GUi Dublin

adoall

Hi. Apologies for another cheap GUI question but am looking for a 23/24 update

have pavilion membership in a city club near my house (south side). Would like to keep a GUI. Have been looking at Blessington lakes P&P or corballis

Corballis is a bit closer and a course I like. Wondering if anyone here is a member…:is it easy enough to get out as a single in competitions?

any other club I should consider other than the above 2?

thanks

spacecoyote

Grange Castle also do a P&P option as far as I know

willabur

I'm a member at corballis, it's easy to get out as a single as long as you are reasonably flexible.

paddyh117

Deer Park in Howth have cheap P&P membership which includes GUI - subs for 2024 are €205

Skyfloater

Are there any other options outside the greater Dublin area? It's strictly to get a GUI card so location doesn't matter too much.

zocklie

Are you just looking to get the card or is it somewhere thats also nice to play when you get the chance?

Skyfloater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121574228#Comment_121574228

Mainly to get the card to be honest. Somewhere on the west or south coast that could double up as a weekend away would be ideal. But I couldn't see myself using it regularly.

Mantis Toboggan

Blessington Lakes?

Skyfloater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121575054#Comment_121575054

€192 including Golf Ireland fee is pretty good

Skyfloater

The 9 holer Ballymoney outside Gorey is also €200 including 5 free green fees.

Seve OB

would you existing club facilitate a non playing rights GUI membership and then you could enter opens etc?

answer might well be no, but might be at least worth asking them

Skyfloater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121587410#Comment_121587410

Nonrunner I'm afraid, I've been a nomad for some years now. I prefer the variety of playing different courses, rather than going around the same 18 holes over and over again. Besides I don't really play enough to justify full membership anywhere, it was June before my first game last year, and most years it's 12-15 rounds a year.

Seve OB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121588103#Comment_121588103

I was aiming that at OP who is a pavilion member somewhere already

monkeybutter

surely the GUI should get off their arses and implement a handicap without needing to be a member, like iGOLF in england

get rid of this nonsense

Seve OB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121591079#Comment_121591079

why though?

we are very much a club based country when it comes to golf. it's a different set up in England and USA

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121591135#Comment_121591135

why not would be a better question to answer

why force someone to play at one club, or pay hundreds just to get a handicap in club they will never play

they are very much a club based country in England too until this option came up, its on the list of things to implement with the move to the WHS

You know moving golf out out the 19th century into the 21st

Seve OB

why not?

nomadic golf is detrimental to building a club and keeping it going, keeping the course and facilities maintained.

we seen in recent years this cause loads of clubs to fold, you know people just moving clubs year after year to get cheaper deals.

i think a joining fee is vital to building a good club.

if you don't want to be part of a club, but still want an official handicap there are plenty of cheap enough pay and play and country membership options, which at least help the clubs and courses.

you can also just calculate your handicap yourself

El Guapo!

iGolf is a great setup and similar should be set up here.

If not, then I don't see why iGolf in the UK couldn't eventually accept Irish members. A UK handicap is recognised in this country. If you're a member of iGolf in the UK you can submit scores from abroad to the app which counts towards your handicap. No real reason why an Irish person based in Ireland couldn't join and maintain their handicap through iGolf.

Wasn't there something similar set up here a number of years ago whereby a company were offering ridiculously cheap memberships to a random club in the middle of nowhere? That allowed you to get an official handicap. But there was uproar by the clubs and Golf Ireland shut it down. I may be misremembering though.

Either way, the clubs in England seem to be doing just fine even with iGolf in operation. It's just this backwards country hanging onto the old boys club mentality and keeping the barriers to golf firmly in place.

spacecoyote

It does come down to people thinking around what's best for me, versus whats best for a club.

Sure, it'd be great for me to not have to pay membership fees.

But, if everyone's thinking the same then as Seve said, you're going to have a potentially massive number of clubs fold as they need the membership money to actually function on a day to day basis.

I wouldn't say it's old boys club mentality, it doesn't really exist, does it? It's about the fact that most clubs need active memberships to exist.

Yes, there would be plenty of the big clubs that get by on green fees, but the drop off would I'd imagine, be potentially significant for a lot of small clubs around the country

monkeybutter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121591230#Comment_121591230

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121595951#Comment_121595951

if you want to be a member of a club you can be a member of a club and there is certainly an old boys mentality in lots of clubs, you literally have to know people in the club to become a member

You will still get people who want to be members, if you play a lot of golf using a green fee its very expensive and at times near impossible to get tee times

no shortage of clubs in the US or England either

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121588103#Comment_121588103

Would you not just join a society or two?

Seve OB

lots of clubs don't use a nominate and seconded motion for new members. And I doubt there is anyone who wants to join a club who wouldn't know at least 1 person in the club already, or at worst case, be referred through someone.

Yes golf playing via green fee can be expensive and yes, it makes sense that members get preferential access to tee times. But rightly so. As @spacecoyote says above, clubs need money to function and shouldn't have to give up tee times and offer cheap green fees that their membership subsidises.

I'd also add that if lots of member were to weigh up the average price of a round against their sub, I'd say a lot of them come out a lot higher than the green fee rate.

I know there are lots of clubs in US and England. My point was that they also have lots of public courses. How many actual public courses are there in Ireland?

Corballis

Elm Green

Stepaside

Silogue Park

Grange Castle

Deer Park

All Dublin based, I can't name any more

Mantis Toboggan

Seve I think you're confusing lads who move club every year for a better offer versus lads who might only play 6 rounds in a year but want to play in open comps while also maintaining a valid handicap. 2 separate issues.

Seve OB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121597667#Comment_121597667

nope, i'm not confusing them

if someone only wants to play 6 rounds a year but in open comps, there are cheap options for them to join pay and play clubs or country membership.

spacecoyote

Think that's a slightly selfish approach.

I want an official handicap, but I also want to be able to get the bonus of discounted open comp fees.

If someone said, I want an official handicap, and I'm happy to pay premium rack rates at clubs, not play in opens and only be allowed out at off peak times I'd probably be slightly more accepting of the premise.

Feels like it would just stimulate a race to the bottom as clubs would lose memberships and also have to drop green fees to get numbers on their course, again resulting in more clubs closing down as the cost of running down couldn't be met

CorkBoyInDub

A bit off topic here but I'm in Dublin for a family event soon but have time for a round on Sunday Feb 11th. There's nothing on BRS yet for Opens. Does anyone know/think there'll be any on that day in Dublin? or where would be best to try sneak out for 18?

CFG92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121616130#Comment_121616130

Might be worth a look

https://visitors.brsgolf.com/balcarrick#/open-competitions

spacecoyote

Could check the golf ireland opens page rather than just BRS? Might give you some further options to work with

bobster453

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121596699#Comment_121596699

Public course in Waterford city I think

bakerbhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121620635#Comment_121620635

Yeah. Williamstown / Municipal

Green fee yearly 350 or 450.

Option to join club gui etc

200/300.