Membership Options in Wicklow

54and56

Anyone nominate Tulfaris as an option? I've no idea what the joining situation may be or the annual sub etc and haven't played it in 10 years but surely its worth some consideration?

Seve OB

Not an option from Bray. He may as well stay in New Forrest

oh_no

@Barnaboy I'm in the same boat, moved to Bray this year and struggling with joining a club. Did you end up deciding on anything? My feeling at the moment is I need to justify the cost by signing up somewhere within 20 minutes so I use it more...so I'm looking mostly at Woodbrook, Bray, and Old Conna as best choices, though all have joining fees of different degrees, and waiting lists. Dun Laoghaire looks brilliant but the joining fee is way too big.

I did look at Druids Heath which I understand doesn't have either a joining fee or a waiting list, but so many of the reviews I read speak terribly about the management, lack of a club atmosphere, difficulty getting on the time sheet as it's taken on loads of members (and temporarily hosting the Druid's Glen members during the restoration). I wonder if anyone has experience as a member after the restoration from last year? Is the course much better and the bad reviews true?

Barnaboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792651#Comment_119792651

@oh_no nothing sorted yet. Moved 5 weeks ago. So much to do with new house that golf took a back seat. Definitely want to sort something soon though.

Based on replies in this thread I'm drawn to Blainroe. Haven't made any enquiries yet and have never played it. So take it with a grain of salt.

prawnsambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792913#Comment_119792913

If Woodenbridge is an option for you, maybe have a look at Macreddin. It's a tough course, but they're doing an offer at the moment for membership from 1st October until 31st March 2024 at €999, no joining fee. It's actually a shorter run than Woodenbridge according to Google.

Details here: http://www.macreddingolfclub.com/membership

Frisbee

Macreddin may be shorter to play than Woodenbridge, but it is a much tougher walk. Up and down non-stop and then you have about a kilometre walk from 9 green to 10 tee. Don't think I would ever bother playing Macreddin again without a buggy.

gypsy79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119794459#Comment_119794459

Macreddin much longer even without the 1km walk. There are many holes with long uphill walks back to the tee boxes

I do often wonder if it would get easier as a member

Spectacular course

oh_no

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119792913#Comment_119792913

Yea, that's fair. I do wonder if there may be potential for entry fees to go down in the next year or two if we do get this recesssion everyone is talking about...

Frisbee

Yeah that as well. So while it might look shorter on the scorecard in reality you'd probably be walking double the distance over much less flat ground. Small thing as well but there is zero phone signal on the course. (for me anyway) While this is probably good as means people aren't on their phones it can be a bit of a disaster if someone is trying to get you for something urgent and you're totally off the grid.

I do enjoy looking at all the McMansions on the back 9 though.

prawnsambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119794459#Comment_119794459

Love the exaggeration. 🤣

Very few ups and downs on the front nine. 4th green to 5th tee box being the most. 2nd to 3rd is the only other one really. And yeah, it's a bit of a walk from the 9th to the 10th, but it's not even 500 metres if you cut through the hotel car park. Back nine is hilier, but it's definitely walkable. Each to their own I suppose.

It's probably one of the best courses in the area apart from The European and maybe Arklow (although they're links courses so not really comparable). It's a real test because you have to be accurate off the tee and often for your second shot too.

gypsy79

I lost a lot of balls in Maccreddin too. Wuld love it to be on the Boards list next year

Its unique

Although the European is definitely not links

prawnsambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119795003#Comment_119795003

I wouldn't let Pat Ruddy hear you say that. 🤣

blue note

I played Maccreddin 2 years ago and the walks on it are huge! I was warned before going to get a buggy and I can see why. The walk to the 4th green and uphill to the 5th tee box are severe. And the walk from the 9th green to the 10th tee is probably the length of a long par 5. Be under no illusions - the walks are far longer than normal and the course is hilly!

And when I played the condition was poor. It was in September so you'd expect the course to be in good nick, but the tee boxes were rough and the fairways patchy. That said, I mentioned it to others who played there and my experience does not seem to be the norm at all.

But as a course it's fantastic. I'd be concerned about time it takes to play rounds - it's very tight there. Missing a fairway by much can result in a lost ball. Add that to the long walks and I'd be worried that long rounds would be the norm. When I played there were holes where we got to the next tee and got to see the group ahead of the group ahead of us teeing off. But just to repeat - it's a great course! I'd definitely love to play it again. Especially after being so bad the first time. Try it out as it might be a really good option for membership.

Have they any clubhouse yet by the way?

Edit: I just did the walk on google maps from the 9th green to the 10th tee clicking along the path between them. It's between 550 and 600 meters. Then the 10th green to the next tee is 150m as the crow flies so probably close to 200m the way you have to walk it. That's a bit on the crazy side. 17th green to 18th tee was a bit of a walk too if I remember. And as I say, a lot of hills.

paulos53

I am hoping to play Macreddin for the first time this weekend. Having read the last few posts, I think I will go the for the buggy option!

gypsy79

Do Paul, I did it with electric trolley (new toy at the time) and was completely wrong option

Its so tight too and so many blind shots it helps with lost ball too.....hope there arent many leaves

srfc d16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119795003#Comment_119795003

Curious why you would not consider the European links?

gypsy79

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119796157#Comment_119796157

Cause it is a heathland in my opinion (and most other peoples) and very much a parkland set up

Just because somewhere is by the sea doesnt make it a links (blainroe and wicklow are other local examples that are not links)

thewobbler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119796557#Comment_119796557

I got the same feeling for large parts of it. A handful of holes have a links persuasion no doubt, but a handful of them could be dropped into the K Club with little difference to topology.

But as every links listing compiled includes the European Club, either they’re right, or else Pat has serious reach!

con___manx1

Arklow have an offer on now if you join you get 14 months membership. They do distance membership aswell which would cover you in bray. The fee is good value. You will find it on arklow golf club website. No joining fee either.

Seve OB

Bray is considered distance membership for Arklow? That’s mad. Probably only 30 mins away max

but I guess with distance membership you probably can’t play in likes of Saturday comps, medals, captains etc

prawnsambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119795681#Comment_119795681

Keep an eye on the weather. There's been a lot of rain and it was closed yesterday. Was also closed on Sunday. Course was sanded a couple of weeks ago and the greens hollow-tined and sanded too, so it won't be at its best. Buggy is fine, but you have to keep them on the paths, so it can be a bit of a pain.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119795360#Comment_119795360

No clubhouse yet, but there's supposed to be one on the way. Having said that, the existing structure is fine for what it is and the hotel across the road means you aren't far from a post-round shandy and food.

If you follow the buggy path from 9th to 10th, yeah it's that long. But as I said, you can take a shortcut through the hotel car park and its a good bit shorter. 17th green to 18th tee isn't much, maybe 100m on the path, all flat. But you're going to have walks when you're talking about a course that's over 7000 yards from the back tees. And that's the real challenge. Playing from the black tees has to be one of the toughest tracks around. Everyone should do it at least once. 😎

Last time I played was a three ball and it took four and a half hours, all walking. Could have been faster but one of the group kept losing balls. 😂

There's been a lot of work done on the course over the last few years, so it's probably unrecognisable from when you last played it. The thing that I love is that it's never really a problem time sheet wise and you can often have the place to yourself.

srfc d16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119796557#Comment_119796557

That's interesting. I would certainly consider it links and have never heard anyone describe it as anything other than links prior to this post but maybe I just don't know what a links course is. Can you explain what you mean by parkland set up?

We may agree entirely and I am just using incorrect wording.

I would usually base it on the turf but that could be wrong. The fact that I have tried on a few occasions to find a list of the links courses around the country and have not been able to do so would suggest to me that people may have their own definitions of what a makes a links course

The Big Easy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119799542#Comment_119799542

https://migrantgolfer.com/the-true-links-courses-of-the-world/

Found this list by the Links Association, which now appears to be defunct. The European is unsurprisingly on the list.

No one claims Wicklow or Blainroe to be links, but there are other course that cause more contention such as Seapoint in Louth.

The European is a pure links in my view and haven't heard too many, if any, say it wasn't, some people don't like to credit new courses especially when comes to traditional links.

thewobbler

without wishing to take the thread in a different direction. Portstewart Riverside has at most 3 “linksy” holes. The rest of it is entirely a parkland set up. It just doesn’t look, feel, smell or play like a links course.

Seve OB

I’ve heard it said before from quite a few people about the European. I tend to agree with Gypsy and don’t really see it as a true traditional links. It has a different feel to it. Maybe trees and lots of gorse lends to that idea. as someone said to me recently, there shouldn’t really be any trees on a true links should there?

and I totally agree with Big Easy and don’t even comprehend why Gypsy even brought Blainroe or Wicklow into the discussion

But it is classed as a links and I wouldn’t really argue with that because it has enough of the traditional links characteristics

prawnsambo

The original definition of 'Links' is the land that lies between farmland and the coast. Literally the link between the two. And by definition, incapable of being farmed. So Seve's point about trees is possibly a valid one. If you look at the stretch of coastline that The European is on, the 'links' bit is certainly visible north and south of the course, but it's quite narrow in the north and disappears a short distance north of the course. How much of that is man made is unclear, but south of the course, it's quite extensive although again there are some trees and scrubland visible. Basically it's not all pure links, but enough of it seems to be. Aerial photo below shows the land to the south.

Also, if you look at Arklow, it's quite similar with trees and scrub too.