"Save Mulranny" campaign up and running: You can help
Mulranny Golf Club and the newly formed lake in the middle of the course.
Storm-ravaged Mulranny Golf Club is making huge strides in its bid to save the charming nine-hole links from utter destruction.
Members at the County Mayo gem — famous for its wired off greens and the cattle and donkeys that share the course with the golfers — are writing to every club in Ireland outlining their plight and asking for help.
They are asking each club if they would consider holding a "Save Mulranny Golf Links" competition with the proceeds going into a much-needed costal protection fund for this unique west coast course.
Just as clubs all over Ireland ran fund-raising competitions to help famed Ballybunion build sea defences when the Atlantic threatened to reclaim the course, Mulranny also needs an urgent injection of funds to foot bill that will easily surpass €100,000.
Leading golf course architect Tom Doak, famous for his work at courses like Bandon Dunes and Barnbougle Dunes, believes Mulranny is worth saving and indicated he's willing to help out by putting his own cash into the pot.
With the Golfing Union of Ireland's constitution preventing it from helping clubs financially an with government cash earmarked for more crucial capital projects, it's up to Irish golfers to come to the rescue.
The waters are receding at Mulranny, which was under several feet of sea water just a few weeks ago.
However, there is still a huge about of rock to move and coastal defences are crucial if it is to withstand another big storm such as those that have hit the Irish coast over the past six weeks.
Mulranny as it was meant to be seen.
Mulranny was hit twice in the space of a month but tidal flooding with hundreds of tons of rock now scattered over fairways and greens.
"We urgently need to address the coastal defences which have been decimated by the recent Atlantic storms but unfortunately all our available funds have been spent on hiring machinery and large pumps to clear the course of flood water and rock," said Mulranny's Fergus Rothwell.
"It is estimated these coastal defences will cost in excess of €100,000. If we do nothing then there is a very real possibility that the next high tide and coastal storm may be the end of Mulranny golf links as we know it.
"Having consulted with various individuals in the golfing industry it was proposed that we contact golf courses throughout Ireland and ask if they would consider running a SAVE MULRANNY GOLF LINKS competition with the proceeds going to the coastal defence fund. We are currently in the process of doing this.
"All you fellow golfers out there we urgently need your support if we are to save this little nine-hole links from extinction.
If you have any queries or would like to donate to the SAVE MULRANNY GOLF LINKS FUND please contact us at mulrannygolf@eircom.net or phone our club secretary on 087 619 8188."
UPDATE: According to the club, the area engineer has said it is viable to save Mulranny links. Sea defences dropped nearly one metre following the storms in January and February and the engineer estimates it will cost between €100,000 and €150,000 to protect the links depending on the cost of acquiring the rock armour. The defences would have to be raised a least one metre to protect the course from future flood risks.
