On Christmas Eve 1893, an insurance broker named W. C. Pickeman and his friend George Ross rowed over from Sutton to Portmarnock peninsula to explore the possibility of creating a golf links. The peninsula is about two miles long and covers over 500 acres.  The course opened on Saint Stephen's Day 1894 with nine holes.  It was extended to eighteen holes in 1896 with a new clubhouse and a further nine holes were added in 1971.  The championship course follows the original layout although considerably lengthened (over 7,500 yards of the Championship tees).  The only major change in the routing was the insertion in 1927 of a new, now famous par three, the 15th hole.