was gradually winning the temperature battle with intermittent sunshine, we came to the 436yard 18th, a straightaway par four which is as good a finishing hole as one could desire, especially with the awareness of trees down the right, from tee to green. The course cost £650,000 and while a club Lotto is making a remarkable, annual contribution of £50,000 to the debt, it is believed the membership needs to extend to 600, to make the club properly viable. As it happens, membership has doubled from 240 to 480 in the last two years and given the competitive rates being quoted, there should have no problem in further swelling the ranks. For instance, the entrance fee for residents of Co Laois is £420 , rising to £630 for residents of neighbouring counties. And those Dubliners anticipating the Kildare by-pass in two years, would find an entrance of £630 quite appealing. Meanwhile, given the quality of the course, green fees of £10 on weekdays and £15 at weekends are a snip, especially for societies.

The ladies' captain, Elizabeth O'Hara, informed me that as an equal-status club, the members work extremely well together. Indeed, I was told of a particularly interesting exercise in fund-raising by the lady president, Breda Maher. It seems while attending a funeral recently, Ms Maher sold no fewer than 57 club Lotto tickets.

Certain Dublin clubs have found in recent years expansion can often come at a cost to their old identity, but Bardon is satisfied this won't happen at Abbeyleix. "Golf in a friendly, social atmosphere, will remain our primary focus," he said. "All we are attempting to do is to give our members a home they can be proud of."

And to think it could be only an hour from Dublin . . .