Construction has started on Curracloe Links, a new golf course designed by Dana Fry and Jason Straka, located on the east coast of Ireland. The layout is being built on land that had previously been used for farming, a few hundred metres from Curracloe Beach, the filming location for Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, and next to Neville Hotels’ newest property, Ravenport Resort. “It’s a compact site, so gaining a reasonable length was critical,” said Straka. “After several weeklong trips to study the land and surrounds, we began with several routings on paper. We had to ensure the golf course had a good balance of length, walkability and amenities such a short-game areas.” The €20 million ($27.1 million) project will be Neville Hotel’s second golforiented property in Ireland, following the renovation of the Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock-designed course at Druids Glen in 2023. “The views to the ocean and into the town of Wexford and its harbour were a must,” said Straka. “The site is bisected by a typical, Irish rock-walled road that runs to Curracloe Beach. The south side of the site is linear, so you’ll see holes two to seven are very much oriented east and west. These holes are in between the road and a large wetland that separates the course from a large line of dunes. It’s perfect golf terrain with excellent views across A pond comes into play on the first, seventh and eighteenth holes TEE BOX Curracloe Links COURSE BLUEPRINT According to architect Jason Straka, holes five and six, which share a fairway, are being built on locations “where iron was forged centuries ago” 24 Image: Fry/Straka
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