Let’s get straight to the point shall we? Druids Glen in Ireland is utterly spectacular, and one of the prettiest golf courses this correspondent has ever had the good fortune of playing in world golf.

All too often, marketing hyperbole and claim to being the world’s best are used by PR agencies and marketeers to elevate a club to make it appear to be better than it actually is, but in the case of Druids Glen in County Wicklow just outside Dublin, believe the propaganda. It’s stunning.

Often referenced to as the ‘Augusta of Europe’ – a moniker that is more than merited – the 36-hole facility is headed-up by 37-year-old Marcus Doyle, a local lad who appears to be living every boy’s childhood dream.

Growing-up in Arklow half-an-hour away, Doyle hails from a golf-mad family and has been playing the game from a very young age. Hooked on the sport, as a 12-year-old he was too young to carry a scoreboard when the Irish Open was first played at Druids Glen in 1996, a year after the resort opened for business.

Undeterred, the following year Doyle hoodwinked organisers into believing that he was 16 years old – when in reality, he was still too young to volunteer – but his tenacity paid dividends when he ended-up carrying the board for Colin Montgomery, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington at the 1997 Irish Open.

“Due to my age, I wasn’t the biggest guy in the world, so carrying that scoreboard around for four days was like carrying around a wind sail,” he recalls.

“I was blown around Druids Glen for four days, but I absolutely loved it.”

And this tenacity resulted in Doyle landing what he refers to as his “dream job” as director of golf at Druids Glen in March 2015, although his career could have been very different, especially if his mother had her say.

“I played golf all throughout my childhood, and my teen years, and was quite a good player, but never an elite player. I went to university in Leeds and qualified with a business and marketing degree, and at the time, my mother was a chartered physiotherapist with her own practice.

“One of her patients was a very senior bank official, so my Mum put one-and-one together, got two, and set me up with a job in banking which was probably one of the strongest industries in Ireland at the time.

“I worked in the bank for a while, but how I ended up going into golf was actually quite funny,” smiles Doyle. “I was working for AIB and I wanted time off to play in a golf tournament, and they couldn’t give it to me because the bank was just so busy at the time. So, I handed in my notice and my Mum essentially went crazy.

“I was out of work then for a while, and I was actually hitting golf balls on a driving range one day when a guy came up to me and said, ‘You look like a good player. We’re one short for a charity scramble tomorrow, would you like to play?’ And I just figured I had no job at the moment, so why not.

“I ended up playing with a guy who owned a golf holiday company that specialised in South Africa and Dubai, and after the round, he offered me a job selling golf holidays.”

This was Doyle’s first foray into the golf industry, but as golf breaks to Portugal were proving easier to sell, he ended up working more in the Algarve than in Cape Town.

“I used to work with a lot of club managers in Portugal,” recalls Doyle, so when the recession [in 2009] hit hard, the first thing to go was the golf holiday. I remember at the time saying to myself that it was time to go and get a proper job.

“I’d always got on well with the Portuguese golf managers, so I thought I could do the same role in Ireland, which is when I joined Synergy Golf – a management company – who gave me a job at a time when jobs were hard to come by in Ireland.

“They gave me my first steps into the golf business in Ireland, and I’ll always be extremely grateful to them for that, especially as I learned a lot about running golf courses.

“Through career progression, I made it to Castleknock [as golf manager] and earned my stripes before making the move to Druids Glen and haven’t looked back since.”

Doyle joined Druids Glen in March 2015, and in the transpiring eight years has witnessed many changes, both on, and off the course. Opened in 1995, the parkland Glen Course – which hosted the Irish Open between 1996 and 1999 – was followed in 2003 by the Heath Course, with both courses sitting at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains.

But it is the Glen Course which has become famous the world over for its spectacular scenery, and which has been the primary focus of attention since the resort was purchased by the Neville Group in 2019 for a reputed €45million.

Shortly after acquiring the five-star resort, the Neville Group set about appraising the entire business as Doyle recalls: “That review was undertaken in conjunction with some of the leading golf consultants in the world.

“I was just in awe and starstruck of the John Clarkins of this world; the Peter McAvoys of this world; the Jeff Lynchs of this world, and that I was now sitting at a table with them.

“Druids Glen had become a little tired throughout the recession, and it had strayed away from the original business concept and needed investment. And in fairness to the Neville family, no one envisaged the level of investment that they would make.

“We’re eternally grateful for them. It’s a new era and a new foundation for Druids Glen to become something very special.”

Working with Peter McEvoy and Jeff Lynch, the Glen Course was closed in January 2022, with over €10 million invested in a re-imagination of the original Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock par-71 layout.

The Glen now plays as a par-72, 7,222 yard challenge off the back tees, with fairways widened, trees and bunkers removed and a new Rain Bird irrigation system installed. Over 90,000m² of topsoil was stripped out by DAR Golf during the construction phase, which included re-building new tees, greens and a clubhouse.

The result, as Doyle alludes to, is something quite special, and since re-opening on June 1, 2023, the feedback from members and guests has been off the charts.

The course has been elevated to one of the very best in Europe, with Séamus Neville, of the Neville Group stating: “We have made a significant commitment to the renovation of Druids Glen golf course and clubhouse, with the aim of bringing it to the very top of the list of world-class golf courses.”

And that includes one day hosting tournaments again as Doyle confirms: “We’ve outlined a very public ambition to bring major tournaments back here as well, which is what everyone wants to see.

“When people think of the Irish Open at Druids Glen, they think of the golden era of [the] Irish Open. And with our proximity to Dublin, our location and with a hotel on site, we’re tailor-made to host it.

“And now, more importantly than anything, the golf course also lives up to that lofty standard of a European Tour event, and we’d love to showcase it.”

As to Doyle’s plans for the future, it’s obvious talking with him how content he appears to be in Ireland. “I’m passionate about what I do, and I love what I do,” he says. “When I set out on my golf management journey, I kind of had a dream that one day I could become general manager of my home golf club or something like that.

“But I think I’ve surpassed my every expectation by becoming director of golf at Druids Glen. It’s just something I’m so proud of because I’m an Arklow man. I grew up here, and this is my home.”