Castleknock Open Singles Gripe

Huntelaar

Myself and a couple of friends played in one of the regular open singles events in Castleknock on Tuesday and I won it with 42 points and one of my friends got second with 41. It costs €30 per person to play and the timesheet was completely full. I have just been out to collect my 'prize' and was told that I could pick something from the 45% off rack in the pro shop. I do realise that some clubs are in financial difficulty but if I've paid €30 to enter a competition I think its perfectly legitimate to expect a better prize than this! I'd question whether any of the clothes were even worth €30.

I have also since worked out that they would have taken in more than €1,200 that day.

I for one will not be going back to play in one again....

rafared

Thats a bit tight alright, I think that 30E to enter an open singles is a bit on the steep side aswell, I dont play in many open singles so maybe Im wrong on that.

Huntelaar

It is steep in my opinion too, but I had played there in senior cup a few years back and really liked it so I thought I'd ive it a go.

dvemail

Something sinilar happend to me aswell , i wont mention the club. It was during their open week.
I finished third in one of their open comps after paying €20 to play.
My prize was t-shirt, i went back to exchange it for something else looking to get a nicer one or maybe some ProVs until i was told that it was only worth €25!
Kind of makes a sick since while they were giving out the prizes for the week the captain of the club was saying how they made so much money from this week and it will do wonders for the club.
I can see why now in hindsight. :rolleyes:

Tom Ghostwood

30 euro! Jaysis. Should be half that.

Huntelaar

We also asked could we just get the value of the prize in ProV's and were told that we could only have NXT's or Solo's even though they had ProV's in the shop. Personally I think its a joke.

GorHugh

Tom Ghostwood wrote: »

30 euro! Jaysis. Should be half that.

Castleknock would never be renowned for the "great deals" . I'd go as far to say that the Rack of clothes Huntelaar got to chose from was already overpriced by 30% ......

Huntelaar .. Great shootin 42pts off 4 , what sort of cut to your h/c would you expect for that scoring ?

Huntelaar

GorHugh wrote: »

Castleknock would never be renowned for the "great deals" . I'd go as far to say that the Rack of clothes Huntelaar got to chose from was already overpriced by 30% ......

Huntelaar .. Great shootin 42pts off 4 , what sort of cut to your h/c would you expect for that scoring ?

Yeh cheers! Played really well, had 5 birdies on the front 9!

Got cut .6 for it so happy enough with that

GorHugh

Huntelaar wrote: »

Yeh cheers! Played really well, had 5 birdies on the front 9!

Got cut .6 for it so happy enough with that

Fair play .. 5 birdies on the front 9 is fantastic ....

Just out of curiosity what prize did you's settle for in the end .

I like castleknock as a course , Just find it a little bit short at times .

Huntelaar

The man there said he'd send us out a voucher to the value of it. Who knows what that'll be. I'm not expecting much....

The_Kew_Tour

Thats's bad form alrigth OP.

aster99

I know its not about the prize and its great to just win but that seems very disapointing in fairness

dublinbhoy62

Huntelaar, I understand where u are coming from. I was a member there last year and could'nt believe how the members are treated. We were playing in a singles competition one Saturday morning and were due to tee off at 9am. Just as we were about to swing the club the course manager came down to us to stop us and let through two green fees who he started on the back nine. This was during our members time which is only two hours from 8am to 10am. Also they were advertising four green fees and two buggies and soup and sandwiches for 120 euro and still charging members 30 euro for a buggy. Great course and in great condition but run as a business entity out to make as much money as possible:mad:

ANXIOUS

That's bad form, I'm just glad a golfer of my caliber doesn't have to worry about the likes of that

jimjo

This type of thing really pisses me off. I played in a few open singles there last year cause I do like the course but always felt that €30 for a open and a midweek open at that was very expensive. For winning a comp like this with a full time sheet you should get a voucher for at least a four ball, it doesn't cost them anything at that....

What topped it off for me and why I haven't been back this year, the last open i played there last year the greens were pole forked and not a soul or sinner in the clubhouse said a thing, you literally could not putt on the greens. Paying €30 for this rubbish i thought, went back in afterwards but everyone was gone around the shop.

The treatment of the members described by Dublinbhoy, man their such a shower of ****!! Why pay €3,000 a year for that treatment.....?

Huntelaar

Personally I don't even think giving a free fourball would suffice.

I dunno if this was expecting too much but when we were on our way out to collect the prize myself and my friend were assuming that I'd get at least €100 GUI voucher or something like that given how expensive it is.

arch staunton

Lads its very simple if you boycott these places they have to bring their prices down ,I am playing in Baltinglass open week next wed dinner and golf 20e:eek: before 1.0 clock 25e:eek: after 1.oclock And no iam not a member there.

sweetswing

arch staunton wrote: »

Lads its very simple if you boycott these places they have to bring their prices down ,I am playing in Baltinglass open week next wed dinner and golf 20e:eek: before 1.0 clock 25e:eek: after 1.oclock And no iam not a member there.

well said , i would add , if your un happy with something let them know, speak up, you will feel better and just may be the penny will drop.
thats a great deal in baltinglass must get down there soon:D

GorHugh

Huntelaar wrote: »

Personally I don't even think giving a free fourball would suffice.

I dunno if this was expecting too much but when we were on our way out to collect the prize myself and my friend were assuming that I'd get at least €100 GUI voucher or something like that given how expensive it is.

2 lads i play with have won singles open days in Ardee and Navan Recently , Both got 80euro GUI vouchers for there troubles ... Neither green fee was above 20euro ..

Iceboy

Well played james, I noticed you birdied 4,5, and six thats great shootin, castleknock have never been known for bargain golf, even though its an open its still just like paying to play the course, the prizes are crap.

rafared

GorHugh wrote: »

2 lads i play with have won singles open days in Ardee and Navan Recently , Both got 80euro GUI vouchers for there troubles ... Neither green fee was above 20euro ..

Was just about to add that as far as I know the 1st prize in my home clubs (navan) open comps is an 80E voucher. I also think it may be 15E to enter for nonmembers although Im open to correction on that one.

aster99

Just wondering what is a GUI voucher? See it mentioned above

Mister Sifter

Yeah, that stinks. Considering they run opens regularly you'd think they would have a set prize amount each week. I'd get a letter into them asap before they send you what will likely be a mediocre valued voucher.

Not to self not to play any opens at Castleknock.

By the way, nothing like giving your identity away on a public forum!

GorHugh

aster99 wrote: »

Just wondering what is a GUI voucher? See it mentioned above

Its a voucher that can be used in any pro shop / club house affliated with the Gui ...

aster99

thanks, thats handy and a fine prize

jonas7

I've never heard of such a lousy first prize for an open anywhere. Wont be in any panic to play it.

Kace

Sounds like they were also even too tight to print out a sheet of paper with the details of your prize (even if it was "Anything from the 45% off Rack") and put it into an envelope with your name on it for collection.

Unbelievable !

Johnny_Fontane

Hang on a sec!

€30 to play castleknock in an open day competition is expensive? lads, seriously...get a grip.

Sure some people dont like Castleknock, but I personally think its great fun. There's water all over the place, driveable par 4's, par 5's that are easily reachable and is generally in good nick.

I think €30 is a very fair price for the course, location and the fact that you get to win something at the end. Ok lousy prize, but cmon guys this is old news - theres a zillion posts about lousy prizes particularly crystal.

If I payed a €30 green fee for castleknock mid week, I'd say thats about right. Anyone who hasnt been there though shouldn't comment though - its an easy place to slag but its a fun round out there..

Irishvillian

I don't think anyone is slagging of the course,its the prize there slagging off and rightly so.

IITYWYBMAD

I think €30 is expensive for an open comp. It's half that in other clubs. As for the prize, I think it's very bad PR on the part of Castleknock, especially given the financial situations most clubs find themselves in.

I played in a society outing there on Monday. The course was in fine nick, I'll give it that. €50 for a round and a meal afterwards, although it's €50 everytime you play in our society, with the society supplementing some courses, and making money on others.

ipitydafool

Yeah it is a nice fun course, short in spots particularly some of the par 5's as johhny fontane mentions. I'm not totally fond of the double green 9th and 18th, a weak finishing hole imo but the course has always been well maintained anytime ive played there. i dont think €30 is too expensive for the open they run and they obviously have it priced right if as OP mentions the timesheet was full.
But talk about shooting yourself in the foot with the prizes, what scabs. with a good crowd turnout prize 1st prize should definitely be in €100 value range. dont think I will be heading to play an open there any time soon after hearing OP's story.

madds

Mister Sifter wrote: »

By the way, nothing like giving your identity away on a public forum!

Not so long ago one of the regular posters here was using his first name in his username...

fullstop

Are they only giving out 2 prizes in these open comps? Only shows 1st and 2nd on the results section on their website.

Iceboy

your basically paying your grren fee which is a decent price for how good nick the course is in

Jasonw

madds wrote: »

Not so long ago one of the regular posters here was using his first name in his username...

What kind of an idiot would do that?


30E is too steep for opens IMO though I did pay 35E for Cork GC recently. I'm not too pushed about prizes myself as is evidenced by the number of them that I've not bothered to collect. I still have 2's prizemoney to collect in Youghal and East Cork and a second place prize in Tipperary.

fullstop

Iceboy wrote: »

your basically paying your grren fee which is a decent price for how good nick the course is in

If that was the case every day would be an open comp. So no, it's not a decent prize, it's a crap one.

Mister Sifter

Bottom line is, €30 is an expensive fee for a midweek open in comparison to other comparable clubs elsewhere in the greater Dublin area. The prize, all things considered, was abysmal and reflects really poorly on a club which would appear to rate itself pretty highly.

OP, did Castleknock ever send you a voucher like they said they would?

drnick21

I think the original poster is being a bit harsh. I played the course recently and I think its great value at €30. I also recently played another high profile links course for around the same price and the green were awful.

I worked at a golf club in the past and I dont think many people realise how tough things are atm especially when running a golf club, it is not cheap let me tell you. In the past few weeks two high profile clubs have gone into receivership, the first of many in my opinion.

By the way, what did you eventually get as a prize? Did they send you something?

heavyballs

drnick21 wrote: »

I think the original poster is being a bit harsh. I played the course recently and I think its great value at €30. I also recently played another high profile links course for around the same price and the green were awful.

I worked at a golf club in the past and I dont think many people realise how tough things are atm especially when running a golf club, it is not cheap let me tell you. In the past few weeks two high profile clubs have gone into receivership, the first of many in my opinion.

By the way, what did you eventually get as a prize? Did they send you something?

regardless of condition of course etc €30 as a prize is a joke imo,it might be good value,that's great but it's an open comp,should be at least €100 especially as the op said the sheet was full all day
agree with the other posters,prizes aren't overly important but fair is fair

from the club's point of view it's a good(maybe sly)way of filling their timesheet with only a little expence,and they're not alone

scrubber72

came 3rd in an open fourball betterball and won 6 coffee mugs.:rolleyes:
It was at my home club but still.....would of taken 6 ultras instead

heavyballs

scrubber72 wrote: »

came 3rd in an open fourball betterball and won 6 coffee mugs.:rolleyes:
It was at my home club but still.....would of taken 6 ultras instead

maybe it should have to give back a certain% of the takings,when i get cut i like a nice prize,won the weekly fourball up in Dun Laoghaire a while ago,got a set of ping raingear worth €200,now that's a prize,although i presume that was sponsored

drnick21

heavyballs wrote: »

regardless of condition of course etc €30 as a prize is a joke imo,it might be good value,that's great but it's an open comp,should be at least €100 especially as the op said the sheet was full all day
agree with the other posters,prizes aren't overly important but fair is fair

from the club's point of view it's a good(maybe sly)way of filling their timesheet with only a little expence,and they're not alone

No I meant €30 entry is not bad, I wasn't referring to the prize.

f22

To put it in context first prize in Portmarnock Links Winter Series is about E160 in GUI vouchers. Entry is steep at e50 but at least the prizes are worth playing for. Even third gets you about e100!

heavyballs

drnick21 wrote: »

No I meant €30 entry is not bad, I wasn't referring to the prize.

oh sorry