Castlemartyr Golf Course - any opinions?

Tipp-Boy

Hi,
I'm planning to visit Castlemartyr this month and just wondering if anyone on here has ever played it and has any thoughts/opinions on it?

curly from cork

love it... well worth a visit. linksy feel to it. greens are usually in top conditionand fairly undulating, narrow from front to back. dead in a lot of cases if you shoot for the pin and miss. it does of course depend on pin positions on the day! not overly long but good fair course ( in my opinion. )

Woodgate

Would agree with Curly from Wurly, it's a great course. It is short, but you have to think your way around because of that. You will enjoy it, clubhouse is spectacular aswell. Hope you get the weather.

jimmystars

Nice course. I really like it. Its not that hard except for the par 3s which are a challenge. Top class drainage so its usually it top condition. Inland links if that makes sense. Watch out for the drains accross a few of the fairways as they can catch a few well hit drives. Around 35 euro monday to thurs and 40 at the weekend i think

1967

Only agree with what has already been said i have enjoyed it the couple of times i have played it,greens are excellent enjoy.

Tipp-Boy

Thanks everyone - I'm looking forward to playing it (assuming it stops freezing!).

aster99

heard its open for membership...any idea of the rates?

Nonoperational

Had lunch in the club house before and the limited bit of the course I saw looked really nice. I heard it was short but it looked very well maintained.

bigtimecharlie

It's my course of choice in the area. Short but challenging. As mentioned, watch for the drainage channels but no water hazards either.

Zardoz

Woodgate wrote: »

It is short, but you have to think your way around because of that. You will enjoy it, clubhouse is spectacular aswell. Hope you get the weather.

6,790 yards off the back sticks isnt exactly short !

jimmystars

Zardoz wrote: »

6,790 yards off the back sticks isnt exactly short !

Castlemartyr 6790 of the back 6262 of the white

Fota 7100 of the back sticks, 6746 of the whites
Pga national 7419:eek: of the back 6956 of the middle
old head 7159 of the black 6860 of the middle

All par 72 and longer of the members tees than Castlemartyr of the back. Its not long in fairness.

D Hayes

aster99 wrote: »

heard its open for membership...any idea of the rates?

Does anyone have any info on membership? Can't find anything on their website.

curly from cork

played it last tue. €35 greens in fantastic condition. no idea of green fees but their phone no. is 021 4219001

D Hayes

It's €5000 joining fee and €1200 subscription, €200 of which can be used as credit in the bar.

How does that compare with other similar standard courses in Cork?

Zardoz

buysellswap wrote: »

It's €5000 joining fee and €1200 subscription, €200 of which can be used as credit in the bar.

How does that compare with other similar standard courses in Cork?

5000 joining fee is excessive in these times,the days of big entrance money are long gone.
1200 sounds about right for the annual sub.

D Hayes

Zardoz wrote: »

5000 joining fee is excessive in these times,the days of big entrance money are long gone.
1200 sounds about right for the annual sub.

Thanks for that. Thought 5000 was a bit much alright. There are a couple of payment options, one of which allows you to spread it over 4 years, but I'll shop around anyway.

aster99

think Blarney is €1200 subs but no entrance fee, a better deal i think

jimmystars

Heard Lee Valley scraped the joining fee as well. Not 100% sure but worth a buzz. Most other courses info you will find on www.gui.ie

Feel free to tell me if im wrong about Lee Valley.

5000 sounds a lot to join. Would want to live really close to get the value out of that.

D Hayes

That sounds like a great deal for Blarney in fairness. Is there any chance of that place going bust though?

I've played Lee Valley too and it's a lovely course. Only problem is that both of those places are on the wrong side of the city for me. Looking for something a bit closer to home, i.e. Southside (which has good access to east cork too).

Jasonw

Fota has a payment plan to join. 5000 up front, 5000 in 5 years and another 5000 in 10 years. Only problem is the 2200 subs every year. and the fact that it's a privately owned course as is Castlemartyer. As with any private course, It's only a matter of time before the land becomes more valuable that the course. particularly when the courses are owned by developers in the first place.

members owned courses are:

Monkstown (if you can get in I think it's around 8000)

Douglas is pretty much the same.

Youghal (around 1800 I think but a longer drive that Lee valley for you)

Cobh is 6000 but there are various payment plans to take the sting out.
(declared interest I am a member of Cobh)

If you are on the southside I guess give Monkstown or Douglas a call and see if they are taking new members there may be deals to be had. Personally I'd rather Monkstown - I never could get used to the sound of traffic going over carr's hill when playing Douglas.


*****I'd like to add that with the exception of Cobh I the prices above may not be current prices*****

D Hayes

Cheers for the info there, much appreciated. I've played Monkstown many times, I love the course but I think the 8000 fee is a bit out of my range at the moment.

That's interesting about the Fota stage payments option. I've never played Cobh...it's on my to do list actually.

Jasonw

no problem. Drop me a pm and I'll take you around.

just an update. my curiousity got the better of me and Monkstown and douglas are actually in the 14K+ range - Ouch! also according to GUI website youghal have dropped their entrance fee.

If I were joining a cork club tomorrow and notwithstanding the fact that I live in Cobh. purely based on course and value I'd personally go to first Lee valley (if no enterance) and then Muskerry (5k)

Jasonw

Just an update. Heard today that as of last weekend Cobh have dropped the joining fee to 3000.

D Hayes

50% drop - is it getting that much tougher to attract new members at the moment?

Daithio9

buysellswap wrote: »

50% drop - is it getting that much tougher to attract new members at the moment?

No things have never been better.
How do these people not injure themselves getting out of bed in the morning.

Jasonw

Apparently there's been an excellent uptake on it over the last 2 weeks. Played with a guy today who told me he'd enquired about Castlemartyr and for your 5 grand you get 1 hour Sunday morning and 1 hour Sunday afternoon for members times.

whocares86

played it last week. lovely course. shame it doesnt have any water on it. the greens were perfect

D Hayes

Daithio9 wrote: »

No things have never been better.
How do these people not injure themselves getting out of bed in the morning.

Just saw this now. Good man yourself Daithio9; it was an obvious statement to make alright!

jimmystars

Played today and must say the course was in beatiful condition and paid only 25 euro for the round. Best value for a round i have experienced.:D
Have the other courses in the area dropped the green fees as well or is this a one off for the area?
It was very quite too and although the weather was miserable i was not expecting to go around in just over the 3 hour mark.

Zardoz

Played Castlemartyr today,very impressed with it.

I was shocked to see it only has 34 members according to the handicap list.:eek:
The course was deserted during my round ,ridiculously quiet for a Saturday,I'd say it could be struggling financially.

mr.mickels

Jasonw wrote: »

Fota has a payment plan to join. 5000 up front, 5000 in 5 years and another 5000 in 10 years. Only problem is the 2200 subs every year. and the fact that it's a privately owned course as is Castlemartyer. As with any private course, It's only a matter of time before the land becomes more valuable that the course. particularly when the courses are owned by developers in the first place.

members owned courses are:

Monkstown (if you can get in I think it's around 8000)

Douglas is pretty much the same.

Youghal (around 1800 I think but a longer drive that Lee valley for you)

Cobh is 6000 but there are various payment plans to take the sting out.
(declared interest I am a member of Cobh)

If you are on the southside I guess give Monkstown or Douglas a call and see if they are taking new members there may be deals to be had. Personally I'd rather Monkstown - I never could get used to the sound of traffic going over carr's hill when playing Douglas.


*****I'd like to add that with the exception of Cobh I the prices above may not be current prices*****

I was looking to join a club in Cork recently so enquired about joining fees in a number of clubs. I personally would prefer Douglas over Monkstown. I was told Douglas was/is €14k entrance fee and as they got the €6million from that deranged developer fella they don't need money and won't be lowering entrance fee despite dwindling numbers.
I was told Monsktown are in financial difficulty and the €8k entrance fee is significantly lowered, maybe even eliminated entirely, it was considerably higher than 8k a few years ago but I am informed they are looking for numbers to join and entrance fee is greatly reduced, its not a club I would want to join as its fairly dead as a club with an ageing membership and they recently built a clubhouse they didn't need for a few million euro, of borrowed money apparently, money they are struggling to repay. I don't know if this is accurate but I was also informed they are not paying for any food or beverages for their representing club teams in the GUI events this season for financial reasons. That may or may not be correct, but anyone considering joining Monkstown its got to be worth haggling over the entrance fee if there still is one.

Cork Golf Club is a very good course and is now also looking for members I am informed, but comes with a catch of a €12k entrance fee.

I made the decision to join East Cork, has no entrance fee and around 700 euro a year, very friendly club, course isn't great but my reasoning is I get to have club handicap and club competitons in East Cork, will be eligible for their teams next year and with the difference of cost on another course plus entrance fee I will put that money towards paying green fees elsewhere when it suits and I will still have made a good saving. I think in another few years only Douglas and Cork GC will have any entrance fee around Cork City, all the rest seem to be in some sort of financial difficulties.

bailey99

Did Monkstown quote you 8k hello money? This was 14k earlier in the year payable over a 9year period by all accounts.

soundsham

Friendly people but poor course as you say ....
Are you living that direction to say you didn't join somewhere better

Zardoz

bailey99 wrote: »

Did Monkstown quote you 8k hello money? This was 14k earlier in the year payable over a 9year period by all accounts.

Crazy money for a course of its standard.
I've played it a few times and never been impressed by it,its a very average track.

mr.mickels

soundsham wrote: »

Friendly people but poor course as you say ....
Are you living that direction to say you didn't join somewhere better

Living in Douglas, would suit me to join Douglas GC obviously but 14k is ridiculous to join a club, I would readily pay the €1300 per year if there was no entrance fee.
Its less than 20 mins to Midleton through the tunnel from here, course is poor but I will say it certainly teaches you the value of hitting it straight, and around the greens is tricky, its all short game there if you keep it straight.
The cost and club friendliness is the reason I joined, a good club atmosphere shouldn't be under-rated and is non-existant in many clubs around the city it would seem, it makes up for alot if you are playing a poor course in good company.
I can play alot of Green Fees around the county for the savings from not paying an entrance fee, plus a reasonable membership fee. Most clubs are about €500 more, plus the join fee will add to quite a few rounds of green fees on a variety of courses.
In all realism, where would you join thats better value??? The only 2 that would have really taken my interest are Cork and Douglas, no way would I consider that kind of entrance fee for those, golf just isn't worth that kind of money, of all the others I wouldn't consider paying any entrance fee at all on top of the yearly sub.

I wasn't quoted €8k by Monkstown GC, I asked fellow golfers joined Monsktown and Douglas and all the other clubs as to the entrance fees etc. so there weren't official quotes, just going on what I was told by regular golfers. It was suggested to me that Monkstown is alot less than €8 now, even though they were getting alot more than that with a waiting list a few years ago. I don't particularly like Monsktown GC very much and have no wish to pay an entrance fee to anywhere in financial uncertainty. Any club with debts will have to raise money somehow, with obvious implications for the members.

soundsham

Lee valley or Muskerry are the same distance from Douglas on the link road 20 mins
Lee valley sub is gone so €1300
Muskerry similar as far as I know maybe minimal hello money


Both far better than Douglas never mind east cork
Blarney also 20 mins and €1200 with gym membership added
Also far better than east cork

Sorry I just think east cork is crap

curly from cork

I would certainly consider Lee Valley O.P fine course. Very accessible.Strong members section although it is not owned by them.

soundsham

curly from cork wrote: »

I would certainly consider Lee Valley O.P fine course. Very accessible.Strong members section although it is not owned by them.

So

curly from cork

soundsham wrote: »

So

So I would always take into consideration before joining a club that is not member owned, that the owner is entitled to sell up or close it down etc, thats all.

soundsham

curly from cork wrote: »

So I would always take into consideration before joining a club that is not member owned, that the owner is entitled to sell up or close it down etc, thats all.

having paid nothing other than a sub each year why would this matter

curly from cork

True, didnt give consideration to the no joining fee issue but I would think a being reliant on the owner maybe not always be the best. look at harbour point for example. different times now I know. Some owners will give preference to green fees and socities over members. Hard to blame them when cash is on offer. Im not saying Lee valley does , but it may be a consideration in some owner run clubs is all .

soundsham

curly from cork wrote: »

True, didnt give consideration to the no joining fee issue but I would think a being reliant on the owner maybe not always be the best. look at harbour point for example. different times now I know. Some owners will give preference to green fees and socities over members. Hard to blame them when cash is on offer. Im not saying Lee valley does , but it may be a consideration in some owner run clubs is all .

a group of self indulgent members hogging the running of a club would be an equal possibility
owners and members committees generally hash out any problems and owners dont really dictate everything
the members committees can be well informed and guided by the GUI if necessary



your looking for problems where very few exist
if you live your life this way I suppose you'd never buy a new car for the fear it loses a few grand when you drive out the garage door

join a decent golf course if you can,
you'll enjoy it more and thank yourself later

curly from cork

Strange reply Soundsham I have no idea why you would get personal about this ! As it happens I am member of a club that in my opinion is a " decent " club , I wont get into the car I drive or how I live my life, I was offering an opinion to the OP . As far as I know thats what happens on this forum. As I said Lee Valley is a very fine course in my opinion, being a member of a privately owned club may cause me to have some worries. Thats it .

soundsham

Reply isn't a personal attack
Just seems your a bit overkill with caution ...

Good luck to you and enjoy east cork

mr.mickels

soundsham wrote: »

Lee valley or Muskerry are the same distance from Douglas on the link road 20 mins
Both far better than Douglas

obviously you rate Lee Valley and Muskerry alot higher than I do

Jasonw

I wouldn't say they were far better but they're certainly more testing tracks. Douglas suffers from a lack of length and they don't have the room to push the tees back. The same is also true of monkstown. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of all 4 courses but it depends what you want from a course.

IMO Douglas is too easy. There were 2 scores below par in the jsc last week. I didn't play particularly well and I finished 4 over with a treble bogey on 16.

There are a few inaccuracys on this thread one of which is in the quote from me above. Cobh is not €6000 anymore but 3000 if paying up front. Most pay 100 a month which includes their annual subs too. It's in fantastic condition at the moment too. And because I can't resist a good plug there's open singles every Monday and Friday with gross prizes on Friday if there's more than 3 catagory 1 players in the field.

aster99

How exactly does the cobh membership work? What does the €3000 give you?

As €100 a month is €1200 per year is there some advantage to paying €3000 up front

ssbob

aster99 wrote: »

How exactly does the cobh membership work? What does the €3000 give you?

As €100 a month is €1200 per year is there some advantage to paying €3000 up front

I think the €3,000 is a bond in the club(ie. ownership) but not sure if you get that with the €100 a month