Fourth hole among best in Ireland

The transition from GMT to BST seems to signal a change in the golfing year. That extra hour of evening daylight hints to us that winter golf is over, and summer is imminent. The fairways firm up and the drives lengthen. Casual water dries up and the brown patches green over. The ball collects less mud and is less likely to plug and disappear mid-fairway. The birds sing and the mood lifts.

We must however be ever-vigilant in terms of course care and always be mindful to repair pitch marks, replace divots and rake bunkers. We have a superb course of which we can be proud, and we should aim to keep it so. Remember, our course – our responsibility.

FOURTH HOLE FEATURES AGAIN

It was heartening to see our fourth hole highlighted again in the public eye. This time it featured in a recent article in Irish Golfer entitled ‘Best 100 Golf holes in Ireland 2022’. Most of our members are aware of how this hole can be the making or breaking of a good round of golf.

Mitchelstown, Hole 4, par 4. 340 metres. Index 1. A sweet, straight hole which swerves around a lone pine before the approach shot hit over the River Funshion and into a deep nest of trees. Augusta-like.

MEN’S CLUB RESULTS

Results 24th, 25th and 26th March - 15 Holes Open Singles. 1st Willie Walsh (22.1) 40pts 2nd Fergal Whelton (14.0) 37pts (-1) Cat A <10 Jerry O’Riordan 34pts Cat B 10-14 Tom Ryan 35pts Cat C 15+ Brian Lillis 35pts (-1).

Next weekend 31st, 1st and 2nd April - 15 Holes Open Singles

LADIES NOTES

A champagne scramble ran on Saturday, 25th, Sunday 26th and Wednesday 29th March was well supported by our ladies - results for this competition will be available next week. We are very grateful to our generous sponsor Niamh, of Niamh's Beauty Salon, Mitchelstown.

Ladies results for week ending March 15th sponsored by Aileen Barry. 1st Nellie Collins (32.7) 33 pts Cat 1 Eithne Bermingham (16.6) 31 pts Cat 2 Mairead Perry (20.3) 29 pts Cat 3 Breda Cotter (35.2) 32 pts. Ladies results for week ending March 22nd sponsored by Eithne Bermingham. 1st Eibhlin O’Brien (11.5) 21 pts.

SEANÓIRÍ

Results of Ordinary Scramble played on Thursday, 23rd March are: winners Richie Carey, Pat Cleary and Tom Dwane 36.88 nett. Second were Ciaran Dolan, Brendan O'Meara and Tom Twomey 37.78 nett. Our J B Carr match in Mahon Golf Club will take place on either Wednesday, 19th April or Friday, 21st April. Sean Buckley is scouting for team members so let him know you are interested. On the table for next Thursday are Michael Fogarty, Eamon McGrath and Richard Mansfield.

ONE CLUB MODEL

Our subcommittee, formed to progress the introduction of the “one club model”, held their first meeting with Sam Power, Regional Development officer, Golf Ireland, during the week and will be communicating with all members for their views in the near future.

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

The Club Classic, our major fundraising event for 2023, will take place on May 11th-12th so please put the date in your diary. This event was one of our most successful last year. It was enjoyed by all and proved to be a significant fundraiser for the club. We would encourage members to contribute to the success of the event again by entering teams and by letting us know of any potential sponsors for the event.

INTERCLUB COMPETITION

We come to that time of year again when we begin to look forward to interclub competition. Many draws have already been made but no fixture dates have been arranged yet. Please check the club noticeboard for up-to-date details. If any members are interested in playing at inter club level but have not yet been approached we ask that you make yourself known to the relevant team captain. We hope to print fixture dates as they become available.

This year as ever we would like to encourage members to attend matches and give our teams some support. Watching live golf is good entertainment as we all know and as weather improves try to use the opportunity to get some exercise and support our teams please.

45 CARDS

Friendly (but highly competitive) 45 card games continue weekly in the cosy clubhouse on Sunday evenings from 5pm and on Thursdays after the Seanóirí golf scramble. Any club members who wish to play are welcome to call in and join in.

INTERESTED IN TAKING UP GOLF?

We have now embarked on our more active time of the golfing year and we are keen to hear from anyone interested in taking up the sport. We regard golf as a sport for all ages and all abilities. We pride ourselves as a friendly, warm, welcoming club with a superb 18-hole parkland course at our disposal. We regard golf as an all-year sport even though winter imposes some limitations on our activity with shorter daylight hours, intermittent wet conditions and occasional frost.

We look forward to hearing from anyone interested in taking up the sport whether joining for the first time or re-joining after a period of absence. We have attractive and affordable options for all. Enquiries please to Dolores on (025) 24072 (9.00 – 13.00) or see details on our website mitchelstown-golf.com.