The European Club, one of Ireland’s most prestigious golf courses, has been sold in a landmark deal reported to exceed €35 million (£30m).
Founded in 1987 by renowned course designer Pat Ruddy, and first opened in 1993, the iconic links at Brittas Bay in County Wicklow has long been regarded as one of the best golf courses in Europe, with its 7,490-yard championship layout currently ranked 18th in Golf Monthly’s Top 100 Course in UK & Ireland, and the fifth best course in Ireland by Top100GolfCourses.com.
After years of maintaining private ownership, Ruddy, 80, has agreed to sell the property to former BMW car dealership owners Ray and Nicky Conlan.
The sale was managed by Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, which described the property, which is located 30 miles south of Dublin, as ‘a rare opportunity with enormous potential’. In the listing, Sotherby’s noted that the club’s exclusive character — featuring a small, private membership of around 80 — offered the new owners flexibility in shaping its future.
“This gives a new owner the choice of remaining private, going ultra-private, or maximising commercial golf traffic through world visitor play and an enlarged membership,” the listing read.
The club, which has hosted the Irish Amateur and the Irish PGA Championship, currently charges a peak visitors’ green fee of €320 (£270).
