Goosen has designs on Longford estate

Course development/Carrigglas Manor: Ireland is to boast yet another addition to the prestigious line of courses designed by icons of the sport following confirmation that world number three Retief Goosen has agreed to head a €160 million development at Carrigglas Manor just outside Longford Town.

Goosen joins Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman and Colin Montgomerie, among others, whose names are synonymous with some of the top courses in the country.

The South African was on hand yesterday to attend to a ceremonial driving of a ball on to the land that will be transformed into a golf course.

Goosen will work alongside the respected designer Jeff Howes - he was an integral part of the Nicklaus design team at Mount Juliet - visiting the site on a couple of occasions this year and again early next year.

Goosen is a relative novice in terms of course design, and this will be his first development in Europe.

"I have worked mainly in South Africa, with five courses there, one in China (Beijing) and a couple of others on (the drawing) board.

"It's my first one in Europe and it's great to be able to do one in Ireland. You could almost say this is the home of golf, with the history around here. The game is so old in these parts. To come and design a golf course here is a great honour."

The genesis for the idea came through his caddie and Irish Times columnist, Colin Byrne.

"It's something that my caddie, Colin, mentioned to me earlier in the year. (He said) that someone might be interested and I told him to get me the information and that I would have a look.

"It proved something that I wanted to get involved in. It's a parkland course and that's going to make it special. Links courses are great, but parkland courses, well, you can bring so many other features into it."

The business of course design interests the South African, as he admitted with a smile.

"I'm 37. I won't say that I am a designer, as such. That's why I'm doing it in association with Jeff Howes, who is a designer and a world renowned one. It's something that I have always been interested in, golf design, but it really only came on the map for me in the last two years.

"I'm not an expert but I know what goes into a golf course. I just don't have my design team and shaping team like some others, and that is why I do it in association with somebody who has a bit more experience on that front.

"In four or five years, when my game looks like it's starting to go pear-shaped maybe, then I'll probably set up something else to take it through on that front.

"It's not easy doing golf course design these days, with environmental constraints, but this site is only going to benefit.

"We need to plant a lot of trees, but we don't need to bulldoze the site to build the golf course. It naturally lends itself to a good golf course, and we'll look to improve the environment with ponds and features like that. "

Minister for Finance Brian Cowen turned the first sod - the second might be his speechwriter, who suggested that Goosen had beaten Tiger Woods in the Solheim Cup - welcoming a development that will create 270 jobs during construction and 320 permanent jobs for the area.

The 600-acre walled estate is owned by Tommy Kearns and his son Tom, of Kearns Developments. Originally the seat of the Bishop of Armagh, Carrigglas became the home of the Huguenot Lefroy family from 1837 until recently.

The manor, designed by Daniel Robertson, who built the Italian Gardens at Powerscourt, will be restored and eventually house suites. The Palladian courtyards designed by James Gandon, who also created the Custom House and Four Courts in Dublin, will also be transformed into accommodation.

The project will begin in two weeks, with the course due to be completed late next year or early 2008.