Slieve Russell Hotel, Golf & Country Club has been unveiled as PGA National Ireland, Slieve Russell, becoming only the 8th PGA National designated resort in the world.
The designation is recognition not just of the highly acclaimed 18-hole championship course, regarded as one of Ireland’s best parkland courses, but also of the quality of the facilities that make up the 300-acre Slieve Russell Hotel, Golf & Country Club estate. These include the luxurious 222-bedroom hotel, state of the art conference centre, golf academy, including a par-3 course and adventure golf facility as well as its award-winning spa facilities.
Set just 90 minutes from Dublin and two hours from Belfast, the Patrick Merrigan designed golf course lies at the heart of the newly branded PGA National Ireland Slieve Russell resort. With its clever design wrapping attractively around the lakes and drumlins of the County Cavan landscape. The back nine contains some of the best holes in Ireland, with part of the 50 acres of water that make up the Slieve Russell estate playing an intricate part in the design.
The PGA National Ireland designation follows a period of sustained strategic investment by Slieve Russell to grow its business not just on the island of Ireland but also internationally. The strategy has seen the property carry out a major investment plan in recent years to upgrade both the golf course and the many other facilities that has seen Slieve Russell establish itself as one of Ireland’s leading hotel, golf and country club resorts.
These include on-going improvements to the greens, tees, fairways and bunkers as well as the development of the Golf Academy to include state of the art video equipment allowing for detailed swing analysis. There has been a total overhaul of the now state of the art banqueting, conference and event facilities and a major upgrade of the Ciuin Spa. Further investment to upgrade all of the 222 hotel bedrooms is underway and will cement the venue as the premier business and leisure tourism venue in the North East of Ireland.
PGA National Ireland, Slieve Russell is the home club of Irish golfing sensations Leona and Lisa Maguire, both of whom learnt and honed their skills on the course and the club has also hosted two European Tour events and was home to the Irish PGA Championship. In addition, the venue also stages an annual PGA pro-am, with the popular event featuring a collective prize fund of €1.2million since it was first held in 1997 – the highest paid PGA pro-am tournament in Ireland.
Speaking about the announcement, Tony Walker, General Manager at Slieve Russell Hotel, Golf & Country Club said: “Since the opening of Slieve Russell Hotel, Golf & Country in 1992, we have worked continuously to ensure that our golf and leisure facilities are amongst the best in the country. It is a huge honour to have been selected by The PGA to be designated as PGA National Ireland.
“We believe it is reflective both of the quality of the course and of the facilities which we have invested in and upgraded significantly in recent years, with significant plans to continue to do so cementing our position at the forefront of the Irish golf and leading tourism venue for both domestic and international visitors.”
The PGA Chief Executive, Robert Maxfield, added: “We are delighted to welcome Slieve Russell to our exceptional list of PGA Branded Properties. The PGA National – Ireland further strengthens The PGA brand’s reputation internationally and we look forward to promoting Slieve Russell to both PGA Members and golfers across the globe.”
Head Professional at Slieve Russell, Gordon Smyth said: “This is a really proud day for the entire team here at Slieve Russell, recognising as it does, not just the quality of the Championship Course but the other golf facilities and academy we have built up over the years.
“We believe our designation as PGA National Ireland is reflective of this work and to join a club of just eight PGA National designated resorts worldwide, including the likes of The Belfry and Gleneagles is a huge honour and reflective of the quality of Slieve Russell as a venue for golfers of all levels and abilities.”
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