Woodenbridge Golf Club was described as "Ireland's Augusta" by the legendary Joe Carr, who added that "Woodenbridge is the most scenic golf course in Ireland, a hidden gem".

In a country which abounds with scenic courses set in areas of outstanding natural beauty, this is no small claim to make. And there's hardly a more authoritative source than Carr, who played the great golf courses of the world with such distinction. And on a summer's day, when members find themselves at the place where the Avoca and the Aughrim rivers meet, they are indeed inclined to think that Woodenbridge may be Ireland's Augusta, but they also wonder if a case can be made that in fact Augusta is America's Woodenbridge !

After all, they've been playing golf here in the mystical Vale of Avoca since 1884, when the club was founded by the Bayly family on whose lands the course is located. The original 9 holes were played for a century until Woodenbridge GC was eventually transformed in 1994 into the present Patrick Merrigan-designed 18 holes.

On the walls of the club-house there are many extraordinary sepia-tinged pictures of men such as John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, seeking respite from the struggle for Home Rule by struggling with his game at Woodenbridge. He is also remembered at Redmond's Tree, a magnificent evergreen oak, which stands on the left of the fairway on today's 9th, a par-5.

There is even local speculation that the meeting of the waters on the golf-course is the actual Meeting Of The Waters immortalised in the ballad by Thomas Moore. But perhaps what impresses most, is the way that the timeless qualities of the course are enhanced by the most modern features -- in 2008, in "Backspin" magazine, Woodenbridge was voted into the top 30 of Ireland's leading parkland courses, by a panel which comprised 52 of Ireland's touring and PGA professionals, top amateurs, and the Irish golfing media.

The par-71 course (72 for Ladies) can provide a challenge for the J B Carr's of this world, but it is such a pleasure to play, it will not break the heart of the high-handicapper having an off day.

All who cross the bridge into this magical place, will fall under its spell.