Moyvalley

jimjo

Am due a visit to Moyvalley shortly and wondered what the course is like?? it must have matured a little since its opened, anything i should really look out for?

From what I can gather its open off the tee but you need to be accurate with your approach shots, like many of the new breed of courses around (aka Knightsbrook). I’m playing with a few high handicappers so we might play off the yellows to make for a more enjoyable day for all, although I would prefer the longer test its just a green fee and a bit of craic.

I normally try not to ask these sort of questions and do a search, although there isn’t a whole pile of information on the actual course. There are quite a few threads on its sister course New Forest.

***Am not interested in hearing about the clubs financial state, been reported on both their website and national newspapers that it’s open for green fees and actively looking for members***

Kace

The rough (or fescue as they call it) was very punishing when I was there last - it may not be too bad in winter now. Nice course but not the easiest - I actually preferred the New Forest sister course a few miles further down the road.

ipitydafool

its styled as an inland links course, whcih im not a mad fan of, having said that it is a very enjoyable course and the last time i played there ( last autumn) it was in excellent condition particularly the greens, fast and true.The fairways are lined with fescue rough. You will probably find it easy off the yellows, i would recommend the whites but if out with your mates for a social game fair enough. front nine has two par 3s, 2nd and 5th i think and two par 5s, 6th and 8th- my two favourite holes on it, particularly the 6th plenty of trouble down the right of it. the 4th is a good par 4, dogleg with mounded green as target. finishes with a weak par 4, bringing you back towards clubhouse.
Back nine starts off with easy par 4, then two long enough but straight par 4s, gets a bit boring in the middle including a short uphill par 4 15th easily drivable off the yellows. Then the best to last, 16th, 17th and 18 redeem the place, good finishing stretch. 16th is the index 1, par 4 with a lake huging the whole left side of fairway, need to get a good drive away if u stand any chance of getting on in 2. the lakes comes around to the front of the green so if you are to miss it, be to the right. 17th, par 3 about 180 yards to long sloped green. 18th was my favourite hole, a par 5 with lots of water on it,a stream runs along the left and cuts through fairway twice ending up with lake in front of green.It's a 3 shotter in which u really need to get your second shot placed properly, over towards the stone bridge gives good line into a rasied green protected by rocks at the front and bunkers back and side. clubhouse facilities are great, really celtic tigerish very plush

sweetswing

played it last summer with a society(35 people) all the high handicappers hated the place where as all the low handicaps loved it , the rough was very high when i played and if you strayed into it you had no option but to hack out of it, my personal opinion is its a fine course, you cant just get up and smash the ball, every shot needs planning, the greens were fast and true . as said before the last couple of holes are beautys . enjoy and remember keep it on the fairway

jimjo

Cheers for the info lads. Reckon I’ll suggest we play of the whites (as I’m the one paying!) Must say looking forward to it.

Sweetswing they had Challenge tour event there last June so it may explain the tough rough maybe. I remember that after holding the Irish PGA for a couple of years the European Club cut back a lot of their thick heavy rough to make it more playable, moyvalley might have done the same, either way I’ll try keep it on the fairways!

Tin_Cup

Defo keep it on the fairway is the key!! Greens where in great condition last weekend when I was out.

If you go into youtube and do a search for Moyvalley you can watch the highlight show from the Challange Tour Event held there last year.

jimjo

Played Moyvalley and must say I really like the course. Yes it’s a type of inland links and rather barren, yet still nice and an enjoyable track. Different than other parkland but as I said I really liked it.

To be totally honest I thought from reading the earlier reviews it would be rather difficult but its not that bad really. For the craic as it was a social game we played off the yellows on the front nine and decided to play off the whites on the back, much better test. Playing partners both found the yellows a bit short. I would not describe the course as difficult, it was flat calm the day I was there so it did make things easier. I had preconceived thoughts that it would be absolutely wide open (ala Knightsbrook) but its not the case, stray and you’ll be in semi rough or that fescue stuff. You cant just get up a bang it, I found positioning is key and scarified yardage for good positioning many times. The fescue wasn’t so bad, maybe they cut it back for the winter, the majority of times you actually find your ball if you hit into the stuff. The greens are top draw even this time of year. The truest I’ve played in ages and well kept, something to look forward to when planning the next trip.

Granted there are some weak holes on the course, which I was quite surprised at. There’s about four par 4’s that play short, 1st, 9th, 10th, 15th. What holds up the course are the par 5’s. Somebody earlier mentioned you really have to plan your shots and you really do. There’s numerous bunkers scattered around the course, although not that punishing but none the less you don’t want to be in them. It felt like ages before a par 5 came along and I wanted to get up and whack it on the 6th, bad idea! Ended up drifting right over that stream into the fescue, ended up with a bogey so kind of got away with it. A more planned and measured approach was necessary on the 8th and produced a much better result, birdie. The 16th obviously a tough hole, the only one I really messed up on. The 18th is a gem, water left and right, second shot being key which I knocked over that bridge and had 120y in, ended up missing a silly two footer for par

Apparently they suffer real badly with frost, more so than other clubs in the area due to the valley their located in, so were closed for a long period of time over the New Year period. For €25 I thought it was a bargain, theres been open competitions there all week.

Tin_Cup

Good to hear you enjoyed the day out jimjo. I was playing on Fri & Sat and there was a lot of bodies around which was good to see.

Regarding the frost. The course seems to clear quick enough once the sun gets up as there arent many sheltered areas. Over the last few weeks I have been up around 10:30 is the latest the course has opened (Maybe I was just lucky on the days I was up!)

Benicetomonty

Wasn't blown away by the course I must say, to me it was a poor imitation of the Montgomerie in Carton. Some very dull holes, difficult to distinguish one par 4 from the other in many instances. Couple of decent par 3's I guess and the par 5's are good holes, particularly the 6th. 18th is either love or hate; quite long and narrow, par is a good score.

Clubhouse was dead as well. We played Saturday afternoon and watched the 2nd half of the rugby in the clubhouse along with maybe a dozen other patrons. After the match there was three: me, bro and Dad. No Heineken on draught either which was unimpressive, Guinness and Bud only options.
Bottles of Heineken cost more than than a pint of G, pretty excessive.
Only defense was that the golf and a bacon sandwich was reasonable at 30e a head (even though they were out of bacon when we got in to have ours), but you still feel as if owners are resentful at offering such rates since they exist only because of a decline in interest in the upper-class golfing market. Food was very average and poorly presented.
The golf course was in reasonable condition, but would not be in a hurry to return and would be pretty surprised if it's still open in 2 years time.

Tin_Cup

Benicetomonty wrote: »

Wasn't blown away by the course I must say, to me it was a poor imitation of the Montgomerie in Carton. Some very dull holes, difficult to distinguish one par 4 from the other in many instances. Couple of decent par 3's I guess and the par 5's are good holes, particularly the 6th. 18th is either love or hate; quite long and narrow, par is a good score.

Clubhouse was dead as well. We played Saturday afternoon and watched the 2nd half of the rugby in the clubhouse along with maybe a dozen other patrons. After the match there was three: me, bro and Dad. No Heineken on draught either which was unimpressive, Guinness and Bud only options.
Bottles of Heineken cost more than than a pint of G, pretty excessive.
Only defense was that the golf and a bacon sandwich was reasonable at 30e a head (even though they were out of bacon when we got in to have ours), but you still feel as if owners are resentful at offering such rates since they exist only because of a decline in interest in the upper-class golfing market. Food was very average and poorly presented.
The golf course was in reasonable condition, but would not be in a hurry to return and would be pretty surprised if it's still open in 2 years time.

Hi benicetomonty, just wanted to comment that the club is still only getting back up and running after the problems it had during the winter. Give it another couple of weeks and it will be back up to full speed.

MasterKZG

Just played at the club today and first impression was that it's totally deserted. I was part of a 18 man society today and there were probably about a dozen other players out there as well. Really quite poor attendence! The club resturant/bar was closed so we had to go to the hotel to get some food. :mad::mad::mad:

The course itself wasnt too bad, the greens werent in great nick and most of the bunkers were rock hard and had far too many pebbles and stones in them. Yes there were some cracking holes. I enjoyed the 6th,7th,10th,12th,13th,14th,16th and 18th. The other holes were quite bland and weak. Too many short pars 4s, the 1st come to mind and the 9th too plus the the uphill 15th which i think is ridicolous!

The 18th is probably one of the best holes in the country to be honest. It has everything u want in a difficult par5!

thoscon

played an open there today .couldnt believe how quiet is was.there was about 10 cars in the car park
the man in the pro shop was telling us all that all staff bar the green keepers were let go.he was retired and only was meant to be doing the job as a hobby but he works 7 days a week coz nobody to cover him.
the restaurant and bar was closed.when we got back in at 7.30 the clubhouse was closed
the course has been let go a liitle.the tee boxes and fairways needed a cut.the bunkers were cat grass was growing in alot of them,the green were hairy aswell.its a shame because its a nice course

GorHugh

thoscon wrote: »

played an open there today .couldnt believe how quiet is was.there was about 10 cars in the car park
the man in the pro shop was telling us all that all staff bar the green keepers were let go.he was retired and only was meant to be doing the job as a hobby but he works 7 days a week coz nobody to cover him.
the restaurant and bar was closed.when we got back in at 7.30 the clubhouse was closed
the course has been let go a liitle.the tee boxes and fairways needed a cut.the bunkers were cat grass was growing in alot of them,the green were hairy aswell.its a shame because its a nice course

Played here today with thoscon , I've played it before and it was immaculate , today it's seem to be in need of a good cut and a little bit of TLC , bunkers were like concrete , no real sand to work with , rough very overgrown and trimmings around bunkers left scraggy .. the tee boxs were a in need of a good watering to get the grass growing ,

Not impressed at all ... This is a great course when looked after properly .

shanev13

Is Moyvalley still open ?

Solarpitch

I played it last Sunday, there's some great deal going at the min. There's not alot of "memorable" holes but the quality of the greens are very good. If your not hitting the ball dead straight your sure to loose a few balls too. Overall, for 35 euro I though it was very good.

But as the other post say... it was VERY quite and it was a stunning day.

Henry Ford III

Played it yesterday.

Good design, and fine greens. Fine technically it's a bit bland and featureless. It's obvious a lot of wonga has been spent in developing the place.

Condition wise it's not great tbh. Weeds on the tees, and basically the place has been let go to a degree. It's understandable I guess. Times are really tough, and staff and equipment just aren't there anymore.

For what it cost it's a wee bit of a bargain. The better players will enjoy it.

couerdelion

A couple of pics from yesterday (I only took 2 and sorry they are on the iphone so not great quality).

1st Green


View from 2nd Tee