​When the Canada Cup came to Portmarnock GC in 1960, GUI president Dr Billy O’Sullivan noted in the programme that the majority of our estimated “200 golf clubs have nine-hole courses.” Much expansion and development has taken place since then, but not at Borris, where the fates seemed to militate against change. Which, as it happens, may be for the better.

Looking through this country’s rich history of competitive achievement, nine-hole facilities loom large. We look to old Malahide and the brilliance of Tom Craddock, of Joe Carr and Sutton, Paddy Leyden and Spanish Point, Jackie Harrington and the old Adare Manor and of Martin O’Brien and New Ross.

Borris hasn’t produced any comparable achievers. Yet it holds the distinction of having launched one of our greatest amateurs into national prominence.

I’m thinking of Pat Mulcare and the Watney Mann-sponsored Junior Scratch Cup of 1966, a time of few opportunities for players of four to nine handicap. Clontarf became a notable exception through the Lord Mayor’s Cup, which was launched in 1951.

With a format involving stroke-play qualifying for match-play, however, it was different from Borris which was 54 holes stroke-play. And with rounds of 75, 71 and 72 for 218, Mulcare won the 1966 staging by two strokes.

He was 21-years-old and playing off four-handicap at the time. Despite caddying from an early age in his native Ballybunion, he came relatively late to golf as a player. In fact he was 20 when making a winning debut in the captain’s prize, off 12.

A year later, he triumphed again, this time with a captain’s prize course-record of 67. So he was down to four-handicap and a member of An Garda Síochána when competing at Borris where, after the opening rounds, he was forced to return to Dublin for night duty. But he was back the following day to secure victory with a closing 72.

He was an international two years later. Reflecting on their many jousts in championship events, Rupert Staunton recalled: “He was unquestionably one of the finest amateur golfers I’ve been privileged to see, with shots that any pro would have been proud of. That’s why I never passed up the opportunity of seeing that beautiful, rhythmic swing he had.”

One imagines Mulcare thinking highly of Borris to have competed there in a field of 72, especially given the work difficulties of that particular weekend. With the emphasis it places on shot-making, especially for approach irons, it would have suited his skills ideally. And we can imagine it was always this way, given that it was conceived as an amenity for the MacMurrough Kavanagh children on the family’s estate.

These were the descendants of Diarmuid McMurrough Kavanagh, the King of Leinster, who infamously welcomed the Normans here, even to the extent of giving his daughter in marriage to Strongbow.

From the family’s estate in Borris, a 19th century descendant, Arthur, became a celebrated figure for his triumph over profound disabilities. Born without legs or arms, he became an expert horseman, an admirable shot and a noted yachtsman. And as a British member of parliament, he actually attended Westminster, by yacht.

At a time when the nearest railway point was at Bagenalstown, the bold Arthur donated land to have it connected to Borris. So it was that the noted Dublin engineer, William le Fanu, was engaged to design the line, including the splendid viaduct.

On the death of his father in December 1889, the eldest son, Walter, took over the family’s affairs. Significantly, after the golf course had been laid, he decided in 1907 to form a club of which he would be president. Since then it has prospered through a long-lease with its landlord.

The current principal officers are men’s captain, Johnny Prendergast, and lady captain, Geraldine Treacy. She lends emphasis to the horsey nature of the club’s environment, as the wife of Seánie Treacy who rode Counsel Cottage to success for Paddy Mullins at Cheltenham in 1977.

Prendergast talked about the club’s various ventures over the years towards attaining 18-hole status. In November 1968, at a time when his services were being sought far and wide, Eddie Hackett visited Borris and liked what he saw.

​Given the quality of the surrounding terrain, the golfer’s architect reckoned that the club could have a playable 18 holes in two years. For an extremely modest outlay of £3,000. Four decades later, the cost was closer to €200,000.

That was when the club’s good fortune in winning €160,000 on Prize Bonds prompted a renewal of the process. They turned to golf-course architect Jeff Howes to create a layout from additional land to the right of the entrance driveway.

“He loved the site,” said Prendergast. “He was really looking at an additional eight holes, given our existing 10 which include two par-threes that are played only once.”

With the worst possible timing, however, all of this happened around 2007. And when an objection to An Bord Pleanála caused matters to be put back a year, the world financial crisis was upon them, leading to the proposal’s collapse.

“I would love to have seen it go through, though it could mean a struggle in the current climate,” said Prendergast. “When I applied for membership 30 years ago, I went on a waiting list for two years. Now, there’s no wait. Times have changed.”

And so, Borris maintains its modest position in the sporting community of south Carlow. But there’s still the formidable shadow of a 60-foot engineering masterpiece.