donabate courses

Jeffm587

Anybody know if any of the courses in Donabate are doing membership deals for next year, I am thinking of Turvey , Balcarrick , Beaverstown etc as I assume The Island and Donabate Golf Club would be beyond my budget and also discounting Corballis as its really a pay n play. Any info on the other 3 would be welcome though.

f22

Beaverstown is still around the 10 to 12k mark as far as I know.

I remember seeing something about membership deals for Balcarrick, the details of which I can't recall. They've done alot of work there and apparently the place is in really good shape.

Turvey is a hole, so don't even entertain wasting your money there.

In the current climate the advertised membership rate and what you would actually pay if you showed up with your cheque book are very different. Forrest Little and St. Margarets aren't too far from there either.

Jeffm587

Cheers F22 , intend to talk to them all , never thought of St Margarets will check that out also,

Sionnachster

F22 - You reckon it's possible to engage in some bargaining when looking for membership? I would have thought existing members wouldn't be too pleased with that would they?

Sounds promising though, would love to hear a successful bargaining story...

stockdam

Have you asked Donabate what the rates are?

They probably want a hefty signing on fee. Make them an offer to say you'll not be paying this......all they can do is laugh.

f22

Sionnachster wrote: »

F22 - You reckon it's possible to engage in some bargaining when looking for membership? I would have thought existing members wouldn't be too pleased with that would they?

Sounds promising though, would love to hear a successful bargaining story...

I personally know of two, one is a good friend of mine. I don't want to mention the club, but let's just say he paid alot less than was advertised. In terms of members not being best pleased, they won't ever know to be honest.

I paid 11k 3 years ago to join Forrest Little, you can join now for 9k. To be honest I always looked on it as a long term thing. I really like the club and course so it doesn't bother me in the slightest that someone may pay a couple of grand less now. Sign of the times.

deko43

f22 wrote: »

Beaverstown is still around the 10 to 12k mark as far as I know.


Turvey is a hole, so don't even entertain wasting your money there.

Unfare comment. Have you been up to Turvey recently .They have being doing a hell of a lot of work to improve the place and when its complete it will rival any of the other couses in Donabate. They have stuggled with some plans to sell land and have levied thier members so they may very well be willing to cut a deal for new people.

As far as I recall the Ballcarrick deal was €6,000 including first year sub
which is probably a good as you will get in North Dublin for a full membership. From what I hear the improvements they have made are excellent and the greens are some of the best you will play.

Paulusmaximus

Turvey i believe are in debt to the tune of 7.5 million from what i have heard. Members have been levied, but as far as i know the levy is only gonna be a stay of execution until they somehow manage a big investment. On this basis i'd stay well away as you could be just throwing away money.

This is what i have heard, so i may be wrong but sources would be reliable.

stringy

Donabate

1k a year for 10 years
plus annual sub of 1200ish


Turvey will be shutting down shortly if financial reports are to be believed

Island is 25k

Balcarrick 6/7k

Sionnachster

What's Donabate like overall? Worth a visit?

Fulton Crown

Sionnachster wrote: »

What's Donabate like overall? Worth a visit?

My recommendation would be Beaverstown - entry a lot less than the 10 / 12 figs quoted.

Donabate have 27 holes but some would say that course was better in the old 18 hole layout.

Excellent modern clubhouse.

Mister Sifter

Fulton Crown wrote: »

My recommendation would be Beaverstown - entry a lot less than the 10 / 12 figs quoted.

Donabate have 27 holes but some would say that course was better in the old 18 hole layout.

Excellent modern clubhouse.

Modern it may be, but it's a horrendous looking thing. Looks like something out of an industrial estate. Course is decent though. Although for that kind of money, i think you could still do better. A nice course to pay 12 euro or so to play on a monday every now and then, but not one i'd want to play every week.

JCDUB

Hmmmm, Beaverstown has to be the best of the clubs mentioned above, and as quoted above you are holding a very strong hand at the moment.
I wouldn't say it's as good as "name your price" but you definitely have the upper hand, so table your offer and see what they say..
Donabate is not a bad track either, although it wouldn't be my favourite spot.
Turvey sounds from above posts like a complete non-runner from a financial point of view, although as regards the course itself I would never consider it, an absolutely appalling shambles of a track in my opinion.
Island is far and away the best out there but cost is a major negative factor and I don't think you'd be entertained if you "made them an offer."I would imagine they would have too much interest from people willing to pay the full asking price for a second-to-none playable-all-year superb links course.

Dublin Spur

I joined Beaverstown in May.
joining fee reduced from 11k to 7.5k (payable over 3 years - 2.5k per year)
annual sub is about 1,200
excellent course and good facilities.
absolutely no regrets.

Garda S Horgan

I was looking at Beaverstown there. It's still 7500 which I think is a bit steep.
I know it was 11k not long ago, but Donabate was up around 12-13k and that is down to zero now. Balcarrick was 6k and you can walk in there with just subs now.
Turvey sadly seems to have lost alot of members and the debt is just crazy.
Beaverstown were looking for 7.5k last August and still the same now. I know there is 10% discount if you live locally and 500 off if you are coming from another club.
I also heard that the 7500 has dropped again since the start of the year but I'm not sure.
The course is nice and the club seem very good but something is telling me that next year or the year after we'll see alot of courses close.
How safe is beaverstown and I wonder if the joining fee would still eb so high next year? I imagine lots of courses would be happy with subs and maybe a small fee.
7500 in the current climate is alot to ask. Especially with subs of 1400 now.
Yours in golf,
GSH.

billy3sheets

I played Turvey a few times last year in Pierce Purcell and thought it was decent enough. The 9th (?) had just been done and was in play but with loads of dropzones. Probably fine now. 17th and 18th were nice holes too.
Don't know about their financial issues.

Are you rigid about it being a course in Donabate?

Garda S Horgan

Turvey was in great condition last year for the P.P.
The greens are fine there and there is alot of work still ongoing. The only issue is the debt and the massive levys. Levys of 1100 or 900 are too much to put on members so what can happen is people will leave and the subs go down and the spiral continues.
I hope the club digs its way out of the problems as it has great potential and is a completely different course than 8 years ago.

For me though it has to be in Donabate area.
I played Donabate yesterday. I'm not a fan of 27 hole courses as you don't always get to play the best 18 and that course has some serious mickey mouse holes. I was 100 yards short of a par 5 in 1 yesterday and drove a par 4. It would be different if there was alot of bother if I went left or right but its not that tight.

My main concern is value for money and safety of the club. I'm not sure beaverstown at 7500 is value for money. It does seem to be a safe club at the moment but over the next couple of years I wonder what will happen. Is it close to full memebrship so it won't offer new memberships or will the price come down?
Were people joining there at 13k only for it to come down to 7500 in a few months?
Not sure what to do, but going to join somewhere.
Yours in golf,
GSH.

f22

You also have Roganstown, Forrest Little and Hollywood Lakes a short spin down the road.

Be very mindful of member numbers. I'm a member of Forrest Little and we only ever have timesheets for major tournaments. The only major delay you'll get is early morning for a Dubs match or the likes when everyone want to be finished and in Croker or the boozer.

The ability to be able to play when you want is a huge factor in choosing a club. Be very mindful of a club with large debt, you own a piece of the club, you own a piece of the debt. All those fancy clubhouses that were built in the last few years are coming back to bite members even more in the pocket.

My 2 cents is, Fingal has mores courses per square mile than anywhere in Europe so you have a world of choice. 15 minutes in a car to play somewhere you will be happy with for years to come is nothing.

Choose wisely and you won't regret it.

golfjunkie

If you are looking for value for money try Corballis. They are GUI affliated and membership is 370 euro per year. 4 brand new holes opening in April. A lot of work planned over the next few years for the course and also a clubhouse.

The cost per round for members is 11 euro and includes all comp fees etc. Competitions are every Sunday morning with members having their own time allocated times.

Also mid week competition running. Membership numbers are usually 550 -600 per year. This year there has been alot of members form nearby clubs joining for financial reasons and for the fact that many find it hard to get out on the timesheet of the other big clubs!

Mister Sifter

golfjunkie wrote: »

If you are looking for value for money try Corballis. They are GUI affliated and membership is 370 euro per year. 4 brand new holes opening in April. A lot of work planned over the next few years for the course and also a clubhouse.

The cost per round for members is 11 euro and includes all comp fees etc. Competitions are every Sunday morning with members having their own time allocated times.

Also mid week competition running. Membership numbers are usually 550 -600 per year. This year there has been alot of members form nearby clubs joining for financial reasons and for the fact that many find it hard to get out on the timesheet of the other big clubs!

Are the Corballis midweek comps opens golfjunkie?

golfjunkie

yes Greame. They are open at present. Its a re-entry competition which means you can play as many times as you like!

Mister Sifter

Have to say, the new holes at Corballis look fantastic!

http://corballislinks.com/index.php?page=course-photo-s

Garda S Horgan

I was a member there a few years ago. Not a big fan of links courses. (I must be the only one). I remember hitting that green on the 10th in Corballis and getting to the green to see my ball rolling off down the fairway.
some of the bounces etc you get on links would drive you to despair.
That said, it's the truest form for golf I reckon.

I agree 100% with F22 though that if you want to play golf then find a place with little/no debt, and a timesheet that you won't need to book 4 weeks in advance.

What I do want in a club though is for them to be playing in the different trophies/cups etc. I play them all if I can and it's the best thing about joining a club in my opinion. Inter club matchplay beats any other day of golf.

Yours etc,
GSH.

f22

I have played Corballis quite a bit this winter when my own course was closed with frost. The mickey mouse holes over the road are gone so with the exception of the 8th, (which is one of the worst holes on any course I have ever played) there are some fine holes on the course. From the back pegs the 3rd is one of the finest and toughest par 4's you will find anywhere in Dublin.

I also agree that the new holes look a great addition and the greens are always fast and true.

For the money you'll struggle to beat membership there if you're on a budget.

golf_caddy

Have you tried Balcarrick.....

Always in great condition......... greens are best around...

No fancy clubhouse either but it ticks most of the boxes.:P

Garda S Horgan

Balcarrick is a bit wide open though. Always windy, no shade and you can see every hole from the club house. I like courses where you feel that the hole you are playing is the only hole on the course and when you are finished playing that hole and go to the next teebox you can't see the old hole any more. Maybe I'm not going to find that around Donabate, but from looking at google earth, beaverstown seems to be not so 'uppy downy' as donabate, not as open as balcarrick and not links.
Yours etc,
GSH.

deko43

If the courses in Donabate dont tick all your boxes have you looked slightly further afield ? Corrstown or Ashbourne spring to mind.
Ashbourne is only 20 mins from Donabate, its a good course,
the club is solvent and they are doing a weekly payment membership scheme.

JCDUB

f22 wrote: »

Corballis

the greens are always fast and true.

You think??
I played it last Wed avo and thought the greens were mediocre.
They are true and quite fast but badly maintained, spike marks abound and a lot uf unrepaired pitch marks all over them.

I understand that it's a public course and may not be maintained as well as a "membership" club by the users, but I didn't think they were great.

Suppose we're spoiled at the moment with what we have, I hope Brian hasn't made a balls of the timings and our greens aren't peaking waaaaay too early.

Wouldn't surprise me:rolleyes:

Back on topic, OP I reckon Beaverstown is the best club in Donabate aside from The Island hands down.
Still, €7.5k ain't cheap in the current climate, who knows what the next (few)year(s) will hold..

f22

I would put that down to the frost John. We were there last week and you couldn't get a tee into the ground. The greens had half an inch defrosted and the rest was like a road. All the water was just sitting on that top layer so even your feet were leaving impressions on the greens. Shouldn't have been open.

Garda S Horgan

Well, it looks like I'll join Beaverstown.
Played it at the weekend. It has some shrot holes where club selection is very important (from the tee) and some long holes also where you need to be on a certain side of the fairway to get at the pin. The greens were sanded and forked but they are tough. There are plenty of holes where you are better off being off the green than on it.
I think it forces you to hit to the pin rather than just trying to hit the green.
Over all I think bar the 4 and 6 I used all the clubs in my bag and thats good.
Too many longer courses are driver and 9 iron to 64degree every time and flat greens.
They have brought out a deal where you can pay over 7 years.
If you leave a club to join it's 500 off and 10% off if you live locally so it would be 6250 for me or 75 quid a month for the 7 years.
There is also the precident there that if the fee is scrapped or dropped then you'll not end up paying extra yourself so there is no benefit in waiting to see what happens next year.
Will try and get out this weekend again.
Yours in golf,
GSH.

Jeffm587

I played Donabate on Sunday and found it pleasant enough, think those with low handicap would find it pretty easy to shoot decent scores and as a result mind find it a little boring perhaps? Place was jam packed by 10am, 4 balls on every hole, we were a 2 ball started at 8.35 and didnt finish till 1pm. Overall I thought it decent enough, greens in good nick, wasnt as wet around as i was told to expect by some people, the congestion thing was a little off putting though. Will try Beaverstown soon, that payment plan looks ok, I assume that includes your yearly sub?

Garda S Horgan

I played Donabate a while ago also and in my view it's a bit of a track especially the 9 holes over the road and some of the holes on the beach side of the course.
It was wet when I played there.
when I played Beaverstown at the weekend it was 11pm and it took 4 hours for our 3 ball and we were a hole behind at the finish.
Behind a couple of lady golfers and intially we thought "damn" then they sped off into the distance and we could not keep up.
I think Donabate is more like a business now than a club and seems to be filling each 9 holes as fast as possible. In the parkland courses in the area I would rate it behind Turvey as a course. I just have something against 27 hole business clubs.
The payment plan is not including subs. Subs are 1400. 150 for the bar.
My main concern was that if the fees drop to zero then I didn't want to be paying large fees when the new poeple coming in were paying much less.
Yours etc,
GSH.

Kevinmarkham

From what I can tell on this thread , the general feeling is that Beaverstown is the best of the four tracks (Balcarrick, Beaverstown, Donabate, Turvey). I'd agree with that and if I was looking to join anywhere, that's where I'd go. In fact, I'd put Donabate at the bottom of that list - I didn't like the place at all - very bland.

As for playing at 11pm, Garda S Horgan, did you happen to have Minister Cullen as a playing partner with his helicopter overhead to shed light on proceedings? Yes, I know you meant 11am, but I'm not passing up an opportunity to have a dig at our esteemed and inept minister

ThunderCat

Havnt played Balcarrick but out of the other three id put beaverstown first, then turvey, then donabte.
I think beaverstown has an interesting variety of holes and is a very enjoyable course with the stream coming into play many many times.
with regards donabate ive only ever played the yellow and the red nines and even though i enjoyed my round, the course is far too flat for my liking, dead flat in fact. There is no elevation change whatsoever. That said, my regular playing partner loves the place. Each to their own i suppose.

Garda S Horgan

Hmm, yes it was 11am not pm. My mistake.
I think Donabate and Beaverstown and Balcarrick are flat. Island and Turvey have plenty of gradient from what I could see.
I think donabate is just missing some water. On the hole over the road where it is right beside balcarrick there are 2 ponds but neither come into play unless you hit a really bad shot miles to the right. I think water shoudl be in your face, in front of greens, in front of 't-boxes and not off to the edge where it's more of a drain and not really part of the hole unless you go astray.
Turvey needs more bunkers, more trees btu I do like the raised greens which focus your irons on hitting the greens and not dribbling shots up to the hole from 100 yards.
It's strange but, like horses, some courses will suit a person who draws.
Beaverstown is a course that suits a drawer (in my opinion) as the course runs anti-clockwise.
Holes 1/2/4/5/14/15/18 all have drives where a draw will keep you from the OOB.
In Turvey if you draw the ball you're OOB on 3/4/5/8/10/11/12/13.
Actually, when I say draw I suppose I mean a hook.
In any case I'm just looking forward to another year of golf and getting from 11 to 9 is the goal.
yours in golf,
GSH.

Jeffm587

Played Turvey on sat afternoon and certainly would prefer it to Donabate, we started at 12.50 and no hold ups at all, there was a full hole gap in front and behind us. Thought overall the place was in decent enough condition, 2holes (9 & 10) were closed on sat but looked to me as if the work was just about complete and they would be ready again shortly.
I played there once last summer and thought it greatly improved since then.
They now have an annual membership option for around the same price as Donabate or Hollystown.
Strongly considering it as I dont really have the funds for a joining fee somewhere, I know there is a lot of talk about their debt, but at least if it all went pear shaped all you would lose is your yearly sub or some part of it.
Will try Beaverstown next.

Blunder

Played St. Margarets on saturday and while It was slow I thought the course was great and in good nick too for the time of year.

Think they have membership open for an annual sub of €1995 with no joining fee that we could see. Not bad value if you can make use of the course regularly.