Boards Golf Society - 2014

charlieIRL

Here we go!!

Well lads, time has come to get this years events finalised and booked. We are going to go for the third Saturday in every month again as it seemed to suit the majority.
We have decided to get more member input with the courses we play this year so if you have any suggestions post them here please. I will leave this thread up for a week and then if we have more than what's needed I'll stick up a multiple choice poll and we can use that to get our list. Just remember, we need courses that are accessible to all.

Some of the ones I was looking at so far are (in no particular order):
Naas
Dundrum
Esker Hills
Tullamore
Castle Barna
Moate
Moyvalley
Roscrea
Carlow
Kilkenny area (suggestions?)
Portumna
With a least one marquee course in the mix.

We ideally want to keep entries to €30 as it worked well last year with the cheaper courses subsiding the more expensive ones so keep this in mind.

Post away.................

PARlance

Great stuff Charlie and best of luck this year, good idea re keeping it to a fixed day each month, should help when getting the visa if the application is put in in good time.

I have only played one (Esker) of those courses and I'd happily play it again, I'd also be willing to play any of the others.
Carlow and Dundrum stand out as ones that I've heard a lot about and they would probably be top of my wish list.

I thought The Heritage was great last year but you may be wanting to change the courses up a bit.

Naas would be another one that I would throw into the mix. Played it recently and would like to get back and see it in full bloom. (Great pint in the clubhouse afterwards... that may be a reason too)

It would be nice to get a links outing in towards the beginning or end of the year when others are soggy, there may be problems getting one that suits the group but I said I would throw it out there.

charlieIRL

cheers dude, looking forward to the year ahead.

I agree with a links as well as i am going mad to play one.
We were chatting about a February outing the last few days and with this weather we are having we were not sure if it would be possible as a lot of courses are very damp. A links would be ideal but the cost might not.

The heritage was well supported the last few years but do we need to go somewhere new to mix it up a bit? Sorry, i had Naas on my list here as well - good minds think alike, it was well supported in 2012 as well.

As I said above we are open to suggestions.

blockic

Unfortunately I won't be around this year for the outings but having played all the courses in Kilkenny, if you are looking around this area I would suggest the following:

Mount Juliet (only if you can get a serious deal obviously)

Otherwise Castlecomer or Gowran Park are both relatively decent courses and likely to get a bargain here as they are craving green fees currently.

Best of luck with it for the year lads, looks like everything is well in order.

Miley Byrne

charlieIRL wrote: »

cheers dude, looking forward to the year ahead.

I agree with a links as well as i am going mad to play one.
We were chatting about a February outing the last few days and with this weather we are having we were not sure if it would be possible as a lot of courses are very damp. A links would be ideal but the cost might not.

The heritage was well supported the last few years but do we need to go somewhere new to mix it up a bit? Sorry, i had Naas on my list here as well - good minds think alike, it was well supported in 2012 as well.

As I said above we are open to suggestions.

Surely early in the year Portmarnock Links would have attractive offers for groups. Maybe Golfgraffix might be able to check it out for ye. I've played it once around this time of year and it's a cracking links course. Not sure if it would suit the majority travelwise but if you are going to have a links outing then it will never suit everybody.

Also no six nations fixtures on the 3rd weekend in February(bonus)

ryaner777

Looks good lads,

Hoping to get to more than two this year.

Any chance we could put one in north of the liffey ?

FixdePitchmark

Well done Charlie.

I hope to make 3 or 4 this year - a bit harder this year for me as, some other commitments and golf commitments. I know it is very hard to keep everybody happy.
But If I was offering ideas -
Agree with Portmarnock Links
In its absence, a course in Dublin. Luttrellstown
And - a great outing last year was Portarlington
Would love to hit Carlow - but will target that outing or an open there.

Wichita Lineman

Moate Golf Club - Society Rates

Mon - Fri: €15 pp (1-30), €10 pp (more than 30*)
Sat/Sun: €20 pp (1-30), €15 pp (more than 30*)
*Charges are based on number actually playing

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Contact:
Anna: 090 6481271

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If you have any difficulty just PM me anyway and I'll sort you out.

PARlance

Forgot to say that this year will be hard for me to attend too, but I'll try my best. I'll have 2 kids under 2 come May touch wood...

Could we fit in as many before then please

Who knows, I may be at them all, staying overnight, just to get some peace.

Another suggestion:
Maybe a trip to the South East could be an idea,
Cork to Waterford 1h 47mins
Dublin to Waterford 1h 47mins
Would be handy enough for the lads in the midlands too.

charlieIRL

Waterford is 2:30 for me! Mitchelstown last year was hard enough!!

scrubber72

what about Galway Bay? Only 10 mins off the motorway and only an hour from Athlone.
I have travelled to Naas before and took 2 hours 10 from Galway and thats as far as i would go.
Good choices there charlie and unless i have something big on i would hope to make 3 or 4 of them.

PARlance

charlieIRL wrote: »

Waterford is 2:30 for me! Mitchelstown last year was hard enough!!

Geography was never a strong point of mine

ssbob

Well guys haven't been on here lately but obviously this is something I am keenly interested in.

I think the idea of a marquee course is a great one and possibly could have captains day there! Mount Juliet mentioned above is absolutely class so I would second that.

Dundrum is another who have looked after us in the past and a fine course to boot!

I think we should give the heritage a skip this year just for sheet variety.

Naas, Thurles and Dunmurry would be ones I want to play.

Anyone interested in quoting links prices for 3rd Sat in Feb?

BenEadir

If you want affordable links in February you could do worse than Corballis, http://www.corballislinks.com.

You can generaly get out for around €15 to €20 a head on teetimes.ie or golfnow.ie so I'm sure they'd do a deal for you.

It's not going to be easy to get to for everyone but then given links are by nature located on the coast that is always going to be the case.

I played it a few times and always enjoyed it. It's a bit quirky and has some blind shots which I never enjoy but it's links, playable all year round and great value for money.

BTW, I'm not connected to the course in any way and haven't played it for 5 years or so.

Ben

spacecoyote

I'd imagine the likes of Killeen castle would be a good shout for a marquee course that would probably be reasonable value too?

kieran.

ryaner777 wrote: »

Looks good lads,

Hoping to get to more than two this year.

Any chance we could put one in north of the liffey ?

Preferrably way North!!

Looking forward to getting to alot more of the society outings this year !

PARlance

ssbob wrote: »

Anyone interested in quoting links prices for 3rd Sat in Feb?

I would, but this would be my concern

BenThere wrote: »

It's not going to be easy to get to for everyone but then given links are by nature located on the coast that is always going to be the case.

Maybe it's best to have the first outing in a more convenient location.
It could be something that requires a bit more thought.

Thinking back to the few games around Xmas that were being organised on here gave me an idea.
It may be a bit off the wall but it might be worth thinking about.
We could have an Eastern and Southern conference type set up for an event or two?

e.g Hold 2 outings on the same day, one that suits the Southern Conference and one that suits the Eastern. (Sorry Westerners and Northerners Kieran.)

We would obviously get less numbers for the individual outings, but the total players playing should be more than a standard outing.
Again, it may be a mad idea, but if there was 2 of these dual outing events throughout the year, it could/should mean that there are 2 "bankers" for people to attend and it may increase guys signing up.

We could even have a Superbowl matchplay event down the line

I said I'd mention that because I think there is a group of guys (outside of the hardcore members who travel a lot) who see the €30 as being a bit much if they think they can only make 2 or 3 events. This might increase that number of events they hope to attend up to 4 or 5 and lead to a much larger membership.

That's all my daft ideas for now....

kieran.

PARlance wrote: »

Forgot to say that this year will be hard for me to attend too, but I'll try my best. I'll have 2 kids under 2 come May touch wood...

Could we fit in as many before then please

Who knows, I may be at them all, staying overnight, just to get some peace.

Another suggestion:
Maybe a trip to the South East could be an idea,
Cork to Waterford 1h 47mins
Dublin to Waterford 1h 47mins
Would be handy enough for the lads in the midlands too.

Waterford is 4:15 hrs for me

charlieIRL

kieran. wrote: »

Preferrably way North!!

Looking forward to getting to alot more of the society outings this year !

Stick up a course and i'll add it to the list for the poll.

charlieIRL

BenThere wrote: »

If you want affordable links in February you could do worse than Corballis, http://www.corballislinks.com.

You can generaly get out for around €15 to €20 a head on teetimes.ie or golfnow.ie so I'm sure they'd do a deal for you.

It's not going to be easy to get to for everyone but then given links are by nature located on the coast that is always going to be the case.

I played it a few times and always enjoyed it. It's a bit quirky and has some blind shots which I never enjoy but it's links, playable all year round and great value for money.

BTW, I'm not connected to the course in any way and haven't played it for 5 years or so.

Ben

Corballis is 160kms or 1:40 for Midlands but is 277kms or 2:40 from Cork City. As you said above a links is not going to suit everyone.

I'll add it to the list and we can see.

Seve OB

Another vote for Mount Juliet, easily my favourite course.

Northbound, Lough Erne & Concra Wood is spectacular, probably just about 1hr15 from Red Cow, might not suit a lot of people though. maybe Baltray while heading that direction?

In Wicklow the European club, Seafield, Druids Heath & Glen, Powerscourt, again, might be to far for some - - but what about Tulferris on the other side.... think we were to play that last year and it got cancelled? Glen of the Downs is a hidden Gem.

Dublin wise, near M50/N7/N4 - Hermitage, Lucan, Luttrelstown & Castleknock - -all cracking golf courses. Woodbrook is a great little track near Bray, use to hold lots of PGA stuff, Irish Opens etc.

I played Carlow in December for the first time having heard lots about it through the years and it lived up to expectations. Bunclody is another great down that neck of the woods, and I've also heard lots of good things about Gowran Park.

Maybe the Curragh? What about K-Club? I love the Palmer course, who wouldn't but might be a bit excessive but I'm pretty fond of the Smurfit course also and would probably be a bit more reasonable. Rathcore is one I don't think I've seen mentioned much at all around these parts (if even ever) and unfairly so. It's great, central and definately worth a look

Adare Manor down the Westside, and what about Glasson in the middle? Never played it but heard good things.

Oh and like Pariance, my time will be curtailed as no.3 is due in a few weeks, but hope to get him/her settled before the golfing season starts

kieran.

I'm pretty easy on travelling as you might have noticed with the 2.5hr trip in the snow for 11 holes in Esker Hills !.

My suggestions which would be local are:-

Concra Wood, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan
Mannan Castle, Carrickmacross Co. Monaghan
Slieve Russel, Co Cavan

My preference would be Concra Wood as its a real gem of a course. Played it the 2 weeks before christmas and it was in super condition then.

All should be in or around €30.00

ftlnn

So whats involved in becoming a member of the society?
What if you can't make all and would like to go as a guest?

Ben1977

Some nice course on the list charlieIRL.

If we are thinking of location and quality of course, I'd vote for Dunmurry Springs. Then again I am a member.

Central, great course, no fear of it being cancelled due to rain. Last year they even were kind enough to give us a goodie bag.
Food in the clubhouse is also great value and good quality .

Maybe we could organise no wind and rain this year!

14handicap

Druids Glen for about €50euro is a no brainer for a top course.
You wont get anything else like it for that price.

charlieIRL

ftlnn wrote: »

So whats involved in becoming a member of the society?
What if you can't make all and would like to go as a guest?

Hi,

the rules of the Society can be found here

You are more then welcome to come along to an event to see how you get on and like what you see. They are always good fun and if you hang around for a while after there's always a bit of banter in the clubhouse. We are currently looking at revising the visitors rules so keep an eye on the thread.

BenEadir

charlieIRL wrote: »

Corballis is 160kms or 1:40 for Midlands but is 277kms or 2:40 from Cork City. As you said above a links is not going to suit everyone.

So what is the nearest links to Athlone then Charlie?? As an old Athlonian myself I'm pretty sure you have a choice of 83kms to Galway Bay Links or 135kms to Portmarnock.

Either way you're travelling a good bit and at the risk of being painted as a Dublin blow in I'd be guessing that having a links outing in Portmarnock (or St Annes??) would discommode fewer members of the Boards Golf Society (of which I'm not a member so shouldn't be offering an opinion!!) than an equivalent event in Galway or Sligo or wherever.

Ben

Sligored

If anyone wants a good deal in strandhill for a society , give me a dm with a date and i will get a deal (with or without a meal) . Playable all year around.

spacecoyote

Macreddin could be worth considering, pretty sure you'd get out there for around 30 a head including buggies...assuming the place is still open that is.

Rathsallagh could also be worth a look, nice mature parkland with decent grub in the club house

charlieIRL

I'm easy on the travel ( most of my outings last year we around the 2 hour mark) but that's just me, we need to be thinking of all the members!! I'll follow the masses!!

BTW - why don't ya join up too?!

BenEadir

charlieIRL wrote: »

BTW - why don't ya join up too?!

Because I play comps on my home course 3 times a week (Sat/Sun + Wed) during the summer so can't really justify paying to be a member of a golf club and playing other courses at the same time + the driving to and from would put me right off. I'm not a good driver (car or club ) so having my home course 10 minutes away suits me and has probably spoiled me.

I do like to get away for a weekend and play a couple of times e.g. I'm off to Enniscrone in May but it will be a family outing where I'll play early morning while they all chillax in bed/in the pool and I'll be home in time for some lunch and whatever we want to do in the afternoon.

I don't suppose you do overnight/weekend competitions where other halves could come along and there would be pints and dinner + accommodation etc? That might be an interesting option but it might also spoil the buzz of the society i.e. just golfers playing golf.

BTW I played Glasson over Xmas and it was fantastic. A cold but sunny day with no one in front or behind. Absolutely magic!!

Ben

charlieIRL

well for some!!

Gareth still working away in Glasson? Tried him a few times last year for a society deal and was hard get him under the €30 mark, maybe this year!

BenEadir

charlieIRL wrote: »

well for some!!

Ah it's only in the last year or two I've been able to step up the number of times I play and the summer we just had really had to be taken advantage of.

I'm lucky that both my house and office are within 10 minutes of the course which makes an impulsive decision to play the Wed open at 5pm very do-able if the weather is right and with my kids now at a stage where I don't need to wipe their nose on the side of a pitch all weekend I've freed up time to start playing a bit more. I had 10 years of not being a member anywhere and just playing maybe 5 times a year at the odd social/society event.

charlieIRL wrote: »

Gareth still working away in Glasson? Tried him a few times last year for a society deal and was hard get him under the €30 mark, maybe this year!

I don't know him, it's a long time since I used to know who's who around Glasson and drink pints in the Village Inn and Grogans - happy days indeed

We just rang up over Xmas as Athlone was closed (wanted to play the 7 day Xmas open there but couldn't) and they quoted €35 on the spot which we thought wasn't too bad. I guess it depends when you want to play. If you can play there in Feb I'd say you'll get a deal but if you want to play in May-Sept I'd say you'll get little discount as demand will be higher and it's the peak wedding season etc.

Glasson is one outing I could be tempted to play as a visitor, that's for sure!!

Ben

FixdePitchmark

Charlie, up to you, but if you are putting a poll up it may help if you put up

I would attend an outing in ?

Allow multi voting and you will get numbers and location out of poll,

Just an idea .

3putt

Looking forward to playing again this year. Would love to have an outing in concra wood. Dying to play it a while just never got around to it. Druids glen is a cracking course but a little on the expensive side. Wouldn't mind paying a bit extra that week but with the travel expenses for some might not be feasible Don't really mind where we play. Lutterlstown for the Dublin outing as we didn't have one last year.

Dr.Rieux

Looking forward to joining this How do I go about joining?

Rikand

Don't mind where we play as long as we keep the Nama courses to a minimum

Macker1

I would also be interested in joining up for 2014 and would certainly try to get to as many outings as my schedule would allow.

charlieIRL

Excellent stuff lads, the more the merrier.
Will ye pm me names, email addresses & phone numbers and we'll add ye to the text list.
Also current gui if ye have one, no problem if ye don't have one.

recycled

I would second Portmarnock- links ( long drive for me)
and Mount Juliet - Kilkenny

shane0007

Kilkenny GC is in superb condition. I'd doubt if Mount Juliet would ever be in budget but would love to play there.

Rikand

Do our society handicaps from last year reset back to our GUI handicaps for this year ?

Ben1977

Think we should do a bit of car pooling this year to try and keep the cost down.

CharlieIRL another course to consider in the midlands would be mountrath.

Rikand

Ben1977 wrote: »

Think we should do a bit of car pooling this year to try and keep the cost down.

CharlieIRL another course to consider in the midlands would be mountrath.

I do love mountrath.

Barnaboy

Some of my favourite venues for society outings (again in no particular order):

Druids Glen
Edmondstown
Luttrellstown
Naas
Portarlington
Heritage
Palmerstown House
Royal Tara
any links course, anywhere!

and courses I have never played but fancy:

Concra Wood
Wicklow
Woodenbridge
Tullamore

Dossy

Id be interested in joining the society but its the long driving to venues that would be a problem for me,
When will there be a list of the venue's??

charlieIRL

Rikand wrote: »

Do our society handicaps from last year reset back to our GUI handicaps for this year ?

Whichever is the lowest! You off scratch yet?!!!!

charlieIRL

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Charlie, up to you, but if you are putting a poll up it may help if you put up

I would attend an outing in ?

Allow multi voting and you will get numbers and location out of poll,

Just an idea .

I'm making a list off all the courses posted here and after a week will set up a multiple choice poll and pick the top 5 or 6 from it and maybe add 1or 2 to it.

ForeRight

I've heard of quite a few society's having outings at The European Club so they must have so sort of rate thats accessible. That would be a tough links test.

FixdePitchmark

charlieIRL wrote: »

I'm making a list off all the courses posted here and after a week will set up a multiple choice poll and pick the top 5 or 6 from it and maybe add 1or 2 to it.

I'd like to add Arklow and Headfort then.

Up to you and committee Charlie - but for what it is worth - that should only act as a guide for you.

These things don't work great when they try to please everybody (IMO). You need a sort of Benevolent Dictatorship. You may find people will vote and may not have any intention or have the time or make effort in the end, to go.

You should sort of shape it around the core who will go and suit yourself and the committee the most - IMO.

By the way - will only be at 3 or 4 myself. It will be the ones that suit me - so you should do the same and suit the core. (again up to you)

But suit yourselves, not a poll if you get me.

Best of luck BTW Charlie - you will be a great captain.

PARlance

Fix, you know you're telling Charlie to be more like Greebo don't you

I'd agree with Fix though.

Lead us Charlie, lead us.
We will follow (as long as the missus allows me to)