John O'Sullivan pays a second visit to the new Bray Golf Club andhis positive impression is amply confirmed

It suggests an imposing challenge, perched as it is on the western side of Bray Head, inspiring even a touch of vertigo as the would-be challenger scans the fairways that snake around the Head on the long driveway into the new Bray Golf Club.

The image of steep banked, sloping fairways is not totally dispelled in actually playing the Des Smyth/Declan Brannigan designed course but it is nowhere near as severe as imagined.

A project that was 10 years in gestation - in the sense that Bray's old nine-hole course on a 57-acre site at Ravenswell Road in the heart of the town of Bray had been overtaken by golfing technology, becoming a claustrophobic golfing enclave - bore fruition on the May 31st, 2003.

Bray Golf Club had explored and rejected a couple of options but about five years ago they were approached by Eddie O'Dwyer, of Dwyer-Nolan Developments, with what might be described as a quid pro quo deal. Dwyer would receive the Ravenswell Road site and in exchange would build a championship quality golf course on Bray Head, complete with state-of-the-art clubhouse, and supply new machinery for the upkeep of the course.

The deal was worth about £10 million to Bray, including a £2 million cash settlement. There was no scrimping in terms of the course or the clubhouse, down to the cutlery and accoutrements. The latter edifice is a magnificent 19,000 sq ft structure that offers a view not only of several holes but the surrounding countryside.

"The club wanted to stay within the confines of Bray so as not to lose its identity," explained secretary-manager Gerry Montgomery. "The important thing was the older members within the club supported the move. There was 105 years of history attached to the original club site but also an acknowledgement that it no longer suited our purposes.

"It would have cost about £4 million to completely relay all nine greens and tee boxes - the old course was a nine hole - and completely raise the clubhouse and build a new one in its stead. Once it was decided to go ahead with the move no more money was spent on the course or the clubhouse."

Treading water in terms of maintenance over a four-year period, it's hardly surprising that the members eagerly awaited the short move to the site on the old Bray to Greystones road. Montgomery smiled when he considered the official handing over of the new set-up at 5.0 p.m. on May 31st.

The club had prepared assiduously but when the time came there were one or two oversights. "I suppose we thought we had taken care of everything but then we realised things like we'd no safe, or float for the bar or hadn't even considered the possibility that we didn't have enough glasses."

It was alright on the night, though.

I was fortunate enough to both view the club and hit a few balls on the morning it was being handed over in the company of Turfgrass Consultants' John Clarkin, who had been charged with growing in the course over the previous 18 months. Paddy Governey's Sporting Concepts undertook the overall project.

On a beautiful morning we left footprints on the dew as we traversed the golf course. My first impression - and it's important to note we were in a buggy - was to be slightly intimidated by the perceived climbs. When standing on the first tee, the par four index one, the green seems as if it's in a different postcode but like many misgivings, mine was largely dispelled by actually playing the course.

Not a hole had been cut in the greens until we reached the 10th, when new head greenkeeper Steve Taylor, who had been prised away from Druids Glen after nine years there, joined us and the first hole was cut.

My abiding memories of the day were some glorious golf holes, one or two lung-bursting climbs, punitive rough and a course in immaculate condition, with greens as good as any in the country.

The Penn A4 grass that's used on the putting swards is similar to those at Carton and the Heritage, two of only a handful of clubs to use this strain in Ireland; picture perfect and so slick, they were a joy to putt on.

Three weeks ago I went back to play the course again. The rough had been thinned back appreciably, a sensible approach. There is precious little room on the third, sixth, seventh and eight fairways and it doesn't take a poor tee-shot to be swallowed by the rough.

If there is one slight quibble it's that there are a couple of holes where the golfer is almost trying to miss the fairway left to hang onto the right extremity, such is the camber and the steeply-banked saucer-like slopes.

When there is less run in the winter it shouldn't be quite so pronounced but landing areas might have been flattened to accommodate straight drives rather than punishing those who hit the centre of the fairway.

It's only a minor aside and one that champions the cause of the less gifted or the wayward. For those who enjoy having to be precise Bray will pander to their every whim. At 6,330 yards, the course is not long; in fact most of the par fives will tempt the longer hitters in reasonable wind conditions: its defence is very much the greens combined with accuracy off the tee.

Putting downhill in summer conditions is a white-knuckle ride and definitely not for the yippy, rewarding precision iron play and uphill putts are the cherished commodity on the Bray greens.

There are some memorable holes, the 441-yard first, and the 10th, a par three played from an elevated tee, especially when the pin is back left.

The signature hole, though, is undoubtedly the 11th. The drive, again from an elevated tee, must be threaded through a knot of bunkers straddling both sides of the fairway to a green perched on top of a hill. The views from the green of Bray, Dalkey, Killiney and Dublin Bay are spectacular and most golfers will be tempted to linger.

The club's move facilitated the introduction of 50 new members this year, taking the number of full members to 450. The entrance fee of 15,000 is extremely competitive in the Dublin climate, especially when pitched against neighbouring clubs. It is envisaged that another 50 new members will be taken in next year.

There is also the added consideration that there should never be any need for levies, given that everything has been paid for to date, an important consideration as golf clubs look to move with the times.

A walk-in green fee of 60 is very reasonable, given the quality of the course, while groups will also be facilitated at preferential rates as will those simply prepared to avail of top class catering facilities. The entire clubhouse is non-smoking, with outdoor decking reserved for those who partake.

The feedback from green fee guests and members alike has been "fantastic", according to Montgomery, hardly a surprise given the product.

Those with preconceptions about how severe the slopes are on the course are pleasantly surprised. There are only two noticeable climbs on the front nine. Quite what it'll be like with a wind assailing the Head on a December morning we'll reserve for the imagination of the members.

Suffice to say, the new Bray course is beautifully manicured, a great test of ability for all standards of golfer, embellished by superb greens and a sumptuous clubhouse.

Quite a return on a five-year time investment.