Members of Connemara Golf Club near Clifden have high hopes for the future of their links course.

Surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic ocean, and with the Twelve Bens mountain range as a backdrop, this Connemara golf course has been attracting golfers since 1973.

The par 72 links Connemara Golf Club has a new clubhouse, and a spectacular location. Club captain Paul Hughes owns the Abbeyglen Hotel in Clifden tells RTÉ News that,

This year we'll get Connemara Golf Club on the map for all time.

In 1977 the then president of Germany Dr Walter Scheel spent a month long golf holiday here in Connemara. As a token of his appreciation, he donated a German-built piano to the club.

Last weekend West German ambassador to Ireland Horst Grabert travelled to Clifden to formally present the piano to the club. He recalled how much the president had enjoyed his time in Connemara.

Over the coming months Connemara Golf Club will work with local hotels in a tourism drive to attract more visitors from Germany. Paul Hughes feels that the time is right to promote the club internationally,

The facilities we have are magnificent.

An RTÉ News report broadcast on 23 April 1985. The reporter is Jim Fahy.