History Of Golf In Ireland. Colonel Barton established the Portsalon hotel and golf links and was very forward thinking in Portsalon becoming one of the founder member of the Golfing Union of Ireland the oldest golf union in the world. The oldest golfing union runs various tournaments courses junior level golf programs and much more throughout the year in Ireland.
In its early days Scottish kings - James II and James IV - actually outlawed the game believing the popularity of the sport conflicted with military training. Portsalon Golf club was founded by Colonel BJ Barton in 1891. When were talking about the modern game with 18 holes golf history traces its origins back to 15th century Scotland.
Today Ireland is one of the nations with the most golf courses per capita in the world.
The nine Links Golf courses listed have proved to be most successful. In the second half of the 19 th century the first golf clubs were founded in Ireland as listed in the table below. DOOKS GOLF CLUB founded in 1889 is one of the 10 oldest golf clubs in Ireland and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2014. Portsalon Golf club was founded by Colonel BJ Barton in 1891.
