Both courses at Ballybunion Golf Club in Ireland have been altered to improve aesthetics and player experience following a multi-year project by Martin Hawtree’s firm.

The club’s two courses, the Old and the Cashen, have undergone a series of modifications by the Oxfordshire-based architect.

On the Old course, changes include altering tee boxes on the second and fourth holes to blend in with the natural surroundings, removing ‘relic’ bunkers from just off the fourth tee while at the same time adding a new bunker to the landing area, building a forward tee on the seventh, reducing the size of three bunkers on the eighth along with converting them from a sod-faced to grass-faced style for greater uniformity.

“We are very cognisant of our duty to retain the Old course’s classic routing and unique ambience,” said the club’s general manager Vari McGreevy. “These skilfully executed tweaks make golfers’ journeys all the more memorable.”

Alterations to the Robert Trent Jones-designed Cashen course include planting fescue grass around the first tee, re-grassing the backs of fairway bunkers, adding mounds and grasses behind the first green and along the first and second fairways, enlarging the first, second and fifteenth greens, repositioning the second green to the Cashen Estuary edge and expanding the par three sixteenth tee to maintain turf health.

“The Cashen course is more popular than ever with our international members and guests,” said McGreevy. “The updates enrich playing experiences and remain true to the layout’s original, rugged spirit.”