Update 3rd August

FIXTURES - The Captains Prize to the Ladies takes place next Sunday the 9th of August.

The mens’ competition that day will be an 18 hole Stableford and will be the last opportunity to gain a “qualifying” card  to be eligible to win the Captains Prize for those who have not already played in an 18 hole qualifying competition this year.

MEMBERSHIP STICKERS - Membership stickers for all who have paid up for 2020, or are paying by monthly debit, are available for collection in the office of Vincent and Lorcan Egan, Elphin Street.

CAPTAINS PRIZE - The big event of the year for the men, the Captains Prize, is fast approaching. Lorcan Egan is this year’s mens’ Captain and his day will be on Sunday the 16th of August. For the mens’ prize, it is essential to have played just one 18 hole qualifying competition this year, a reduction from the traditional 3 given the shortened golfing season. There is still one opportunity left to get a card in if you haven’t already done so.

On Thursday the 13th, there will be a presentation of all the mens’ Thursday competition prizes to date. Sponsors for the Thursdays are asked to get their prizes to Lorcan Egan before this date. A ladies’ and gents’ scramble competition will be held on the evening of Friday the 14th, all members are strongly encouraged to attend.

On the Captains Prize day itself, food will be available in the form of a barbecue throughout the day.

Update 26th July

VOUCHER - Congratulations to Paul Brown who was the winner of this year’s Voucher competition, and is now the lucky recipient of a year's free membership. Close on his heels in 2nd place was David Gallagher with a 64, 3rd place went to Lochlainn Conboy. 

Women -The women's Voucher competition was won by Mary O’Hara, 2nd was Moira Egan with the gross prize going to Liz Dwyer and Ruth Hogg came 3rd.

Thursday - The men's midweek 12 hole played on Thursday the 23rd was won by Lee McKillen, 2nd was Lochlainn Conboy with Sean Heslin taking the 3rd spot. The 2’s club pot was unclaimed and rolls over to next week.

FIXTURES - Next weekend’s competition is a fundraiser competition for the club itself and will take the format of a 3 person Shambles. For those unfamiliar with a Shambles competition, all 3 players on the team drive off,  then decide which drive is best and all 3 players play their next shot from the location of the best drive, each playing out the hole using their own ball.

CAPTAIN'S PRIZE - The big event of the year for the men, the Captain's Prize is fast approaching. Lorcan Egan is this year’s men's’ Captain and his day will be on Sunday the 16th of August. For the men's’ prize, it is essential to have played just one 18 hole qualifying competition this year, a reduction from the traditional 3 given the shortened golfing season. There is still an opportunity to get a card if you haven’t already done so.

CYCLE FOR SANDRA - The club wishes the best of luck all those participating in the “Cycle for Sandra” event next Sunday August 2nd to Croagh Patrick. This cycle acts as both a fundraiser for North West Hospice and as a fitting tribute to the late and much-missed Sandra McCrann, a former Lady Captain and very popular member of our club. Donation cards are available locally or you can donate online via the ‘Cycle for Sandra McCrann’ event on the North West Hospice page on Facebook

Update 20th July

RESULTS - Well done to Enda Smith who won the PGA Tankard competition on Sunday the 12th of July, just beating Jim Suffin on countback, with Lorcan Egan taking the gross prize and Tadhg Lowe coming third.

The ladies played the same day for the Niamh Nangle Cup, which was won by Marie Hanmore-Cawley, and Patricia Perry came second.

The mens mid week 12 hole Stableford played on Thursday the 16th was won by Tadhg Lowe with 31 points, Lochlainn Conboy came second with 29 points and Jim Suffin took the third spot with 27. The 2s club pot was split between David Wynne, Jim Suffin and John Kelly.

 The James Shivnan Cup took place on Sunday the 19th. Results will be released during the week.

 FIXTURES - Next Sunday’s competition for the men will be the much anticipated “Voucher”, with the winner receiving a free membership voucher for the year or the price of an adult single membership deducted from a family membership. The format will be 18 hole Strokeplay. You must be a member in good standing for 2020 to be eligible to win first prize, so please pay any outstanding memberships this week.

The club will be holding a fundraiser for the club itself over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the format will be decided during the week.

 COURSE - The “Putt Buddy” devices were felt to be causing too much damage to the playing surface of the greens, so they have been removed for the time being with the cups being partially filled with foam instead. Please take care on removing your ball to avoid touching the cup with your hand.

 COMMISERATIONS - The club extends its sympathies to the family of the late Joe Mahon, who passed away this weekend.

Update 5th July

RESTART - This week saw the restart of official club competitions, with the ladies first off the mark on Tuesday last with a 9 hole Stableford, with the men following on Thursday with a 12 hole Stableford. The men played again on Sunday the 5thfor the Bart Moran Cup with the format being 18 hole Strokeplay. Results were not available at the time of going to press. Given that the clubhouse is still “off-limits”, the cup itself will be presented to the winner at a later date.

The mens’ Thursday night competition was won by Lochlainn Conboy with a great score of 32 points for the 12 holes. Gerry Carty came second with 30 points ( and won the 2s club) and Gabriel Lavin’s 28 took third.

COMPETITION RULES - There are a few important things to note regarding competitions - online  tee booking is essential, please put 1 entry fee per envelope, the requirement to sign cards has been removed but you must get your opponent to verify your score verbally. The computer has been reinstated for 18 hole competitions, but hand hygiene is essential, please use the hand sanitizer provided before typing.

FIXTURES - This years fixture list has been re-drawn 4 times already this year and is now on version 5! There is good news though - due to the Government acceleration of the phases of re-opening, the Captains and Lady Captains Prizes are back on the schedule. The Captains Prize to the men takes place on the 16th of August, and the Lady Captains prize for the ladies takes place on the 6th of September.

Next Sunday’s competition for the men is the PGA Tankard played as an 18 hole Stableford, with the James Shivnan Memorial competition taking place the following Sunday, the 19th of August. The keenly anticipated “Voucher” competition takes place on the last Sunday in July, the 26th. The winner of the “Voucher” gets a free single membership for the year. To be eligible to win the “Voucher”, your membership fees must be valid for 2020.

 PUTT-BUDDIES - Removing the golf ball from the hole posed an unexpected challenge these past few months, given the high risk of germ transfer posed when you consider the example of 30 players removing a ball from a hole 18 times each per competition, giving 540 potential episodes of exposure to infection. We have installed the “Putt Buddy” system which has greatly reduced the risk. It has however unfortunately given rise to some confusion and myths! To correct one of the most widespread of these myths - it is not true that your ball is considered to be “holed” if it hits the pin/putt-buddy, part of the hole must stay submerged within the circumference of the hole as has always been the case.

The GUI has recognised that the increased diameter of the device within the hole can be an issue and have clarified it is allowable for a players opponent to hold the pin in a more vertical position if it is leaning. They must, however, hold the pin with the head or handle of the putter, not with their hand.

The pins cannot be removed at present for putting and to remove one during competition could put a player at risk of disqualification.

 BUNKERS - Due to rakes being out of use there is currently a “preferred lie” ruling in place for the bunkers, the exact ruling is on the noticeboard in the clubhouse. Please rake the sand with a club or your foot after hitting your shot (doing it beforehand incurs a penalty as per usual).

Update 8th June

POSTPONEMENT OF COMPETITIVE GOLF  - This week was to have been the long-awaited resumption date for competitions, but in a very unwelcome development, we received a press release from the ladies’ and gents‘ national golf organisations advising they had been directed by Sport Ireland that clubs could not resume competitions until the 29th of June on the basis that no other competitive sports were being played in other codes before that date. It seems horse and greyhound racing are somehow exempt from this logic while competitive golf is now in the same risk category as sports such as judo and boxing. Perhaps we have been playing it wrong all these years.

We understand the 2 golf unions are angry about this decision as are we at local level. The management committee of the club had a meeting by Zoom on the preceding Wednesday and had worked on numerous measures to ensure the safe return of competitive golf to the club. Yet another version of the 2020 fixture list will be issued in the coming weeks.

There are some positive changes from the 8th of June - members will be allowed to bring guests, who must still register online, and fourballs are allowed again.

 Even though competitions organised by the club itself or its committees will not now be happening for the next few weeks, it is permissible for groups of members to maintain more informal levels of competition if they so wish, as long as any such arrangements follow the guidance already in place re booking online, social distancing, hand hygiene, flagsticks, bunkers etc.

 BUNKERS - Due to rakes being out of use there will be “placing” in bunkers, the exact rule will be put on a sign on the noticeboard. Please rake the sand with a club or your foot after hitting your shot (doing it beforehand incurs a penalty as per usual).

CONDOLENCES - The club sends its sincere condolences to Joey and Tom Mullaney on the untimely death of their son Declan in the past few days. Condolences also to Tom Smyth and Carmel Conlon on their recent bereavements

Update 18th May

RE-OPENING -The long-awaited re-opening of the course is upon us with play re-commencing on Monday the 18th of May. There have been a significant number of first-time applications for membership in the past week, all of whom are most welcome. Whilst everyone in the club is delighted to be back up and running, there are a few temporary stipulations to be observed.

All golf, no matter how casual, must be booked online in advance of playing. This is an obligation imposed on the Golfing Union of Ireland by the HSE. Failing to observe this jeopardises our re-opening and may lead to golf nationally or locally being off-limits again. The use of the course will be for members only at this time, which is a significant change for our club as we have always welcomed visitors paying “green fees”. However, non-members who wish to join will be very welcome and we will try and set them up with GUI numbers for booking golf as soon as possible. There will also be some changes on the course, the most obvious of which will be the lack of flagsticks on the greens. The GUI has specified that measures must be taken to ensure removing the ball from the hole is as “contactless” as possible and we envisage having another solution in place ahead of the return of competitive golf on June the 8th. These changes were all approved by a management committee meeting that took place via Zoom on May 14th. Please enjoy your golf and be part of the collective effort to keep golf up and running.

 

MONTHLY DRAW - January - 1st Liam Mullaney, 2nd Michael Simon, 3rd Margaret Egan.

February - 1st Margaret Egan, 2nd Mandy Toolan, 3rd Paddy Nangle.

Prizes - 1st place 70 euro, 2nd, and 3rd 40 euro apiece.

 

CONDOLENCES - Condolences to Liam Mullaney whose mother passed away last month.

 

Update 10th May

COURSE RE-OPENING - The GUI and ILGU have published protocols for how clubs can safely reopen on the 18th of May. The protocol document, although only a few pages in length, contains quite a bit of detail. Anyone planning to play in the next few weeks should have a read of it to see what is recommended.

Some notable points are :

-one person to a buggy

-don’t use rakes; use your foot or a club instead

-flagpoles not to be touched/removed, -practice green not to be used

-arrive dressed to play rather than changing in changing room

-stay away if you have any cold symptoms

-juniors must play with an adult

-the function room/bar out of use.

Although members of any club instinctively dislike recommendations from outside instructing them how to use their own facilities, the recommendations in the document are all “common sense”, and are aimed at keeping golfers safe at this time, which is especially important given the age profile in most golf clubs. The GUI note that course re-opening is conditional on people respecting the limitations that are in place to keep people well.

MEMBERSHIP PAYMENT REQUEST - We are all greatly looking forward to the course re-opening on May the 18th. The course itself is in great condition, both from the reduced traffic and also the fact that maintenance has continued throughout the period of closure, including pole-forking and sanding of greens.

This leads on to the point we need to make - the fixed costs for the club have remained virtually unchanged in recent months, but with no income coming in. The financial lifeblood of the club is the revenue that comes from annual subscriptions. Understandably, this money has been slow to come in this year as a result of the uncertainty about whether there would be any golf in 2020 due to the coronavirus issue.

The re-opening on the 18th of May, with competitions restarting on the 8th of June brings this uncertainty to an end. A re-organised fixture list will be compiled very shortly and distributed.

We appeal to all members to pay their annual membership as soon as they can. As stated above , the clubs fixed costs have remained the same, but without the vital membership revenue coming in. This money is absolutely crucial for the club to pay its bills including course maintenance costs. Please give consideration in the next few days to paying your membership fee to allow us to maintain the course in the same great condition it is currently in.

Membership fees can be paid by cheque made payable to Boyle Golf Club, posted or dropped in to the offices of Vincent and Lorcan Egan, Elphin Street, Boyle, or by bank transfer to the club account IBAN - IE 59 BOFI 905328 22439700.