Ballyneety golf club - Formerly Limerick County GC

VikingG

For those in the Limerick area you will know that Limerick County GC closed at the start of last year...

Looks like there are efforts to start it up again..

Meeting in the South Court Hotel Mon 30th July @8PM

Spudmonkey

Was going to post but you beat me to it. Be interesting to see what kind of turnout they'll get or what their plan is.

irish bloke

Who's holding the meeting?
Whats the Agenda?

Love to see that place kick off again..
Even the range would be good

Spudmonkey

The three names on the email I got today are Donal, Liam Lawlor and Miney O'Brien.

It looks like its to gauge interest in the club opening up again. I suppose if anything is to happen, now is the time. It will take 6+ months to get the place to a someway halfway decent state although most likely a lot more which is what they would need before people renew their membership elsewhere. They will have to put in a lot of work to convince people it's viable now but if it opens with no outstanding debts it could work if it gets some of the old members back.

RikkFlair

Anyone know what the actual state of the course is? Completely overgrown or have they been keeping it playable in the meantime?

Spudmonkey

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=79887412&postcount=621

Beer Baron on the Limerick forum said he passed it the other day and saw people playing there although I'd say the course isn't really in any sort of playable condition. They might have been keeping the grass cut but it looked like a bit of a meadow last time I saw it.

irish bloke

Spudmonkey wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=79887412&postcount=621

Beer Baron on the Limerick forum said he passed it the other day and saw people playing there although I'd say the course isn't really in any sort of playable condition. They might have been keeping the grass cut but it looked like a bit of a meadow last time I saw it.

Playing on the course!!
Do you think he had too much of his own beer?:)

RikkFlair

irish bloke wrote: »

Playing on the course!!
Do you think he had too much of his own beer?:)

Maybe they were just practicing US Open style rough

scotty63

I live in Ballyneety and there cutting grass !! From what I heard it will open in April and will be around €700 per year and 10 year membership is €5,000.
Good value I think but they need to firm up on the number of members to make a go of it.

ssbob

Know a bit about the course, and know former employees. Without going into too much detail if the club is to open under the same ownership then I would suspect that they will find it very hard to get members.

Good thing going for it though is location in proximity to other courses, there are very few!

scotty63

Its nothing to do with the old owners. I think it will be owned and run by the members.

ssbob

scotty63 wrote: »

Its nothing to do with the old owners. I think it will be owned and run by the members.

That sounds like a good thing, but how did the members acquire it? I am sure that the Garda Sports & Social club tried to buy it a couple of years ago but the old owners wouldn't sell it to them.

CONSI

Cant make the meeting but would be interested to hear the outcome. Limerick needs that course back up and running so hopefully it can get back on it's feet again.

DaEvilTwin

Anybody know what sort of numbers they are talking about to get the club back up and running or does it depend on the number of investors they can get. Its going to difficult to see them getting 500 or 600 members which they would need at least to make possible to get things going again.

onlyfinewine

Well I looked at it tonight and can confirm that nobody played anything remotely like golf. There are no greens, no fairways and plenty of waist high rough. It will take a major effort and a lot of time to produce anything like a golf course. I am interested in hearing what proposals are being put forward and the amount of interest that is generated by them.

Some people may have hit balls from one patch of ground that has been left full of huge tractor ruts to another patch where silage has been cut but there is no fine fairway grass on the course and the greens areas are full of thistle and ragwort at the moment.

onlyfinewine

Heard that there was a meeting in Ballyneety about the new golf club proposal but have no further feedback yet. Maybe someone could enlighten us?

VikingG

scotty63 wrote: »

I live in Ballyneety and there cutting grass !! From what I heard it will open in April and will be around €700 per year and 10 year membership is €5,000.
Good value I think but they need to firm up on the number of members to make a go of it.

Interesting ..thanks for the update.. doubt they would get many taking up 10 year membership...but I reckon they would have a few takers at 700

Spudmonkey

I went to the meeting last night and just said I'd give my two cents.

There was a great turnout, 200-250, with a good spattering of old and possibly new members.

It seems this is been driven by a small committee consisting of Liam Lawlor, Donal McSweeney, Walter Shanahan, Minie O'Brien and one other lad I didn't recognise. Once the deal between the liquidators and the Guards fell through, these fellas from what I can see decided to take it upon themselves to do what they could.

Engineers, Surveyors and all the other necessary people have apparently had a look at the course and the clubhouse and valuations have been drawn up. With an external investor (they weren't able to disclose this yesterday) they are planning to purchase the course based on the amount of interest they get and with some initial funds from the new members are hoping to start work on the course in September with the intention that it will be in some way playable in the Spring (I asked Liam about this yesterday and he said that Donal and some other guys said this should be possible). The plan is that in 5 years, the members themselves would own the course.

The options available to prospective members are as follows:
10 Year (limited availability) - €4995
Husband and Wife - €1195
Adult - €695
Seniors (over 70) - €495
Student - €200
Junior - €125
Pavillion - €95

There was a lot of interest anyhow. 95% of people there yesterday said they would join again if the course was to open and if something was to go ahead. However they need initial interest to convince the investor that there is something worth pursuing.

I think the next plan of action is to get an initial payment from some new members and hold another meeting on the 15th of August. More details regarding the finances are to be made available at that meeting. There was talk of membership forms being sent around in the coming days so if and when I receive this I can send it on to anyone who is interested.

If I think of anything else I'll tag it on!

onlyfinewine

QUOTE"The plan is that in 5 years, the members themselves would own the course."


There was a lot of interest anyhow. 95% of people there yesterday said they would join again if the course was to open and if something was to go ahead. However they need initial interest to convince the investor that there is something worth pursuing.End Quote.

I think what I heard was that there would be an opportunity in 5 years for the club, if it went well enough, to be able to purchase the land/clubhouse from the investors These are initially to purchase it from the liquidator for an undisclosed sum and sell it on for a named amount to the club in 5 years. Presumably these amounts will be disclosed to the prospective members along with the costs of getting the course back in shape and the yearly expense involved in running the club.

Spudmonkey

onlyfinewine wrote: »

I think what I heard was that there would be an opportunity in 5 years for the club, if it went well enough, to be able to purchase the land/clubhouse from the investors These are initially to purchase it from the liquidator for an undisclosed sum and sell it on for a named amount to the club in 5 years. Presumably these amounts will be disclosed to the prospective members along with the costs of getting the course back in shape and the yearly expense involved in running the club.

Well yes this is correct. Sorry I should have made that clearer.

OMEGA2

Doesnt this sound suspiciously like the last deal where the members were given an opti
on to buy the course. Are these investors not just trying to buy cheap and sell on in a few years for a quick buck and get the members to backroll the whole process in the meantime?? Am I missing something

scotty63

I was at the meeting and was a member, This has the support of the old committee and the locals who know Liam, Donal & Minie. I spoke to them after and all facts are to be disclosed at the next meeting including the purchase price from the liquidator and the cost of the funding arranged will be shown to everyone. This is to be a members club so members will know everything.


As for the previous owners they have nothing to do with the golf club. If there is enough interest the course could open May 1st next year.

The big thing now is a drive for people to show their interest, Donal seems to have put the application form on his website http://golfacademy.ie/ballyneetygolfclub

onlyfinewine

scotty63 wrote: »

I was at the meeting and was a member, This has the support of the old committee and the locals who know Liam, Donal & Minie. I spoke to them after and all facts are to be disclosed at the next meeting including the purchase price from the liquidator and the cost of the funding arranged will be shown to everyone. This is to be a members club so members will know everything.


As for the previous owners they have nothing to do with the golf club. If there is enough interest the course could open May 1st next year.

Speaking of the old club and committee, what is happening to finalise the position? As far as I know it has not been disbanded and there were a good amount of funds (About 30,000 Euro) which could be used to start the work if and when the go ahead is obtained.
As usual some legal issues will no doubt arise, but we should know the facts for the meeting on 20th August.

As far as the new club is concerned I think that it will not own the land or clubhouse until a purchase decision is made in 5 years time.

jonski

I see two dates mentioned above for the next meeting , the 15th ( it already happened ) or the 20th ( its on tomorrow ) . Can anyone enlighten me ?

Namces

OMEGA2 wrote: »

Doesnt this sound suspiciously like the last deal where the members were given an opti
on to buy the course. Are these investors not just trying to buy cheap and sell on in a few years for a quick buck and get the members to backroll the whole process in the meantime?? Am I missing something

I don't think any investor will want to make a loss!! It is not a bankable proposition for the members right now so funding options will be limited. There would need to be clarity in the whole process for members to have confidence.

onlyfinewine

We were supposed to attend a meeting on Aug 15th but this has obviously been changed.

Bad form to announce a meeting and not advise if a change is required.

Based on the number of people who seemed to be interested and provided their email addresses there should be an easy way to keep people informed.

Alternatively, perhaps someone in the know could use this notice in Boards.ie to keep us informed?

onlyfinewine

Got an email which said that there were a lot of people away and meeting was deferred to September.

Seems strange as they were in a hurry to start the work of getting the course back into shape and wanted to get money in so the process could begin as soon as possible?

Also the people who were interested were to be given full financial details in order to help them make up their minds?

scotty63

Got a text today, course being cut for last month and meeting will be early September. I spoke to an old commette member who said the membership drive is going very well but as people were on holidays they wanted to give it another few weeks to finalise numbers. He said they almost have the 350 number to start. He told me also that membership forms are now available in Tony Connolly menswear in patrick street and crescent shopping centre.
The word on the street seems to be very positive ... I filled in th firm did anyone else ??

ballyk

There was a report on it on the sports show on Radio Limerick yesterday morning.

onlyfinewine

Missed the program, can you tell us the content and up to date position please?

Just checked and almost 2500 reads of this thread and we do not seem to be getting any hard info at all.

ballyk

I was only half listening to it as I'm not looking to move my membership. Donal McSweeney was on it and he was saying how they were out cutting the fairways etc. He also mentioned that there was a form on his website that people who were interested in joining could fill in. Don't think there was anything new on it.

onlyfinewine

ballyk wrote: »

I was only half listening to it as I'm not looking to move my membership. Donal McSweeney was on it and he was saying how they were out cutting the fairways etc. He also mentioned that there was a form on his website that people who were interested in joining could fill in. Don't think there was anything new on it.

So no new info being given out in relation to costings for getting the course back to a playable condition and re-furbishing the clubhouse and sheds.

I heard that the money in the Limerick county Golf Club account is being used to fund the grass cutting work that is going on at the moment, would that be in order without any approval from the members who own the monies? Surely the proposed meeting that was to be held with the members would have had to approve it and hand over control of the monies to the new club which is difficult as it is not already formed?

ssbob

onlyfinewine wrote: »

So no new info being given out in relation to costings for getting the course back to a playable condition and re-furbishing the clubhouse and sheds.

I heard that the money in the Limerick county Golf Club account is being used to fund the grass cutting work that is going on at the moment, would that be in order without any approval from the members who own the monies? Surely the proposed meeting that was to be held with the members would have had to approve it and hand over control of the monies to the new club which is difficult as it is not already formed?

If the committee is still in tact then they could approve it without members approval. The members basically give committees the powers to look after items such as this.

onlyfinewine

ssbob wrote: »

If the committee is still in tact then they could approve it without members approval. The members basically give committees the powers to look after items such as this.

I imagine that they get that power from the Annual General Meeting when they are elected for a year. As there has not been an AGM called they would have no current mandate. Also as the meetings are being held for Ballyneety Golf Club(proposed), this is a different entity and not related to the old funds. This needs to be looked at and regularised before it gets messy.

onlyfinewine

ballyk wrote: »

I was only half listening to it as I'm not looking to move my membership. Donal McSweeney was on it and he was saying how they were out cutting the fairways etc. He also mentioned that there was a form on his website that people who were interested in joining could fill in. Don't think there was anything new on it.

Don't think much work is being done presently, and no sign of the promised re-scheduled meeting that I heard was being held in early September. It is now almost two months since the South Court meeting and apart from being told not to "Sit on the fence" in an e-mail there has been no communication with any of the financial content which was promised.

Not very encouraging when you need positive interaction and commitment from both former and new members.

scotty63

Got a text yesterday, the meeting is on this Friday night at the Southcourt at 8pm.

onlyfinewine

scotty63 wrote: »

Got a text yesterday, the meeting is on this Friday night at the Southcourt at 8pm.

Meeting: Southcourt Hotel Friday October 12th at 8pm

Dear subscriber

The meeting to update and disclose all information to you has been arranged for this Friday October 12th at 8pm in the Southcourt Hotel.


At the meeting we will outline the planed strategy and can only succeed with the support in the hall.
There have been many challenges in relation to Purchase price, Legal issues and financial costs.

springforit

Great to see that the course might be opening again and I will pay the €300 up to end of 2013 but will want to know what is the clubs liability as regards the Water treatment system or sewage system. Mr Lawlor is glossing over this and saying the council are advising but bottom line is, who is responsible if it breaks down, for years we have been hearing about problems with it and amazingly enough there seems to be no problem now with it, The liquidator was fined over it, If the club is responsable I certainly wo'nt be joining in the long term

scotty63

Got a text/email today re the Golf club - Deal done with liquidator for members golf club- great news at last. Full information on http://golfacademy.ie/ballyneetygolfclub Can't wait !

dvemail

scotty63 wrote: »

Got a text/email today re the Golf club - Deal done with liquidator for members golf club- great news at last. Full information on http://golfacademy.ie/ballyneetygolfclub Can't wait !

Any idea when the range will be up and running?

scotty63

I was in Ballyneety today and the Golf club is opening in March 2013 and Range in Feb or March. They are selling membership for €300 for 2013 and €700 thereafter. The reduced sub is because they are opening on temp greens until August then the full course will open. They have 375 paid up to date and the AGM will be pre Christmas. All looks good and would be great to have the club back and the Range back. Limerick needs a good Range. For €300 I'm joining and will give it my support.

scotty63

got this text a tonight:
Ballyneety Golf Club UPDATE: We are on track to open course & range in mid-March. Final contracts are due to be signed next week. The Constitution has been forwarded to the GUI & ILGU for initial consideration. Volunteer work will take place end of February. A draft website is now available http://www.ballyneetygolfclub.com/ for all info. We will be in touch again as soon as we have an update on the course. Regards, Liam, Minie & Donal.

Wichita Lineman

I've just won a fourball to Ballyneety GC via their facebook page. Another first time course outing for me later in the year woo hoo!!