Courses in limerick

who_ru

Hi all,

I might be moving to Limerick in 2015 to take up a job.

Can anyone recommend a course or two within say 30mins of the city.

Adare, which is probably pricey anyway, is not taking membership for the immediate future according to the sales office there as the course is being sold.

So just wondering what my options might be.

Thanks.

alxmorgan

Loads within 30 mins.

Ballyneety, Limerick, Ballykisteen, Newcastle West, Adare Manor (small one), Shannon, Castletroy, Rathbane, East Clare (possibly, depending on what part of city you are in)

What are you looking for specifically and what is your budget ?

shabalala

Castletroy is one of the best conditioned courses in the country, great course, lovely place.

alxmorgan

shabalala wrote: »

Castletroy is one of the best conditioned courses in the country, great course, lovely place.

Do they have a joining fee ? Sub ?

shabalala

alxmorgan wrote: »

Do they have a joining fee ? Sub ?

i don't know to be honest, i just play there once or twice during the summers and its always in amazing nick

Aesop

alxmorgan wrote: »

Do they have a joining fee ? Sub ?

No joining fee, annual sub €1450.00 - Price guaranteed for 10 years.

Dr_Colossus

alxmorgan wrote: »

Loads within 30 mins.

Ballyneety, Limerick, Ballykisteen, Newcastle West, Adare Manor (small one), Shannon, Castletroy, Rathbane, East Clare (possibly, depending on what part of city you are in)

Have played Limerick, Adare Manor, Shannon, Castletroy and Rathbane of the above.

alxmorgan wrote: »

shabalala wrote: »

Castletroy is one of the best conditioned courses in the country, great course, lovely place.

Do they have a joining fee ? Sub ?

Castletroy is the best conditioned alright and a fine and testing course. Of the Limerick courses it's the one I've played the most. A bit on the short side perhaps but compensates with being tight off the tee and has good slick greens so the scores aren't crazy. Good members club with plenty of competitions and nice practice areas mainly for the short game (takes no more than a wedge). They beat Castle Golf Club in the final of the Junior Cup this year. They still have a 5k entrance fee I believe but this year you had the option of dividing that entrance fee over something like 10 years by paying an increased annual sub for the duration.

I like Adare Manor, the few times I've played it have always been enjoyable and the setting is idyllic along by the river and among the abbey and castle ruins. It's quite a short course (par 69 I think) and demands good strategy to plot your way around, good few dog legs and long par 3's so there's nothing too easy. One consideration is that during my last round one of the members I was playing with commented on finding it difficult to play competitions on Saturday mornings as they seemed to allocate a lot of time to societies during seemingly peak times before 12:00.

Shannon I've only played once during a scratch cup a couple of years ago so my memory of it isn't as clear. It's a lot more tree lined and protected from the elements than I was expecting. Longer course than Castletroy or Adare Manor and especially on the back nine which seems to open up a little. Good full length practice area near the car park also.

Limerick I've played a few times but think it's overrated and would place it well down the rankings. Again it's quite short and doesn't have the same protection with water hazards and well placed bunkers that Castletroy would have. Not the most exciting of golf courses and quite traditional in nature.

Rathbane I only played once also during a scratch cup a couple of years ago but the course itself was a lot better than I was expecting. That said the organisation and staff on hand on the day was very poor and not a good introduction to the place.

who_ru

alxmorgan wrote: »

Loads within 30 mins.

Ballyneety, Limerick, Ballykisteen, Newcastle West, Adare Manor (small one), Shannon, Castletroy, Rathbane, East Clare (possibly, depending on what part of city you are in)

What are you looking for specifically and what is your budget ?

I'm a 5 day member of castleknock at the moment (€600) as my shift pattern allows for more time playing during the week rather than weekends.

Next year will be the opposite if I make the move, working every weekday with weekends free. So full membership may have to be the choice.

In terms of budget €1450 sounds steep to me for a year. I would prefer a little less to be honest. I will also be looking to join a gym so must keep things affordable.

In terms of where i might live I don't yet know, the job itself is in raheen.

dines08

Member in Shannon, up there with the best around Limerick during 9 months of the year. Winter tees and temporary greens during the winter. Joining fee of €2000 payable in €200 installments over 10 years on top of the €850 annually. Played all the other course extensively and Shannon for me is the best value

Castletroy is top class, especially in summer however they do over protect it. Similar to Shannon but temporary tees and greens for a longer period of the year dependent on weather. €400 more expensive than Shannon and a more exclusive club in terms of the membership. Never had a bad experience though.

Adare, not the club for me. Small and tree lined with plenty of criss crossing. An old 9 hole that they squeezed an extra 9 in. Very busy for membership and quite expensive for the condition, a level below castletroy and shannon

Ballyneety is still in its infancy since being reopened but having played it a few times they are doing a phenomenal Job of returning it to its former glory. Very reasonable membership, recently offering €1000 until 2016 in 10 monthly installments. Great range and practice area. Quite heavy on the legs, very hilly. Good course.

Ballykisteen, Newcastle West and East Clare are all lovely clubs and would be ideal to join depending on where you end up living. All roughly 30 mins from the city in varying directions.

Any questions about any of the course in particular let me know.... Most important advice I can give, Rathbane... Stay away

dines08

who_ru wrote: »

I'm a 5 day member of castleknock at the moment (€600) as my shift pattern allows for more time playing during the week rather than weekends.

Next year will be the opposite if I make the move, working every weekday with weekends free. So full membership may have to be the choice.

In terms of budget €1450 sounds steep to me for a year. I would prefer a little less to be honest. I will also be looking to join a gym so must keep things affordable.

In terms of where i might live I don't yet know, the job itself is in raheen.

I'm from raheen myself and work there, is the job in the industrial estate?

Adare, Shannon or Ballyneety would be your best bet with Ballyneety being my first recommendation based on price and locality.

who_ru

dines08 wrote: »

I'm from raheen myself and work there, is the job in the industrial estate?

Adare, Shannon or Ballyneety would be your best bet with Ballyneety being my first recommendation based on price and locality.

Thanks for the advice and reply, appreciate everybody's contribution to this thread folks.

Yes the job will be based in the industrial estate, not being familiar with the city I'm not sure where to base myself. I'd like easy enough access to town, maybe within cycling distance, but not necessarily in the middle of it.

niallo27

Member in shannon myself. The greens are in brilliant condition for this time of the year. The storm last year has made the course play a lot easier in my opinion.

DeBurca

There is also Nenagh which is open almost 365 days a year and only closes for frost and almost never for rain as it has some of the best natural drainage around
I was a member there for 17 years and always enjoyed my time playing at this very friendy club

kagni

Ballykisteen membership is around 600-700 and includes gym and pool also. Not sure what the gym is like but it would be worth checking out. It's just under 30 mins from Raheen.

plumber77

Yeah I think Nenagh is great value as well and only 30 mins with the by pass. Playable all year round and last year they took on new members for 475. Cracking value for a good solid course. Not sure if that offer will be there again next year but maybe give them a ring. Not a member there myself but play it a lot this time of year.

neddynasty

You could try Charleville too. Just inside the Cork border and about 25-30 mins from Limerick City. Nice course, not the longest but plenty of trees to make it difficult.

YOUGHALARRA

plumber77 wrote: »

Yeah I think Nenagh is great value as well and only 30 mins with the by pass. Playable all year round and last year they took on new members for 475. Cracking value for a good solid course. Not sure if that offer will be there again next year but maybe give them a ring. Not a member there myself but play it a lot this time of year.

Nenagh is 475 for the first year and 710 thereafter. I'm a member. The course has been really well maintained for the last 2 years. It's one of the best drained parkland courses you'll find. The full course is in play year round- no mats and no temporary greens. So if you don't mind the 30 minute (approx) commute from Raheen, it's a good option.

Freemount09

neddynasty wrote: »

You could try Charleville too. Just inside the Cork border and about 25-30 mins from Limerick City. Nice course, not the longest but plenty of trees to make it difficult.

Give them a shout ! Plenty of members from Limerick play there. I'm a member there if you want to check it out get onto me.

Me boombastic

Newcastle west would be a good option aswell. It's in great condition all year round.

who_ru

OP here again.

I haven't had the opportunity to play much golf so far this year but have played Newcastle west which was ok, greens were hollow cored so always difficult to judge them then. Can't remember what membership was, there could be an offer on now I'm not sure.

Played ballyneety today and was disappointed with it. The front nine is just to hilly for me, again the greens were hollow cored so bad timing with that. Still playing off temporary matts on some holes. But the fairways themselves looked pretty rough to me, lots of bare patches, patchy grass with little consistency in places, those fairways really need to be fertilised, I know that's not withing every club's budget but the course needs it IMHO.

The back nine is the better of the two. I'm not overly keen to join it although practice facilities are pretty good. Another gripe, the carpark is too far a walk from the 18th green. Felt like a hike getting to the car afterwards.

Castletroy is a little too pricey so I may have to continue to look around. Ideally I don't want to have to travel more than 30mins from raheen which is where I will probably base myself for the next 12 months.

Aesop

Small adare (http://www.adaremanorgolfclub.com/) is pretty convenient there to Raheen.

Ballykisteen is good course although probably closer to 40 mins from raheen but great value at €700.

Limerick GC (Ballyclough) is down the road from you there. Not sure what the joining rate is there though.

Shannon would definitely be worth a look as it's always in great nick and I would imagine a bit cheaper than castletroy.

alxmorgan

Small adare always seems wedged....like the course but wouldn't join it because of that.

I think you're over-egging the walk from the 18th in Ballyneety. I would say it is all of 30 secs

opinionated3

You could take a look at Shannon. Great course which is very challenging. Some drawbacks though. ....Very expensive to join. 2000 euro joining fee and 959 a year after that. Course is over protected by green staff also. Still playing off poor quality tee mats at the moment and there were temp greens up to 2 weeks ago. Not nice to see after you have paid out that sort of money. ..

doublecross

I think you might be out of options.
Small Adare is very tight (almost dangerous) and I don't think members can book tee times on Saturday mornings.
Ballykisteen is a nice course but over your 30 min travel time.
Limerick GC is probably as expensive as Castletroy and not as good.
Nenagh is a good course, €550 for first time member but it's around 45 min from limerick.
Rathbane is close to you but not a course I'd recommend.
Ballyneety is probably your best option, for both price and travevl time.