Castleknock for 2014

Someday

I am considering joining Castleknock for 2014, I am a current member at Roganstown. I live near Castleknock but a few things.

They are €250 more expensive
I hear the time sheets are always full ?

It is a top course for all year around Golf
They have a bar which is used!

I would save the difference in diesel over the year but worried about getting out and the course being packed ?

Thoughts from current and former members?

jayunot777

I am not a member there but played the course a few times and always packed and always delays on it from my experience there when playing it.. Its is a well kept course and in winter they dont use mats or temporary greens from my knowledge

GreeBo

I'd worry about getting out for casual golf as it always seems to be a busy course with societies and green fees....I guess only a member can advise.

mike12

I joined Roganstown this year any reason i should know why u want to leave?
Mike

Someday

Mike

No one goes in to the "Clubhouse" after Golf in Roganstown apart from that it is a top course and nice people.
25 min drive and castleknock would be 10-15 mins
I live near Castleknock and I could have a few pints after Golf.

Anyhow, any Castleknock members want to give their view ?

Oilbeefhooked!

Hi im a 5 day member at Cknock, so cant really give too much advice re. weekends, but i play regularly in open tuesday events when the timesheet can be very busy and can honestly say slow play is not a big problem.
Cknock use the 'Greeni ' gps system , where each group are given a device to clip on the bag - this gives data back to proshop on your whereabouts, and alerts them early of any slow groups, this allows them to send the ranger out and nip any issues in the bud early, before it starts causing big tailbacks!!
Re. the course itself - i think its a great track,always well manicured and kept to a very high standard.The greens are superb also.Its prob not the most difficult test but ,wouldnt be a walkover either , got some great holes. Requires a bit of strategy, so your not just pulling driver on every tee, which i like ,while at the same time you can get away with the odd wild one off the tee also.
Great lads in the proshop, and ive found the members very friendly.
The bar and restaurant upstairs is great, with superb food.
So in summary, i would really recommend it as a course and a club.
Hope this helps.:)

Oilbeefhooked!

p.s. Just looked on the members website for this coming weekend and there is plenty slots available for saturday morning and a good few mid morning slots left for sunday.

REFLINE1

I'm also considering membership here for 2014.
I see they do a flexible membership option where you are allocated units to use.
any thoughts on this?

http://www.castleknockgolfclub.ie/golf/publish/membership/full.php

Someday

Ye, 35 full rounds on a sat and 15-20 9 holes during summer mid week would e 1450 units or so !

I like to play about 5-10 other courses also

@oilbeefhooked - thanks, I hate slow play!

Mister Sifter

Crikey, Roganstown must be really bad if you're already looking at options for next years with 4-5 months of the season still to play.

Someday

@ Mister Sifter - No, top course and no problems with too many people out. Castleknock is closer and I see they have more of a "Clubhouse" but they don't have a payment plan, I hear it gets crowded also.

So an extra 10 mins to Roganstown may not be all that bad!

Seve OB

REFLINE1 wrote: »

I'm also considering membership here for 2014.
I see they do a flexible membership option where you are allocated units to use.
any thoughts on this?

http://www.castleknockgolfclub.ie/golf/publish/membership/full.php

I live very close to here and as I am a member of another club which I don't want to give up, I have often thought about the 5 day credit option. It looks pretty attractive, especially as you can use the credit also in the bar and restaurant, which myself and the wife would visit with the kids every so often anyway. Only this morning, she told me she would like to go over at the weekend...

I tried to get a pal to join with me, but he wouldn't, so that was all that stopped me really.

Am now thinking about it again

20 Times 20 Times

Do they have any student memberships ? Or under 30's ?

Thanks

Kid Charlemagne

Played Rgnstn on Saturday and fair play was in great nick for the time of year.

Its a bit open and forgiving:pac:, as is C/knk - but two great tracks all the same.

Im not a member of either, though I know Rgn has a very quiet timesheet, cant comment on C/k.

pcasso

Apologies for bumping an old thread but as I am considering applying to join Castleknock as a five day member I was hoping for some more recent feedback , especially for anyone who joined recently as to what their experience was like.
Also I take it that the Tuesday competition is the only competition open to play for five day members.
Is this an open competition for all GUI members or just for Castleknock members?
Are there competition fees on top of the €25 green fee?
How are time sheets during the rest of the week?
Thanks for any advice in advance.

charlieIRL

pcasso wrote: »

Apologies for bumping an old thread but as I am considering applying to join Castleknock as a five day member I was hoping for some more recent feedback , especially for anyone who joined recently as to what their experience was like.
Also I take it that the Tuesday competition is the only competition open to play for five day members.
Is this an open competition for all GUI members or just for Castleknock members?
Are there competition fees on top of the €25 green fee?
How are time sheets during the rest of the week?
Thanks for any advice in advance.

have a look here

Oilbeefhooked!

pcasso wrote: »

Apologies for bumping an old thread but as I am considering applying to join Castleknock as a five day member I was hoping for some more recent feedback , especially for anyone who joined recently as to what their experience was like.
Also I take it that the Tuesday competition is the only competition open to play for five day members.
Is this an open competition for all GUI members or just for Castleknock members?
Are there competition fees on top of the €25 green fee?
How are time sheets during the rest of the week?
Thanks for any advice in advance.

Hi just to bring you up to date, the P.L.C. Under which Castleknock Golf Club is a concern, went into receivership last month.
Following an EGM last week the receivers have guaranteed that the club and restaurant will be kept open at least util the end of 2014 while a new buyer is sought.
They have also given guarantees that the exact same green keeping staff /budget and methods will be implemented in 2014 ensuring the course maintains it very high standard.
Re. membership - As the current agreements only run until end december 2014
- they are only taking memberships up to that date - so therefore new membership/ renewal fees are paid on a pro rata rate ie. If you were to join now in February as a 5 day member, you would only pay 550 euro as you are only paying for 11 months, likewise anyone joining 5 day in March will only have to pay 500 euro and so on.....
They run an open competition every Tuesday (open to all gui members) and
once the season starts they also run a 5 day member thursday league and also 5 day member matchplay competion.
On an Open tuesday as a 5 day member 20 euros/credits would be deducted from your card which would include you competition fee.
If you were to go out pre 9am on any other day your card would be deducted
15 euro/credits and there is also a 9 hole rate of i think its 8/9 euro/credits.
Time sheets can be busy at weekends, but ive been a 5 day member for 3 years and have never had a problem getting a slot on any weekday.
Would highly recommend the golf club, course, and staff.
Hope that helps

pcasso

Oilbeefhooked! wrote: »

Hi just to bring you up to date, the P.L.C. Under which Castleknock Golf Club is a concern, went into receivership last month.
Following an EGM last week the receivers have guaranteed that the club and restaurant will be kept open at least util the end of 2014 while a new buyer is sought.
They have also given guarantees that the exact same green keeping staff /budget and methods will be implemented in 2014 ensuring the course maintains it very high standard.
Re. membership - As the current agreements only run until end december 2014
- they are only taking memberships up to that date - so therefore new membership/ renewal fees are paid on a pro rata rate ie. If you were to join now in February as a 5 day member, you would only pay 550 euro as you are only paying for 11 months, likewise anyone joining 5 day in March will only have to pay 500 euro and so on.....
They run an open competition every Tuesday (open to all gui members) and
once the season starts they also run a 5 day member thursday league and also 5 day member matchplay competion.
On an Open tuesday as a 5 day member 20 euros/credits would be deducted from your card which would include you competition fee.
If you were to go out pre 9am on any other day your card would be deducted
15 euro/credits and there is also a 9 hole rate of i think its 8/9 euro/credits.
Time sheets can be busy at weekends, but ive been a 5 day member for 3 years and have never had a problem getting a slot on any weekday.
Would highly recommend the golf club, course, and staff.
Hope that helps

That is a great help mate. Thanks for your reply.
I will have to make my mind up very soon. My current membership runs out at the end of February and I am very tempted by Castleknock.
Thanks again

edit Is there any talk of what will happen after this year?
Is the current membership deals/rates likely to be repeated for existing members

Oilbeefhooked!

pcasso wrote: »

That is a great help mate. Thanks for your reply.
I will have to make my mind up very soon. My current membership runs out at the end of February and I am very tempted by Castleknock.
Thanks again

edit Is there any talk of what will happen after this year?
Is the current membership deals/rates likely to be repeated for existing members

There's already a few interested parties re. purchasing the club.
Impossible to predict what a new owner may do when they come in,
but the current business model at Castleknock is working well,
so would be surprised if a new owner were to come in and mess with
it too much.

pcasso

Oilbeefhooked! wrote: »

There's already a few interested parties re. purchasing the club.
Impossible to predict what a new owner may do when they come in,
but the current business model at Castleknock is working well,
so would be surprised if a new owner were to come in and mess with
it too much.

And thanks again.
Finally, one last question, probably directed at someone who has joined recently.
How do members feel about an unknown like me putting my name on the time sheet beside theirs.
I know a lot of places have regular fourballs, threesomes etc. but I don't have that luxury as I would be joining without knowing anybody

Seve OB

pcasso wrote: »

And thanks again.
Finally, one last question, probably directed at someone who has joined recently.
How do members feel about an unknown like me putting my name on the time sheet beside theirs.
I know a lot of places have regular fourballs, threesomes etc. but I don't have that luxury as I would be joining without knowing anybody

Pretty much the same as any club I would imagine. I'm 25 years in Greystones and still manage to put my name down against people I don't know on a regular enough basis. It's the only way you will get to know other club members.

If their name is down and they have free space beside them, feel free to use it, because if they had regular playing partners they wanted to play with, then their names would be there already.

Not joined Castleknock yet but hope to soon as a 5 day for the evening golf as Greystones is just to far away for a game after work

Oilbeefhooked!

pcasso wrote: »

And thanks again.
Finally, one last question, probably directed at someone who has joined recently.
How do members feel about an unknown like me putting my name on the time sheet beside theirs.
I know a lot of places have regular fourballs, threesomes etc. but I don't have that luxury as I would be joining without knowing anybody

I joined as a 5 day member 2 years ago - I was in exactly the same position as you, ie knew nobody at the club.
As prev poster says if there is a spare slot with lads, then feel free to join them, and that way you'll settle into the club pretty quickly.
Have made a lot of not only golf buddies in my couple of years but also some good friends also, by just putting my name down and meeting people on the 1st tee.:)

willfer

@pcasso I will echo oilbeefhooked! comments here. I joined last year as a five day member and knew nobody but just stuck my name on the timesheet and have gotten to know some very nice people. I've played a lot of golf there now and i have never been made feel uncomfortable playing in anybody's company. Everyone is in the same boat, they just want a game of golf and welcome the company!

Also, the course is a fantastic test of golf, and is always well maintained. I have no doubt that it will come through the problems they are having. I, and all the 5 day members i have been speaking to, will definitely be renewing membership for the coming year.

Hope this helps.

pcasso

Thanks Willfer and Oilbeefhooked.
I appreciate all your input.
I am 90% set on joining now.
I will pop out there next week and see can I get it sorted

Seve OB

just got an email from castleknock with a trial 2 week membership they are offering, might suit some of you

Cecco70

This thread has been a great help, thanks to everyone.
I've made up my mind and decided to join Castleknock, the 5 day membership deal suits me perfect since I can play mostly on mondays and tuesdays. Is there anybody in particular I should contact or should I just fill in the form and bring it to the pro shop?

Oilbeefhooked!

Cecco70 wrote: »

This thread has been a great help, thanks to everyone.
I've made up my mind and decided to join Castleknock, the 5 day membership deal suits me perfect since I can play mostly on mondays and tuesdays. Is there anybody in particular I should contact or should I just fill in the form and bring it to the pro shop?

yeah if you can play midweek golf its by far the best deal out there.
Just head into the pro shop mate, and one of the lads will sort you out with the application form , welcome

Cecco70

Thanks Oilbeefhooked, I'll head out there this weekend and pick up the application form.

willfer

Here is a link to the trial membership if anyone wants to try it out;

http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6b66d3e8cc277ba0c87da7fc7&id=4c7b0cd411&e=d4967ef747

RoadRunner

Thanks for the link. I think I'll try the trial too. I'd like to pull the trigger on this myself. Really enjoyed it with a few other boards last just after xmas. Again though, as was mentioned above, it's handy for me, but I don't really know anyone who's a member there. BTW, when you guys mention the timesheets and putting your name down beside others you don't know, are these timesheets online?

willfer

RoadRunner wrote: »

Thanks for the link. I think I'll try the trial too. I'd like to pull the trigger on this myself. Really enjoyed it with a few other boards last just after xmas. Again though, as was mentioned above, it's handy for me, but I don't really know anyone who's a member there. BTW, when you guys mention the timesheets and putting your name down beside others you don't know, are these timesheets online?

Yes they are roadrunner, when you join you can book teetimes online with the brs system using your GUI number.

Seve OB

I filled in the enquiry form as soon as I got it for the trial membership.

Still no email or call back.... Bad form if you ask me....... Doesn't mean that I still won't join!

SnowDrifts

stevieob wrote: »

I filled in the enquiry form as soon as I got it for the trial membership.

Still no email or call back.... Bad form if you ask me....... Doesn't mean that I still won't join!

Was that not just yesterday afternoon? (from your post above)

Seve OB

SnowDrifts wrote: »

Was that not just yesterday afternoon? (from your post above)

Yea but the trial is 2 weeks from today, not that I would have played today, but I'd have gone over in the morning

SnowDrifts

stevieob wrote: »

Yea but the trial is 2 weeks from today, not that I would have played today, but I'd have gone over in the morning

Ah I see.. maybe give them a shout Monday if they haven't got back to you. Trial seems like a good idea... would be interested in hearing feedback on that.

slave1

Played here today, blown away with condition of fairways for this time of the year, lovely and firm with great run, greens fast and very true, an absolute joy to play this morning...

Seve OB

slave1 wrote: »

Played here today, blown away with condition of fairways for this time of the year, lovely and firm with great run, greens fast and very true, an absolute joy to play this morning...

yea played it last wednesday and was pretty decent alright. i did join up last year in the end as the 5 day, though i keep spending my credits in the bar!

PARlance

slave1 wrote: »

Played here today, blown away with condition of fairways for this time of the year, lovely and firm with great run, greens fast and very true, an absolute joy to play this morning...

You didn't catch it on a good day either, it's always in great condition anytime I've played it. It's probably the best drained parkland that I've played and the greens are great.

Great course for an early morning game in Dublin.

benny79

I second that I say its 1 of my favour parklands. Id rate it better than the PGA & KIlleen Castle.

Dr_Colossus

benny79 wrote: »

I second that I say its 1 of my favour parklands. Id rate it better than the PGA & KIlleen Castle.

Wow, that's some praise and while it has nice greens and generally in good condition overall I would strongly disagree with your assessment of the course itself. Personally I found it very claustrophobic with too many holes cramped into too little space and the few times I've played it, it was always overly busy and bordering on the dangerous with stray balls. Some nice par 3's but the course itself is quite short and I'd imagine requires big scores to be competitive in competition there.
Luttrellstown up the road is a far superiour course to it in my opinion and of the Dublin parklands is the best I've played. Palmerstown House (used to be PGA) and Killeen Castle are top tier courses also and I wouldn't place Castleknock in that same bracket.

benny79

It just my opinion. I always enjoyed playing it and have played luttrellstown. I only played Killeen once and wasn't mad on it! very long walks between holes, maybe I had to high expectations as the solheim cup was there even though a number of years previous. I taught the PGA was nice but needed some work a little rough around the edges again high expectations but this course was once €180 a round.

Mind you anytime I played Castleknock it was through teetimes and mid week so it was never that busy. But I rate it as one of my favours always in super nick and always got it for €20...

slave1

benny79 wrote: »

It just my opinion. I always enjoyed playing it and have played luttrellstown. I only played Killeen once and wasn't mad on it! very long walks between holes, maybe I had to high expectations as the solheim cup was there even though a number of years previous. I taught the PGA was nice but needed some work a little rough around the edges again high expectations but this course was once €180 a round.

Mind you anytime I played Castleknock it was through teetimes and mid week so it was never that busy. But I rate it as one of my favours always in super nick and always got it for €20...

You know I was having this pretty much exact same thoughts (versus Luttrellstown) and we all agreed that Luttrellstown is indeed a better course but Castleknock was in better condition and more enjoyable to play...

PARlance

slave1 wrote: »

You know I was having this pretty much exact same thoughts (versus Luttrellstown) and we all agreed that Luttrellstown is indeed a better course but Castleknock was in better condition and more enjoyable to play...

It's probably the Dublin golfing equivalent of the girl next door

Completely see where Dr C is coming from but Castleknock beat Luttrelstown 6 or 7 nil last year in terms of my visits.

dar_cool

I live about a minute from both of them, Luttrellstown is a much better layout and when its in top condition, usually only for couple of months during the summer its one of the best courses in the country nevermind Dublin, Castleknock is in great condition all year round, Not near as good a layout as Luttrellstown in my opinion, Jump across the liffey into the hermitage, another cracking course. Seriously considered joining Luttrellstown last year but small amount of members put me off.

Dr_Colossus

dar_cool wrote: »

I live about a minute from both of them, Luttrellstown is a much better layout and when its in top condition, usually only for couple of months during the summer its one of the best courses in the country nevermind Dublin, Castleknock is in great condition all year round, Not near as good a layout as Luttrellstown in my opinion, Jump across the liffey into the hermitage, another cracking course. Seriously considered joining Luttrellstown last year but small amount of members put me off.

Have yet to play Hermitage which I hear by all accounts is a fine course with slick greens.
Was seriously considering joining Luttrellstown 2 years ago as similarly would be very convenient location wise and it has nice practice facilities as well as the course itself. The lack of members (only about 100) was a serious deterent as they only get about 30 players out even in their medals. The cost of membership (€2,000 + VAT) was another serious deterrent especially when considering their competition entry fees are €10 with generally terrible prizes. Anyway at the time I told them if they gave me membership for €1,500 inclusive of VAT I'd join but they were having none of it so I went else where.
Not sure what their agenda is as it doesn't look like they're getting enough green fees to survive without a decent members club. 400 members would make a nice viable club and still yield plenty of tee times for green fee guests. Anyway that's derailing on the topic of Castleknock GC.

zizou_

I've been a 5 day member in Castleknock for the past couple of years. The credit based system is good value and there's always a good atmosphere around the place (same can't be said for luttrellstown).

Easy enough to get a tee time during the week but worth noting that the last slot in the midweek open is around 4 even at the height of summer. This can make it tricky to squeez in a Gui counting round after work.

As others have said the course is always in great nick but is on the short side so mid 40s needed to contend in midweek comp.

_DMac_

hi folks.

has anyone joined Castleknock lately? are they still doing the reduced membership being that its 4 months into the year? seriously considering joining as all my golf is played during the week and its only a 5 min spin from me.

thanks.

Seve OB

_DMac_ wrote: »

hi folks.

has anyone joined Castleknock lately? are they still doing the reduced membership being that its 4 months into the year? seriously considering joining as all my golf is played during the week and its only a 5 min spin from me.

thanks.

Yes deal is still on. Can't go wrong with it really, it's a win win

slave1

Played our society outing here yesterday in fairly windy conditions but my word what conditioning of a course, played a few rounds during the week elsewhere with flooded bunkers and puddles but not as much as a damp patch anywhere here, the run was phenomenal but not crazy, greens as good as they get.
The best parkland fairways and bunkers I've played, end of!

Seve OB

slave1 wrote: »

Played our society outing here yesterday in fairly windy conditions but my word what conditioning of a course, played a few rounds during the week elsewhere with flooded bunkers and puddles but not as much as a damp patch anywhere here, the run was phenomenal but not crazy, greens as good as they get.
The best parkland fairways and bunkers I've played, end of!

I dint think the bunkers are that great at the moment, found them very hard and compact on Tuesday, they need a good fluffying up if you ask me!

How did you get on anyway?

slave1

Seve OB wrote: »

I dint think the bunkers are that great at the moment, found them very hard and compact on Tuesday, they need a good fluffying up if you ask me!

How did you get on anyway?

Bunkers were well dried out Sat, had a crap start on the second, my drive pulled left and caught the path with huge bounce OOB, hit my second drive out right and my next had to go right of the tree and guess what...caught the path on the RHS off the fairway and huge bounce away from the hole again for a scratch. The stood up on the third with wind in my face and plonked it in the water, ended up with a double so that was 3 points after 3 so was a bit pissed.
Then played great with a couple of birds on 8 and 10, in between I left a birdie on 9 about a ball short, would have loved to have had three birdies on the trot as I've never done that before, had a great 3 over back nine for 41 points off 14 and won my category so overall a great round and left some putts out there despite having only 30 of them.
I love the course, everyone was all full of positives...