St. Margaret's

In_tuition

Just a note to anyone who hasn't played the course.

Get yourself out there.

Beautiful design, some tricky holes. 2nd par 5 (i think) springs to mind. Par 3's delightful. Greens slightly bumpy in places but expected around this time of year and I mean only slightly. Not running overly fast.

Well impressed and will be back for more in the near future hopefully.

Highly recommended to anyone within driving distance.

Mister Sifter

Interesting. You're the first person i've heard speak positively about the place in four years. I've played pretty much every other course in north Dublin, but have always been put off St Margarets by others.

The consensus always seems to be, 'used to be great, but has been badly maintained in recent years and is now not worth the money.'

I'd say around 20-25 people have said this to me. As a result i've stayed away.

Their opens always seem a tad more expensive than its neighbours which is another reason.

Anyone else agree with InTuition on this one?

f22

Haven't played it this year so can't comment on current condition.

Was a total disgrace last year though, which is a shame because it is a great layout and has such potential. Like you mentioned it has mid-weekly opens/semi opens but to be honest Forrest Little, Roganstown and Corrstown have them too and would be far more appealing to me.

LostPassword

Played it yesterday (and I play it fairly regularly as it's close by). The condition yesterday was noticeably better than it has been in the past - greens becoming smooth, no noticeable moss and fairways reasonably well cut and not full of divots. At the new lower prices, it's definitely worth the price.

Trampas

Mister Sifter wrote: »

Interesting. You're the first person i've heard speak positively about the place in four years. I've played pretty much every other course in north Dublin, but have always been put off St Margarets by others.

The consensus always seems to be, 'used to be great, but has been badly maintained in recent years and is now not worth the money.'

I'd say around 20-25 people have said this to me. As a result i've stayed away.

Their opens always seem a tad more expensive than its neighbours which is another reason.

Anyone else agree with InTuition on this one?

I am on of does people you mention

Gophur

We had a Society outing booked there a couple of years back. We had hoped for 24 people, but only 16 turned up.

Golf Club asked for full payment of 24 green fees, charging us, a small Society, €540 more than necessary.

Result? They have guaranteed our Society will never darken it's door ever again. I will not, personally, darken it's door again. (I would often go there for lunch.)

Oh, and the Golf Course was a disgrace, very poorly presented.

Mister Sifter

Gophur wrote: »

We had a Society outing booked there a couple of years back. We had hoped for 24 people, but only 16 turned up.

Golf Club asked for full payment of 24 green fees, charging us, a small Society, €540 more than necessary.

Result? They have guaranteed our Society will never darken it's door ever again. I will not, personally, darken it's door again. (I would often go there for lunch.)

Oh, and the Golf Course was a disgrace, very poorly presented.

Did they charge €67.50 per person?

In_tuition

LostPassword wrote: »

fairways reasonably well cut and not full of divots.

Fairways could be cut better alright, only slightly though.

Surprised to hear poor reviews.

Think you can book on tee-times for €17 regularly which is decent.

Cost me €25 as I decided to book last night and the above deal was not on tee-times.

I'd expect the conditions to improve again over the coming months and if so I'd rate it far better than Knightsbrook.

Gophur

Mister Sifter wrote: »

Did they charge €67.50 per person?

It was €60 per person, on the day. They charged us 25 x €60, when we had 16 players. (I was mistaken earlier, we were definitely charged for nine no-shows)


It was an expensive day for the Society, and bad form by the Golf Club.

Mister Sifter

Gophur wrote: »

It was €60 per person, on the day. They charged us 25 x €60, when we had 16 players. (I was mistaken earlier, we were definitely charged for nine no-shows)

It was an expensive day for the Society, and bad form by the Golf Club.

A sign of the arrogance of the times perhaps. I don't blame you for not going back. Your experience of the place is certainly in keeping with what i've heard from others.

I'd imagine their tune might be a little different in the current climate!

IITYWYBMAD

I've played it for years, and I played it recently (about 6 weeks ago) and I still maintain that he place has dis-improved. The second hole, for instance, used to be a great par 3, it's no more than a wedge/9 iron flick these days from the open tees. Similarly the 8th was a fantastic par 5, but now it's a shodow of it's former self (aparently there were plans for development of the old par 5, and hence it's demise).

Overall, the course has been shabily maintained, and is not worthy of it's high cost for open comps. The greens, when I last played the place, were totally hit and miss with zero consitancy. Haven played Blackbush and Coorstown in Wednesday opens, at much better value and better courses imo, I'll be taking my dollars elsewhere.

Jimdagym

I never played the course in its "glory days" but have played it several times this year and love the place. Its a good challenge, but plenty of places to score, and considering its generally available around the same price as swords open, i think its a no brainer.

Obviously Gopher, I can completely understand your attitude towards the place. Had that been done to me, I'd most likely feel the same way.

Zak Flaps

I only recently got back into playing golf and have played on around 7 or 8 courses around Dublin these last few months. I must admit I really liked St Margarets when I played it last week. The greens weren't amazing but I thought it had some good holes. But I'm no expert at golf and haven't played on any top courses. Maybe it hasn't been maintained well, but I still think it's pretty good (especially for someone of my standard).

Boom Boom

lads whats the food like there

if you dont mind me askin

madds

Played there last Sunday in the Jimmy Bruen. As I've said in another thread it's a nice layout but you can see it's not being maintained to a high standard, i.e. bunkers and greens were poor enough.

On another note, I went out to practice the course last Thursday and specifically asked the guy behind the desk in the pro shop what markers we'd be playing off on the Sunday. I'm 100% convinced he said Blue but lo and behold we turn up on Sunday and we're off White. I bumped into the same guy in the bar before I went out and asked why he he indicated we'd be playing off Blue. 'Sorry pal there's no way I would have told you that' was his reply. Muppet.