Forrest Little & St Mgts

TerryOC

Any news on the rumour that Forest Little are moving over to St Margarets course? What are Subs in Forest Little for 2014?

CarefulNow!

TerryOC wrote: »

Any news on the rumour that Forest Little are moving over to St Margarets course? What are Subs in Forest Little for 2014?

joined this year, haven't heard anything of this proposal.... Must start digging

CarefulNow!

TerryOC wrote: »

Any news on the rumour that Forest Little are moving over to St Margarets course? What are Subs in Forest Little for 2014?

joined this year, haven't heard anything of this proposal.... Must start digging

nudger

CarefulNow! wrote: »

joined this year, haven't heard anything of this proposal.... Must start digging

I'll let you know the score in the morning, first I heard of it.

Dealerz

I heard from a member that it was to be voted on at the agm- great idea- they will have the money to invest in the course.

BigChap1759

Very interested in this lads - what type of arrangement have you heard, FL buying ST Mags?

Dr_Colossus

Wow, surprised that this appears to be developing to be more than a rumor. The vote is something along the likes for a direct land swap and Forest Little members move lock, stocks and barrels to St. Margarets?

Have only played St. Margarets the once and Forrest Little a few times but wouldn't see what's in it for the Forrest Little members since I wouldn't consider St. Margarets a noticeably better course. Good practice facilities at Forrest Little also even without a driving range. There was a similar vote a number of years ago where Newlands had the option of moving to Palmerstown House but turned it down as the maintenance costs were deemed excessive for the members.

TerryOC wrote: »

What are Subs in Forest Little for 2014?

Last I heard there were a little under €1,500 so similar to St. Margarets and the likes of Roganstown in the area. Nice course and conditioning but still over priced in my book.

BigChap1759

Where would that leave St Margaret's members?

Dealerz

I think dublin airport want the land so it could be a very good price- but thats just a guess!
I think it would be great for all parties but you just don't know how members feel about it!

charlieIRL

Can we keep to facts only please lads? No point in adding fuel to potential rumours.

parseeker

charlieIRL wrote: »

Can we keep to facts only please lads? No point in adding fuel to potential rumours.

the facts are that there is a rumour so we should discuss that ....
i heard that forest little voted against it .

BigChap1759

parseeker wrote: »

the facts are that there is a rumour so we should discuss that ....
i heard that forest little voted against it .

There must be FL members on here who can fill us in with the facts?

Pjd11

I'm a member of forrest little and can confirm there is a small bit of truth in the rumour
A committee has been set up to explore the possibly of selling are land and moving to st margarets
How ever we have no idea how much are land is worth and to find out we would have to put are land up for sale .

It is due to be put to the members soon to vote on through an EGM however it's unlikely to be passed even if it is passed another EGM would have to held to decide if we go ahead and move .

Also I can confirm Dublin AIrport are not interested in the land at present however this may change if someone else was to show interest

JCDUB

Pjd11 wrote: »

Also I can confirm Dublin AIrport are not interested in the land at present however this may change if someone else was to show interest

Dublin Airport are very interested in the land, but will not publicly show an interest for obvious reasons.

I am also a member of FL and think that a move to St.Margaret's in its current condition is most definitely a step down for us. It was in terrible shape last time I played it, due to neglect/lack of care/just doing the bare necessities to keep costs down.

If we were to go there we'd have to invest heavily in bringing it back to the condition it was in 15 years ago, which will obviously cost a lot of dollar.

Also, we'd need to up our groundskeeping staff numbers to maintain the larger facilities in St. Margaret's, which will obviously incur costs. These things have to be considered.

We are having an EGM on the matter in the coming weeks apparently, so we will know more then.

In the meantime, it's all rumour and speculation I'm afraid.

mike12

I think St. Mgts has super potential and it would be great to see it in super nick again, although i thought it was in pretty good condition the last time i played it. Good driving range and plenty of room.
Forrest little seems cramped and its only a matter of time before the holes along the road cause an issue with someone getting hit with a ball. plus the club house is getting a bit run down.

CarefulNow!

Hello fellow members!

i dont see any roads coming into play Mike on the course? Maybe its just the game i play :pac:!

As a new member I wouldnt be very happy about moving but if the figures add up and the research is proper what can ya say! A healthy bank account is whats important in this era

nudger

Had a word over the weekend, as far as he knows, it's nothing to do with financial problems but has heard nothing else, some roomers alright.

Pjd11

Three major reasons why there exploring the possibility of moving

(1) we have a debt of nearly a million !

(2) boundaries at the back of the second .and fifth have caused some balls to go into the houses ,we already had to shut down one bunker,there's also been reports of kids coming from the houses and damaging the course

(3) at some stage we will lose our practice ground at the side of the 9th which is owned by Air Rianta ,and there is plans to build a new road

However unless the money was very good there is no way the members would agree to move

sydneybound

From the outside looking in I think Forest Little would be mad not to seriously consider moving to St. Mgts if the figures work out.

I played jimmy bruen a few years back and the St. Mgts was average at best but the potential is huge. The practice facilities and room around the course are very appealing. Nice big clubhouse too but it would need investment. Anyone got any ideas on figures, wonder how much the land FL sits on is actually worth?

Wonder what f22 makes of all this as he's a low handicapper out of that club.

parseeker

anyone who thinks Forest Little is a better course then St Margarets needs to get out more ... there is no comparison.
In FL you know you're playing in converted fields a lot of the time, which is fine it is what it is ..
In St Mags you know you are on a golf course..
Sure all it needs is a little fertiliser and more care : )

sydneybound wrote: »

From the outside looking in I think Forest Little would be mad not to seriously consider moving to St. Mgts if the figures work out.

I played jimmy bruen a few years back and the St. Mgts was average at best but the potential is huge. The practice facilities and room around the course are very appealing. Nice big clubhouse too but it would need investment. Anyone got any ideas on figures, wonder how much the land FL sits on is actually worth?

Wonder what f22 makes of all this as he's a low handicapper out of that club.

Pjd11

I can confirm Forrest little have now put there land up for sale now to see if moving is a possibity

BigChap1759

Pjd11 wrote: »

I can confirm Forrest little have now put there land up for sale now to see if moving is a possibity

As far as I'm aware St Margaret's was taken of the market a while ago - I guess there must have been some discussion between the two parties if FL are going ahead with this strategy?

AGC

There would be obvious benefits in moving. Additional space, practice facilities, standard of course (When Margaret's is maintained) but surely the cost of updating and maintaining Margarets over FL will hit the members hard in annual subs?

Might be wrong here but FL have quite an older membership and I can't see them giving up the course they have played for so long.

Rippeditup

parseeker wrote: »

anyone who thinks Forest Little is a better course then St Margarets needs to get out more ... there is no comparison.
In FL you know you're playing in converted fields a lot of the time, which is fine it is what it is ..
In St Mags you know you are on a golf course..
Sure all it needs is a little fertiliser and more care : )

Agreed 100%.. When St.Margrets first came on the scene and it was managed properly it was a great track. The green keeping staff where top notch with 2 or 3 of them on the European Tour team who setup courses for different events before they joined.
Tom Craddock kept a very close eye on it for the first few years which ensured the team managing the course kept the standard high and inline with his initial design. It hosted some good events (Irish Seniors and Womens opens) It also had top drawer practice/academy facilities but then the money dried up and it was a massive area/setup to maintain and it went to pieces. With a solid membership and some investment it would be amazing as the structure is already there.

josie19

The members would never vote to move from FL without a cash dividend and I don't see where the cash would come from selling one piece of land to buy another.

Seve OB

AGC wrote: »

There would be obvious benefits in moving. Additional space, practice facilities, standard of course (When Margaret's is maintained) but surely the cost of updating and maintaining Margarets over FL will hit the members hard in annual subs?

Not necessarily as I'm sure the additional members Margarets would gain from FL would give them more money to spend on the upkeep of the golf course

AGC wrote: »

Might be wrong here but FL have quite an older membership and I can't see them giving up the course they have played for so long.

I'd be of the same opinion. I know we had a similar option put to the club many years ago in Greystones, but it was shot down (by the older guys on the committee) before it got anywhere near the members. I could understand their motives for not wanting to sell out a long and well established Golf Club especially as I'm 37 now and a member for 25 years, I now live the other side of Dublin, but I still won't change clubs!

I'm not sure how concrete or far along the proposal was/got but I was led to believe there was a hell of a nice cash payoff (we are talking life changing sums) on the table per member, plus membership to another exclusive club.

Me being a young lad with houses to buy and family to raise would have taken the ridiculous sum of money, but If I was at the end of my career, not needing the money, with kids raised etc and been a long serving member, I probably would have not wanted to move.

Dealerz

Agreed- the potential for the course with more investment is great.

Played it yesterday and the greens after been described by the pro shop as been perfect were very poor- uneven cuts, weeds, moss etc. the drainage would need further work too, swampy in places. We noticed a lot of golfers looking for balls that had obviously plugged in rough.

AGC

stevieob wrote: »

Not necessarily as I'm sure the additional members Margarets would gain from FL would give them more money to spend on the upkeep of the golf course

Would it not be the members FL would gain? I certainly can't see it happening if FL was to be no more and members would become members of St. Margarets

Seve OB

AGC wrote: »

Would it not be the members FL would gain? I certainly can't see it happening if FL was to be no more and members would become members of St. Margarets

I must have missed something because I thought it was FL who were thinking of selling up and moving to St Margarets

There is no mention that I can see of FL buying or taking over St Margarets, so without further information I can only assume St Margarets are not going anywhere, but stand to gain in additional memberships through some kind of merger.

CarefulNow!

stevieob wrote: »

I must have missed something because I thought it was FL who were thinking of selling up and moving to St Margarets

There is no mention that I can see of FL buying or taking over St Margarets, so without further information I can only assume St Margarets are not going anywhere, but stand to gain in additional memberships through some kind of merger.

i believe the proposal is to buy and take over mags

Pjd11

I believe forrest little have received 3 offers one in the region of 10 million .apparent it's to go back to the members to vote on in the next few weeks .

First Up

Pjd11 wrote: »

I believe forrest little have received 3 offers one in the region of 10 million .apparent it's to go back to the members to vote on in the next few weeks .

Sounds like a very good outcome for all.

BigChap1759

I can't see how all members of both clubs could be accommodated

First Up

BigChap1759 wrote: »

I can't see how all members of both clubs could be accommodated

Depends on how many there are. Nice problem for a club to have these days.

sydneybound

St. mags don't have that many members both will fit in comfortably.

John Divney

Damn, that's a lot of money left over for the club, good times ahead it seems

CarefulNow!

Looking at the current housing market i would hold off on selling for a few years. There is a shortage so price of land for home building is going one way.

also that area was earmarked in a recent report for new home builds.. The bubble is inflating again

John Divney

CarefulNow! wrote: »

Looking at the current housing market i would hold off on selling for a few years. There is a shortage so price of land for home building is going one way.

also that area was earmarked in a recent report for new home builds.. The bubble is inflating again

Bird in the hand with property market, the market could easily tank again.

First Up

John Divney wrote: »

Bird in the hand with property market, the market could easily tank again.

Agree, trying to squeeze every last cent out of it would be silly. If they can get a deal that allows FL and Margarets to move to a solid financial and equitable footing, then go for it. They are golf clubs, not speculators.

ib_sanf

Any update on this anybody?Is it going ahead?

CarefulNow!

Officially not being pursued now.

Seve OB

CarefulNow! wrote: »

Officially not being pursued now.

so they are both staying as they are?

CarefulNow!

stevieob wrote: »

so they are both staying as they are?

I can only confirm for FL, not selling and moving to St mags