Castlemartyr Golf Club Membership

bailey99

Will be talking to Castlemartyr on Monday morning to see if there's any membership deal(s) if there's a group of us interested in joining. I know the sub is 1000euro but the hello money is still there I believe, but maybe we can negotiate if we have a big enough group.

I have 6 names and numbers thus far so if anyone else is interested, please pm your name and contact number to meby Sunday evening for inclusion.

Cheers!

Reganovski

bailey99 wrote: »

Will be talking to Castlemartyr on Monday morning to see if there's any membership deal(s) if there's a group of us interested in joining. I know the sub is 1000euro but the hello money is still there I believe, but maybe we can negotiate if we have a big enough group.

I have 6 names and numbers thus far so if anyone else is interested, please pm your name and contact number to meby Sunday evening for inclusion.

Cheers!

Anything happen on this bailey99?

bailey99

Are you looking to join too mate?

Reganovski

bailey99 wrote: »

Are you looking to join too mate?

Didn't think about it until recently as I wasn't living near it but I might be living in City soon. So I might consider it if the price is right.

big_drive

Anything happen with this?

Did any of ye end up joining

Reganovski

big_drive wrote: »

Anything happen with this?

Did any of ye end up joining

Don't think so but bailey99 might tell you more.

I spoke to Brad (I think that's his name) about membership.
I asked about the joining fee (€2.5k once you are proposed by 2 members, €5k otherwise) and he said they are never going to get rid of it. They want to remain to be seen as an "elite" club.
He said they will have a payment scheme for next year. It sound like you pay the sub Year 1 & 2 and in Year 3 you must pay the €2.5k. But I've a feeling they might have something like paying the €2.5k over 5 years.
He said contact him in November and then will have a decision about this.
I'm defo going to consider it as I love the place. All 18 holes open all year round. Think it was closed twice last winter.

big_drive

Surprised they're going to continue with the joining fee. They have a very small playing base, if they removed the joining fee it would surely mean a big boost to playing numbers

Reganovski

big_drive wrote: »

Surprised they're going to continue with the joining fee. They have a very small playing base, if they removed the joining fee it would surely mean a big boost to playing numbers

140 members he told me. Not even sure whether they run wkd competitions.

ssbob

Reganovski wrote: »

140 members he told me. Not even sure whether they run wkd competitions.

Played there on a Sunday a couple of weeks back, lovely sunny evening, we were the only people on the course!! They need members otherwise they will be closed down in the not too distant future.

Great course though!

hades

ssbob wrote: »

Played there on a Sunday a couple of weeks back, lovely sunny evening, we were the only people on the course!! They need members otherwise they will be closed down in the not too distant future.

Great course though!

That happened myself and my buddies in Fota last year, ended up getting a deal where it was €25 a head with buggy to play on a saturday afternoon. Saw no-one on the course for the full round, we ended up playing the 27 holes

Said it to the pro afterwards, and he mentioned that a society had cancelled, so hence the bargin green fee's and empty course. I'd imagine that's what happened in castlemaytr last week

ssbob

hades wrote: »

That happened myself and my buddies in Fota last year, ended up getting a deal where it was €25 a head with buggy to play on a saturday afternoon. Saw no-one on the course for the full round, we ended up playing the 27 holes

Said it to the pro afterwards, and he mentioned that a society had cancelled, so hence the bargin green fee's and empty course. I'd imagine that's what happened in castlemaytr last week

How did ye get a deal in Fota was it a fluke? I am mad to play down there but not at €60

In Castlemartyr, I was talking to Brady and he just said they had a society out early but that Sundays are like weekdays down there. They do not do enough promotion though, reckon they could easily fill it on a Sunday if they did €25 incl buggy, minimum 2 balls or something!

hades

i'm a fan of fota on facebook, so spotted that offer on a friday evening, for the following day. Real late notice stuff, but a super deal.

You can usually get either a buggy and round deal, or lunch and round deal for €45. Check out the online booking

http://www.fotaisland.ie/Online-Golf-Booking

I personally think a lot of the time places keep the green fee's high to keep the riff raff (99% of the golfing population) out. We had a society outing in Cork GC recently and we were treated very poorly, half way around they started a mixed 4 ball shotgun start. We had members walking across fairways without stopping and checking if it was clear. They tried to get out ahead of us on the tee when we were on the 11th, and when we didn't let them tee off, they continued to talk while we were taking our shots. We did complain..... but i digress.

ssbob

hades wrote: »

i'm a fan of fota on facebook, so spotted that offer on a friday evening, for the following day. Real late notice stuff, but a super deal.

You can usually get either a buggy and round deal, or lunch and round deal for €45. Check out the online booking

http://www.fotaisland.ie/Online-Golf-Booking

I personally think a lot of the time places keep the green fee's high to keep the riff raff (99% of the golfing population) out. We had a society outing in Cork GC recently and we were treated very poorly, half way around they started a mixed 4 ball shotgun start. We had members walking across fairways without stopping and checking if it was clear. They tried to get out ahead of us on the tee when we were on the 11th, and when we didn't let them tee off, they continued to talk while we were taking our shots. We did complain..... but i digress.

That's very poor indeed, have played Cork GC a few times but always with members and have always had a good experience there. With an experience like that I would not be rushing back to a place.

Follow them on twitter but not on facebook, must do so immediately!

aster99

I played the junior scratch cup in Castlemartyr a couple of weeks ago. While waiting to tee off i was in the locker area and browsing at their noticeboard. They had the results of a club competition for the previous weekend posted up, i think the total number of players was 27. I looked back at others and the numbers were similar.

To me thats a seriously low number to be playing in weekly comps. I really feel to prosper as a club they need to increase their playing numbers. To me the only way to do that is drop the joining fee. Or at least reduce it to something like €500.

Reganovski

aster99 wrote: »

I played the junior scratch cup in Castlemartyr a couple of weeks ago. While waiting to tee off i was in the locker area and browsing at their noticeboard. They had the results of a club competition for the previous weekend posted up, i think the total number of players was 27. I looked back at others and the numbers were similar.

To me thats a seriously low number to be playing in weekly comps. I really feel to prosper as a club they need to increase their playing numbers. To me the only way to do that is drop the joining fee. Or at least reduce it to something like €500.

I s'pose we don't know how they are financially. The hotel might be covering the cost of the golf club. Fair enough the old capella went into receivership but I don't know how its going since Dromoland took it over.
But I'm pretty certain they are making all their money from societies. Brady told me that their Saturday time sheets (not sure about Sundays after reading above) were fully booked (not sure up to what time!) for all Saturdays until November.
They might be content with this society money and adding 5-10 new members each year.

pinseeker

Reganovski wrote: »

I s'pose we don't know how they are financially. The hotel might be covering the cost of the golf club. Fair enough the old capella went into receivership but I don't know how its going since Dromoland took it over.
But I'm pretty certain they are making all their money from societies. Brady told me that their Saturday time sheets (not sure about Sundays after reading above) were fully booked (not sure up to what time!) for all Saturdays until November.
They might be content with this society money and adding 5-10 new members each year.

Thats pretty much the exact story Reganovski,about a month ago they had 485 golfers over the weekend in green fees.They have serious amount of green fees there so its like you said there just going to add few golfers to membership.I heard a cap of 150.Dromoland no longer have any involment there.

On a side note i had a nice 2under off the blues yesterday in the open singles.:D

big_drive

What's the handicap at now pinseeker?

pinseeker

big_drive wrote: »

What's the handicap at now pinseeker?

Il let you know soon as ive seen what the css was for yesterday bigdrive.I went out late and conditions were hard but most of the day seemed ok.The Blues seem to catch alot of guys out there and the par 3s were long enough yesterday,14 was out of reach for good few id say.

ssbob

pinseeker wrote: »

Il let you know soon as ive seen what the css was for yesterday bigdrive.I went out late and conditions were hard but most of the day seemed ok.The Blues seem to catch alot of guys out there and the par 3s were long enough yesterday,14 was out of reach for good few id say.

How is that hole a Par 3!!!!!!!!!! Should play it as a short par 4 and leave the tee'son the back sticks the whole time!


485 is a huge number of green fee's! Just didn't look like that the weekend I was down there(exception)

pinseeker

haha ya ssbob 14 off blues is tasty and it was into nice wind yest,i played with guy off 5 and he hit 3 wood that came up 25 yards short.

It may have been quiet weekend that time ssbob but think weather really plays a part.I was told by member that it is only club that is up on green fees this year or something to that effect.

Reganovski

pinseeker wrote: »

I went out late and conditions were hard ......

As matter of interest, do you know what the last time you can go out in the afternoon is for Tuesday Blues?

pinseeker

Reganovski wrote: »

As matter of interest, do you know what the last time you can go out in the afternoon is?

As long as you feel you can get the 18 in then its fine.would have been 5.30ish yesterday for me.Really noticed the light fading much earlier last nite tho.Hate knowing the evening golf is in threat:(

bailey99

I sent PMs to people who had responded to me about being interested in joining Castlemartyr. The entrance money is €5,000 at present. I wasn't told about 2 members recommended you for membership for €2,500 entrance money. The annual sub was cut for 2012 by 20% from €1,250 to €1,000.

I was told the recruitment drive earlier this year was a great success and that member numbers were upto 130 - 140. I was down there for an open competition on a Tuesday there recently and there was a membership list of handicaps on the noticeboard for June 2012 and I counted up the members and there was 67 names on the list. So I don't know where they are getting the "we have 130 - 140 members spiel" or else, they are missing a hell of a lot of members names from the list. And the list of members names ran from A-Z so there wasn't a page missing from the notice board or anything!!!

Its a nice course alright but member competitions are virtually non-existant down there. If its casual golf your after then it's a decent place to join but certainly not as those prices. And I wouldn't be very confident the place will still be there in say 5 years time the way things stand down there at the moment.

big_drive

A lot of clubs have members who wouldn't be on handicap lists. In my own place I think there are over 200 who just play golf but don't play comps etc.

big_drive

pinseeker wrote: »

Il let you know soon as ive seen what the css was for yesterday bigdrive.I went out late and conditions were hard but most of the day seemed ok.The Blues seem to catch alot of guys out there and the par 3s were long enough yesterday,14 was out of reach for good few id say.

The CSS is usually high enough isn't it?

That's why I want to get there for a couple days before the opens are over. Nothing worse than going to a course and finding out the CSS is 38 points. You have to score awfully well to even get cut.

Think the last time I played open singles in castlemartyr the CSS was 35 pts. So if you played to your h/cap or better you got cut.

pinseeker

big_drive wrote: »

A lot of clubs have members who wouldn't be on handicap lists. In my own place I think there are over 200 who just play golf but don't play comps etc.

Think thats the case bigdrive,there is around 130 members but the number is less for actuall active members.

CSS was 35 for yesterday.thought it might touch 34 as was windy when i got out but all good.
So to answer your previous question bigdrive im -0.9

big_drive

pinseeker wrote: »

Think thats the case bigdrive,there is around 130 members but the number is less for actuall active members.

CSS was 35 for yesterday.thought it might touch 34 as was windy when i got out but all good.
So to answer your previous question bigdrive im -0.9

As in you're off +1 now ? Great stuff. Few handy low handicappers now in the club is there?

As others mentioned just wondering is there weekly members competitions?

pinseeker

Ya bigdrive they have asembled a few low guys alright.There is 1 off +2, 2 off +1 and a scratch and a 1 also.

There is members comp every weekend.Numbers wouldn't be huge but for me it's about playing nice course and seeing how i do regards my handicap.Nothing else bothers me.

big_drive

Ya true, it doesn't matter if there's only 4 in the comp if you're beating the h/cap.

Would it be the one competition over the whole weekend or seperate comps for Saturday & Sunday

It's a club I could see myself tempted to join in the future possibly.

pinseeker

There is seperate comps for each day,ive seen results in for members comp on fri eve also, i think but that was more than likely a summer thing.You have the monthly medal off the blues also which is nice test.Ive yet to see any stupid scores win down there which is great.

Bar fota and the island which were out of my price range im delighted to get the play the course whenever i choose.For me they are top 3 options.

bailey99

pinseeker wrote: »

They had 485 golfers over the weekend in green fees.

How is that even possible. 485 golfers equates to 121 fourballs. Going out once every ten mins in groups of four equates to 1,210 minutes of tee times. This equates to just over 20 hours of tee times. Meaning tee times from 7am - 5pm both saturday and sunday??? Last group in off the course about 9.45pm????

pinseeker

bailey99 wrote: »

How is that even possible. 485 golfers equates to 121 fourballs. Going out once every ten mins in groups of four equates to 1,210 minutes of tee times. This equates to just over 20 hours of tee times. Meaning tee times from 7am - 5pm both saturday and sunday??? Last group in off the course about 9.45pm????

Only going on what i was told bailey99, ive come off the 9 th early on a sun morn with the course behind jammed to see 20 odd guys at first tee waiting too tee off,society id guess.

Remember playing tue opens last year at 5.30 and starter stating not 1 free slot all day, 190 players.there scratch weekend did 570 over fri-sun.

Havent put as much time or thought into the numbers you have but it really all do with reason why increasing members isnt huge on there list since busy with societys+ such. Few of the lads here were wondering as they had asked about membership so it may be one of the reasons for no major deals for them

tax_tutor1

Were the results for Scratch cup week-end ever posted anywhere?
I rang the club about results but there was some error and not available or had to be revised later?

big_drive

tax_tutor1 wrote: »

Were the results for Scratch cup week-end ever posted anywhere?
I rang the club about results but there was some error and not available or had to be revised later?

I saw the results at the time but can't remember them now. Think maybe it was in paper I saw them, don't think it was online

bailey99

Please see below from Castlemartyr re membership. Open for 27 applications, 5000euros hello money and 1000euros a yeat subscription including 19euro GUI fee.

Payable in 3500euros on first day and 3500euros one year later. Or alternatively, 6,000 euros on your first day. Lovely!

In response to your enquiry of membership at Castlemartyr Golf Club, we are open the application again for another 27 Full Membership positions. I have attached a copy of the structure for your view.

Earlier in the year Castlemartyr offered our existing members an incentive for their proposed guests to join on a limited contract for 28 positions. The Joining fee was not waivered.

If you require any further assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Kind regards,

Brady

hades

Was talking to a buddy who was saying that there's no weekend competitions persay, you might get an hour on each day. But other than that its all societies. Unless you can play your golf midweek, no point in joining.

Reganovski

bailey99 wrote: »

Please see below from Castlemartyr re membership. Open for 27 applications, 5000euros hello money and 1000euros a yeat subscription including 19euro GUI fee.

Payable in 3500euros on first day and 3500euros one year later. Or alternatively, 6,000 euros on your first day. Lovely!

In response to your enquiry of membership at Castlemartyr Golf Club, we are open the application again for another 27 Full Membership positions. I have attached a copy of the structure for your view.

Earlier in the year Castlemartyr offered our existing members an incentive for their proposed guests to join on a limited contract for 28 positions. The Joining fee was not waivered.

If you require any further assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Kind regards,

Brady

Forget about it so!!

padywhack

Their heads are firmly buried....

€5k joining fee is too much as it is, not to mind it being in NAMA on loan to Dromoland for a trial run.

ssbob

padywhack wrote: »

€5k joining fee is too much as it is, not to mind it being in NAMA on loan to Dromoland for a trial run.

How do you mean being on loan to Dromoland? Is it not just a case that the same management company is running both?

I have heard lots of different stories about joining fee's, if they got rid of the entrance fee as Blarney did (€15k at the time) then there would be a mass of people would join.

big_drive

Just wondering do the Tuesday open singles continue in castlemartyr during the winter months?

ssbob

big_drive wrote: »

Just wondering do the Tuesday open singles continue in castlemartyr during the winter months?

Yep as per the GUI website anyway. I reckon it should be in good nick, basing that on nothing other than the fact that I don't ever remember it being wet there!

big_drive

Ya I was thinking it should stay dry down there which is great. Wondering would the competitions be counting for handicap or do they introduce placing at some stage?

pinseeker

I heard that they played counting comps right thru the year last year Bigdrive but to be honest i wouldn't be so sure.It was pretty wet on sun morn ssbob but still very playable.I did have to shout the occasional MUD BALL tho haha

Jasonw

Lovely course but crazy to be still looking for 5k joining fee. We got rid of ours in Cobh last month and saw a good few new members joining. Club Comps every weekend, 790 annual sub, members owned so no chance of falling into NAMA and closer to the City. That's what they're up against.

I must say I love Castlemartyr as do most people who play it but I wonder, do people like it because it's reasonably easy?

peepee

but I wonder, do people like it because it's reasonably easy?

Just as a matter of interest what were your last 3 stableford scores in Castlemartyr? I ask because I often hear people say a course is easy but they dont back that up with their scores.

Jasonw

peepee wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest what were your last 3 stableford scores in Castlemartyr? I ask because I often hear people say a course is easy but they dont back that up with their scores.

I don't remember the exact scores but I don't think I've ever scored less than 34 points there. I played poorly the last time I was there and still ended up with 37 points (5 over par)

I played the JSC a couple of years ago and finished 4 over despite a 7 on the easiest hole on the course. Maybe it just suits me?

peepee

Ok its easy for you I'm a mid handicapper and find it a good challenge.
Back nine isn't short by any means, front nine is but shallow greens and semi blind pins make up for that in my book

big_drive

The CSS anytime I've played castlemartyr in competition has been 34 or 35 pts so I would not think its that easy. Those scores would suggest that not many are getting in the buffer.
For a course to be deemed easy I think you need to see a CSS of 37/38 pts most weekends

pinseeker

Ive heard this easy comment a few times regarding the course.Think ive only seen over 40 points on about 4 or 5 occasions and that is including fri, sat and sun comps and Tuesday open.

Snr scratch had strong field including Irish internationals that didn't tear it up or break par over two rounds.

I think Jason you will have to agree that Cobh comps are crazy with scores, and if anything make Cobh look easy with 43,44 and even 45 points for win on good few occasions.You and me know with the wind up there it isn't easy going.Many a time ive come off thinking jebus nobody will shoot to handicap today and yet silly few scores posted.

No doubt the front 9 is very very scoreable in Castlemartyr but you start finding gorse and out of bounds on 4 and 6 and wheels come off big time.The back 9 is looked at as being harder as its longer, but still fine if you have bit of length off the tee.

You keep the ball in play on any course and chances are you will walk off thinking it wasn't to hard.

Golf is all about good days and bad days,which of those days you've had on a course may lead to how you view it as being easy or hard.

big_drive

I always like the idea that if you beat you're handicap you get cut!

I'd hate to go out and shoot something like 38 pts and then it turns out CSS is 38 pts. I'd feel like I'd missed out big time. I know it's all probably in the head but I just like it that way

Jasonw

pinseeker wrote: »

I think Jason you will have to agree that Cobh comps are crazy with scores, and if anything make Cobh look easy with 43,44 and even 45 points for win on good few occasions.You and me know with the wind up there it isn't easy going.Many a time ive come off thinking jebus nobody will shoot to handicap today and yet silly few scores posted.


.

100% agree, but you have to consider also that without a fairly strong wind and with the rough cut back, Cobh is pretty defenceless.

The other factor to consider is that Cobh has a very good turnout for competitions at the weekends. There could be as many as 150 play over the weekend. When you have that many, chances are that someone is going to shoot the lights out.
I did come second in the monthly medal there a couple of months ago with (I think) a 74 I think 72 won. Very windy that day though.