I understand the three new holes along the water (nine thorugh eleven) were designed by former Northern Ireland professional David Jones, also responsible for updates to the Killeen course in Killarney (his first designing job), and for designing the course at the Hilton Templepatrick complex near Belfast.
The losses inlcude two charming, if old-fashioned holes. “The Wall” was a par 5 that required a second shot over an ancient six-foot stone fence, while “The Downs” was a quirky par 3 perched up high in the winds that had been around for a century (the old seventheenth).
Cribbing from the club history by George Rice, Ardglass Golf Club was founded during the British golf boom of the 1890s by a group of local Protestant luminaries who leased land around the Ardglass Estate. The impressive manor on the site had been built in the 1790s on the site of a fortified medieval trading station, and considerable portions of the fourteenth century structure were retained as an attachment to the new residence. The most important and fascinating resident was William Ogilvie, a former tutor who married his employer, the Duchess of Leinster, after her husband died. A good thing for Ardglass, for when he moved to the town in 1806 at the age of 66 he set about transforming the sleepy backwater, building hot sea baths and hotels to attract visitors, digging out the town harbour, and donating land and money to both Protestant and Catholic churches.
The estate had fallen on hard times by the time Ogilvie’s great-grandson, Aubrey De Vere Beauclerk (himself a descendent of Charles II’s mistress Nell Gwynn) agreed to lease the property to the fledgling golf club. The members laid out the first seven holes in April, 1896, bought the property and manor outright in 1927, and finally extended the course to eighteen holes in 1970.