Newsletter #26

Newsletter
 
Our first Newsletter of 2025!
                                                                                                                                                                                    Action Required:
Advise the office if you require a space in the new trolley shed.  No action is required if you already have a space in the existing trolly shed.
 
After the inclement weather of January and February we can look forward to the golfing season ahead starting off with the Captains Drive In on March 22nd. As usual this will be a Mixed Team of Four, 9 holes (shotgun start) followed by food, drink and craic in the Bar. Come along to support your Captains in what promises to be a fun event. You may book on the Clubnet App.
 
The Ladies and Mens Competitions Committee have put together a very comprehensive and varied schedule of competitions for the coming season. Our thanks to our very generous sponsors for their support.  The full schedule of events will be available shortly.
Please take care of our course by raking bunkers, replacing divots and repairing pitch marks.
 
Members who have paid online  please call into the office to collect your 2025 membership sticker and your voucher for a bucket of balls for the Driving Academy. 
 
Pro Shop
Taylor Made Custom Fitting: Tuesday 4th March 12pm. to 4 pm. Contact the Pro-Shop to book.
Projects Update
The new Trolley shed has commenced and thank you to our volunteers, as always, who ensure we achieve value.  Thank you also to the Bookies prize committee for their generous contribution of €1,500 towards the project.  It is expected that the project will be complete by early summer and with this in mind we are asking members interested in acquiring  a trolley slot to show an expression of interest by emailing [email protected]  with Trolley Shed in the subject box confirming your interest. No action is required if you already have a space in the existing trolly shed.
 
Many thanks to Sean Stafford and Stafford Bakeries for their generous offer of supplying shale and top soil.  As this was offered free of charge, we took the opportunity to grit the area adjacent to the trolley shed and stockpile topsoil to be used later in the creation of the short game area.  
Work on the new water tanks, E.V. charging points, solar panels and sewage upgrade is ongoing and will result in cost savings for the club.
It has been determined that we need a felling licence for the trees in the short game area which will result in a delay in commencing the project, but we fully expect it to commence in 2025.  When plans and costings are ready, they will be presented to the members.
 
Greenkeepers Corner
Hollow coring is due to start the first week of March. Any assistance from our members would be greatly appreciated.
 
 
 
Rules of Golf
5.5a
While playing a hole, a player must not make a practice stroke at any ball on or off the course.
These are not practice strokes:

• A practice swing made with no intent to strike the ball.
• Hitting a ball back to a practice area or to another player, when done solely as a courtesy.
• Strokes made by a player in playing out a hole whose result has been decided.

 
This means that you may “knock” balls in from the 12th and 13th back to the practice area with a club if you are not practicing a shot e.g. hitting them back with a 5 wood with a full swing before taking the same shot on the course is not allowed
                                     
Ladies Golf
Ladies golf got off to a great start this year with the final of the Ladies Winter League taking  place on the 25th January.  The 2024 – 2025 Winter League was a great success with all planned dates going ahead, thankfully no dates cancelled due to inclement weather. 
32 ladies took part and as has become the norm, people found it to be a very social event with new members to the club and new members to golf finding it a great place to meet other members and be introduced to competition golf.
This year’s winners were: Carole Barnwell and Susan Morris
Group Winners: Mags Greenan and Geri Hughes, Angie Dooley and Caoimhe Geraghty, Janet Ryder and Norma Casey.
Non Qualifiers Competition: 1st: Tina Smith and Kay McGarry, 2nd Deirdre Kearney and Mairead Sunderland, 3rd: Lucia Redmond and Gay Gahan.
Prize giving was followed by a lovely social night where players were joined by a lot of lady members and delicious finger food was served by Anslem and his catering team.
A great night was had by all.
 
Inter Club Matches 2025     
                                                                                                                                                                           Preparation for the Inter Club Matches is well underway under the guidance of the Team Managers’ Co-Ordinator - Mary Cooper. Mary did a fantastic job last year and we’re very lucky to have her again this year. The matches we have entered and their managers are as follows;
Intermediate Foursomes                              Ann Morgan & Gretta Duke
Minor Foursomes                                            Mary Halford & Catherine Quinn
Leinster Womens Trophy                              Pat Kinsella & Denise Kavanagh
Challenge Trophy                                             Mary Osborne & Laura Funge
Revive Active Fourball                                    Nuala Noone & Julie McCartan
The Boyne Trophy                                           Cecilia O’Riordan & Eileen Moriarty
Mixed Fourball                                                  Sarah Donnellan & Mick Morrissey
 
 Get into Golf 2025  
We welcomed 5 new lady members to Courtown from the Get Into Golf (GIG)                                                                      programme. We will continue to run this programme again for another year, but over a shorter time frame. This is a really good introduction to golf and a great way to meet other people who are also interested in taking up the sport. Please encourage any friends or ladies you know that might be interested in taking part. Mags Dooley has successfully run the programme for the last two years and will continue to run it again this year. Anyone interested in taking part can contact Mags through the office.
 
 
Mens Golf
Following the usual quiet start and with the evenings at last beginning to lengthen the golfing year is about to kick into gear. 
First up on the Men’s side is the Final of the EBS Colman Doyle Finance Limited Winter League on Saturday the 1st March followed by the Celebration Dinner and Prize Giving.  Over 90 players grouped into six groups have battled it out in the preliminary rounds with the top three teams in each group making it into the final.  Congratulations to all those who made it to the final which will be played over 18 holes.  For those who didn’t quite make it to this year’s final all is not lost however as there are Plate and Shield Competitions to be played over 14 holes.  The timesheet for the day's golf is up on Clubnet.  The dinner is scheduled to begin at 5.30 pm.  Remember that the cost of the dinner is included in your entry fee, so we hope to see everyone there.  If you can’t make the Dinner please phone John Sheridan on 0879311284 so that he can let the caterers know.  The Presentation of Prizes will follow the Dinner and we would ask everyone who has taken part in the competition to attend to show their appreciation towards their fellow members receiving prizes and to the generous Sponsors.
Huge thanks to EBS Colman Doyle Finance Ltd. for his continued sponsorship of the ever popular Winter League.
 Mags and I are looking forward (with some trepidation) to our upcoming Drive-In due to take place on the 22nd March.  We sincerely hope that all our Club members both old and new come along to help us celebrate the start of the golfing year.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will have long straight drives, followed by a shotgun start 9 hole Scramble.  Afterwards we look forward to everyone joining us back in the Clubhouse for some food and refreshments and maybe even a few tunes.
With the advent of Spring we are reaching the final stages of the Wednesday Sweep and of course the Paschal Storan Cup.  The last counting day for this competition will be on the 19th March and the Dinner and presentation of the Paschal Storan Cup will take place after the day’s play on the 26th March.  Again, we are looking forward to seeing everyone who has played in the Sweep throughout the Winter joining us for the Dinner and Presentation on that evening.  Just remember that, while the golf is weather dependent, Dinner is not, and even if conditions outside are inclement there is sure to be a hotly contested putting tournament taking place indoors.  Further details of the arrangements will be circulated closer to the time. 
Even with conditions not being at their best recently there continues to be some fine scoring both in the Wednesday and weekend competitions.  There have been two recent holes in one and we send our congratulations to Donal O Keefe and Pat O Shea.
Our Teams will be setting out on their quest for glory starting in May and we are still looking for volunteers to act both as team managers and selectors.  If you would be interested in acting in either of these capacities, or indeed if you would be interested in representing the club as a player, please contact John Sheridan (0879311284) or the office and we will get back to you.  With the great success enjoyed by the Ladies in recent years, it is now up to the men of the club to step up to the plate in an effort to spread the fame of Courtown far and wide.  These Inter-Club competitions are about the only opportunity we have as golfers to take part in a team event and they are a great way to bond with your fellow members, and to travel to play at courses you might not otherwise visit, all in a spirit of camaraderie.  I would encourage all members to consider putting their names forward to answer the call.